One month into his rookie campaign, Los Angles Galaxy central defender Sean Franklin has already started to make his mark. Drafted as the fourth overall pick out of Cal State Northridge in January, Franklin stepped into the league's most high profile team and has firmly entrenched himself in the starting 11.
Franklin has started the last four games for the Galaxy, the last one coming in a 5-2 win against Chivas USA last Saturday at The Home Depot Center. In a game that saw Landon Donovan score a hat trick, head coach Ruud Gullit singled out Franklin as the best player on the field.
"I think our best player the last couple of weeks is Sean Franklin," Gullit said. "I think again he played an excellent game. If you see how he goes into midfield, gives long balls to David (Beckham) all the time, I think he's made huge progress. That makes me happy."
To a degree, Gullit may be trying to deflect some of the spotlight off of his two superstar players. It's a wise move to make sure that outsiders looking in realize that there are more than just two players on the roster.
Still, Franklin has stood out as the most consistent performer in the center of the Galaxy defense, but Franklin isn't letting that get to his head.
"My mom has mentioned to me that (Gullit) was saying I was the best player out there. It's pretty crazy," said Franklin. "I'm just glad I've made an impact. If he's happy, I'm happy and doing my job. I just need to continue to work hard and hopefully I can continue to give him good things to say about me."
One of Franklin's biggest assets with this Galaxy team is his speed on the backline. Outside of Franklin, the Galaxy field three veteran players in defense, none of whom are known for their blazing speed. Franklin is generally matched up with the opposition's speediest forward.
"Before the Chivas game -- they have (Maykel) Galindo, who is a fast forward -- (Galaxy assistant coach) Cobi (Jones) was telling me to be around Galindo more because he has a lot of pace," said Franklin. "I get a lot of support from the rest of the backline also because they've been around the league."
Franklin jokes a bit about his size being a weakness in his game. He's listed at 5-foot-10 and 155 lbs., meaning he's not the most stout of defenders. But that's really not his game either -- Franklin's size and speed give him the versatility to play anywhere along the back line.
For now, Gullit has him inserted in the center of defense, and it's already getting hard to imagine the Galaxy starting 11 without his presence being felt.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
