RENTON — Pedro de la Vega knows as well as anyone that his first season with the Seattle Sounders has not gone to plan. After signing as the club’s first-ever Young Designated Player for a transfer fee of around $6.5 million last offseason, he spent a large chunk of the year trying to rehabilitate from a series of muscle injuries. He finished the regular season with one goal and one assist in just 652 minutes.
It would be overstating things to suggest that de la Vega has broken out in any significant way, but he does seem to be finding a way to be a consistent contributor. In Game 2 of their First-Round series against the Houston Dynamo, de la Vega logged 90+ minutes for the first time this season and showed all sorts of glimpses of why the Sounders were so interested in acquiring him. The Argentine midfielder filled up the stat sheet with five touches in the attacking box, five successful dribbles, won 9 of 15 duels and drew two fouls before leaving the match during second-half stoppage time.
For perhaps the first time since injuries started to pile up, de la Vega seems to have found some peace with the role he’s playing.
“I’m feeling good,” de la Vega told reporters in Spanish and translated by Sounder at Heart. “Everyone knows it wasn’t the year I wanted. I expected more out of myself. But it happened and I’m fine here. They treat me well. It’s a special moment in the team where we’re in a conference semifinal and it’s time to focus on that. I think of the things we’re doing well. We’re looking for a good result and trying to fight into the final.”
With Paul Rothrock likely unable to start in the Western Conference semifinals, de la Vega’s dynamism off the wing will be even more important.
“On the physical side, he’s had some challenges,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said. “He’s working through all that. He’s a much better athlete now. He’s getting used to the rigors of MLS. I think he’s getting fitter.
“There are expectations that I might have that some of his previous coaches didn’t, and he’s taken some time to learn all those things, but he’s getting close.”
Coincidentally, it was in the Sounders’ last trip to BMO Stadium that de la Vega had one of his best performances in Rave Green. In his MLS debut, de la Vega came off the bench, helped generate some scoring chances and confidently converted a penalty.
It was the very next game that de la Vega suffered his first significant setback, a hamstring injury that would keep him out for more than two months and was then immediately followed by another hamstring injury that kept him out another six weeks.
After so many setbacks, the Sounders took their time in ramping him up. It was three months of consistently playing before they allowed de la Vega to play even 60 minutes in a game and he didn’t push past the 70-minute mark until the regular-season finale.
Used to playing 90 minutes consistently in Argentina, getting pulled so early did take a mental toll on de la Vega.
“I believe that lately I’ve been getting some rhythm in the game and believe I can give more,” he said. “I’m focused on doing what I’m asked and helping where I can.
“The extra minutes that were added were something positive for me to see. It started affecting my psyche. I’m feeling better, understanding how I fit and thinking about this game, that’s the most important thing.”
The path to this point has not been easy and there’s obviously still plenty of room for improvement. But de la Vega seems to be in a much better place at just the right time.
“We always grow,” he said. “The sport is about growing, if you’re not growing something is wrong. That’s what I’m here to do, to learn, to perform. In life we always grow, not just in football. I have learned so many things and I’m happy with that.”
