What a year it’s been for Cristian Roldan. In this edition of Quest Diagnostic Advanced Stats, we examine the third-year Seattle Sounders midfielder’s last 365 days.
An on-and-off starter in the beginning of last season, Roldan entered as a substitute in the 66th minute of the Sounders’ 2-0 home loss to New York City FC on June 25, 2016. He then started 43 consecutive matches until he missed his first game in over a calendar year on July 4, 2017, for the bests of reasons: his first call-up to the United States national team.
Over the course of those 43 matches, Roldan scored six goals and assisted on four more and helped lead Seattle to its first MLS Cup. He played all but 17 minutes out of a possible 3,900, including every minute of the playoffs and extra 30 minutes in the MLS Cup Final, and was only substituted twice. A Swiss army knife for head coach Brian Schmetzer, Roldan has played four different positions: defensive midfield, outside midfield, attacking midfield and right fullback.
