TUKWILA, Wash. — After the Seattle Sounders’ match against the Portland Timbers at Providence Park on May 13, fourth-year midfielder Cristian Roldan stood up in Seattle’s postgame locker room to take questions from the media.
Just a few minutes earlier, the Sounders had been dealt a gut-wrenching 1-0 defeat following a late game-winning goal from Timbers midfielder Sebastian Blanco — a tally that singlehandedly undid 80-plus minutes of hard defensive work that had put the Sounders in position to escape with a road point.
Fielding questions from reporters isn’t always the most fun part of being a professional athlete, but it can be a particularly unglamorous task following such a deflating loss. A lot of players will dodge the responsibility altogether if they can, and bolt from the locker room before reporters are let inside.
For Roldan, however, the task of being the guy to take the hit has become a part of his job description in more ways than one. In this case, when the topic of Blanco’s late winner inevitably came up, Roldan said he felt responsible for the play.
“For my [part], I think I needed to do a little bit better there,” Roldan said. “I'll take the blame.”
It was a small gesture, and whether that blame was actually fully Roldan’s to take is ultimately up for debate. Nonetheless, it’s also emblematic of the evolution of his role on the team since he first arrived to the Sounders as a wide-eyed 19-year-old MLS SuperDraft pick fighting for First Team minutes in 2015.
“That [self-reflection] is good in any human being in any occupation,” Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer said this week. “Being able to reflect and learn from your mistakes or just learn by reflecting on how you did your job on that particular day is always a very insightful quality to have.”
Roldan giving a pregame speech ahead of the RSL match on May 26
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Jane Gershovich
Roldan’s evolution can also be seen in the fact that he has now acted as Seattle’s team captain in each of the club’s last three matches, as he’s become Schmetzer’s go-to option to sport the armband in the injury absence of stalwart veteran and defensive midfield partner Osvaldo Alonso.
Roldan has been around for long enough now that it can be easy to forget that he’s still just 22 — a few years out from when many coaches would feel comfortable allowing someone to captain a professional team littered with players his senior.
Asked on Thursday why he feels that Roldan is ready to shoulder that load, Schmetzer said he’s earned the respect of those veterans to the point where his relative youth isn’t an issue.
“He does all the little things,” Schmetzer said. “He’s gained the respect of all the players because he does all the little things that help the team win. He’s growing into his voice, he’s growing into [leading vocally]. He still needs a little bit of work, but overall, his effort, his determination, his commitment on the field and off the field to be a good teammate, those are all qualities a captain should have.
“You can be a captain by voice, by being a leader, by leading by example — there’s plenty of ways to do it,” he added. “So he just has to find his own niche and what suits him and his personality.”
Roldan said the turnover on Seattle’s roster since his initial arrival is another factor that has accelerated the need for him to take on a more vocal role. Veterans that had taken that mantle in the past, such as Brad Evans and Zach Scott, are no longer with the team, and as one of the few holdovers that have multiple years of experience with the club, Roldan says it’s incumbent upon him to try and fill that role in whatever way he can.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily about getting the armband for a couple games,” Roldan said. “I came into this year wanting to take on a new role. This is my fourth year on the team. There aren’t too many guys left from when I started. It’s time for me to step up.
“I definitely feel like I can be captain of this team for the long run, but that’s not my decision to make,” he added. “If it goes back to Ozzie, I’m going to be OK with that. I want to lead the best way I can. I want to help the team in the best way I can possibly do so.”
