TUKWILA, Wash. — Seattle Sounders midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro was voted August’s Etihad Airways MLS Player of the Month on Thursday, and for good reason.
The Designated Player has been on a tear since he arrived in Seattle in late July, scoring two goals and assisting on six more in just six matches. In Lodeiro, the Sounders get a gifted and inventive playmaker who can link the midfield to the attack. The space he’s opened in the middle of the park for the other midfielders and forward Jordan Morris has contributed to an offensive output the club severely lacked for the first 20 matches of the season.
“[Lodeiro deserved the award] for sure,” Sounders interim head coach Brian Schmetzer said. “He came in and really kickstarted our team a little bit. He's had some really great games.”
Seattle is 3-1-2 since Lodeiro arrived, but Schmetzer was quick to backtrack and elaborate on the foundation of Lodeiro’s success.
“It was a well-deserved Player of the Month award, but it’s a team sport,” Schmetzer said. “All of the guys help Nico and he would be the first to say that they help him. He came in here and wasn’t expected to be a savior. I think he’s a very humble individual … Nico helped make everyone around him better, but it goes both ways. [Clint] Dempsey has made Nico a better player as well.”
Notwithstanding the offensive talent he’s displayed, Lodeiro has done well defensively as well, adjusting to life in a physical league and in a system dependent on team defense to be successful.
“He understands defending,” Schmetzer said. “He’s playing a 4-4-2 right now [with Uruguay], he’s playing outside left [midfield], so he has to defend. He gets it. He knows it.
“Nico plays his own style of defense, he’s an individual, but within the scope of the overall team tactics, he puts himself where we need him to be.”
The Sounders will need Lodeiro to shine on both sides of the ball next week when they travel to San Jose to take on the Earthquakes, a team that sits directly in front of them in the Western Conference standings and will be desperate for points after firing longtime general manager John Doyle earlier this week.
The match will be on Sept. 10 at Avaya Stadium (JOEtv, Univision-Seattle, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360AM).
