RENTON — Now 10 years into his professional career, the one thing that has been constant for Cristian Roldan is changing positions. Virtually every year, it seems, coaches insist that this will be the year where Roldan settles into a position. Every year, without fail, something happens that necessitates a change.
This year, the plan was for Roldan to establish himself at right midfield. The Sounders stuck without that for a couple of months, but eventually gave in to the reality that he might be needed elsewhere. He has multiple starts on three separate lines.
Although right mid remains the position that Roldan most often plays, it’s now looking like could see most of his minutes down the stretch as one of the team’s two defensive midfielders. The latest move has been necessitated by an injury to João Paulo that could end up keeping him out for about a month, as well as increasing competition at the wide midfield spots.
“It’s been an interesting year for me,” Roldan said. “I’m kind playing the cards that I’m dealt. It’s unfortunate that João got hurt, Obed [Vargas] was on international duty.
“I feel comfortable, I’m confident. I’m a little more vocal than the guys who normally play there. I’m just trying to add to the mixture of the game we already have and get back to the nuances of the center mid position.”
The move to defensive midfielder is a bit of a throwback for Roldan. That’s the position where he first broke into the starting lineup, mostly playing there until 2021 when he moved into a more offensive role. He’s started alongside Josh Atencio in a double-pivot in each of the past two games.
That’s allowed him to lean into parts of his game that are more about tenacity and effort and less reliant on form. Roldan has just one goal and one primary assist this year, putting him on pace for his least productive season since he became a regular starter in 2016.
Against the Crew, Roldan looked more like his old self. He completed 68 of 76 passes, had three tackles, was credited with five shot-creating actions and it was his pass over the top to Jordan Morris that drew the red-card foul that flipped the game on its head.
“I do feel that in front of goal I haven’t been the cleanest,” Roldan said. “I’ll be the first to say that. I haven’t gotten assists or goals. But I feel like I’ve played my role. I’m playing different position, I’m breaking lines, I’m hitting long balls, things that they don’t normally put on the stat sheet. From the naked eye, it doesn’t look like I’m having a great year but I’m playing my role and playing my part at least form my perspective to help the team do well and hopefully get a good run of form before the playoffs.”
Other notes
- Obed Vargas was back in training after missing the last week while on international duty with Mexico’s U23s.
- Nouhou has not yet rejoined training after spending the last week with Cameroon.
