TUKWILA, Wash. – Cristian Roldan may be one of the youngest in the handful of fledgling players making a case for first-team minutes with the Seattle Sounders, but he’s hardly been buried on the depth chart.
The 16th-overall pick in this year’s MLS SuperDraft, Roldan was featured as a sub in the club’s early-season matches against New England and San Jose, and he then made his first career start in the Sounders’ 0-0 draw against FC Dallas on March 28.
Now, the 19-year-old sensation intends to continue to make his presence felt in the squad.
“[Starting against Dallas] was a great feeling,” Roldan told MLSsoccer.com this week. “That was the best team in the league at the time. To go into their home and to be able to get my first start on the road against a very, very good team – it shows that I’ve got all the confidence in the world from the coaches.”
For Roldan, the chance to contribute this early speaks to a comfort level that stems from his familiarity with his current setting. He played at the University of Washington the past two years and even occasionally trained with Sounders while he was in college.
In other words, not a lot has changed.
“My housing situation has been the same,” Roldan said. “I live with the same guys that I lived with in college. I don’t think much has changed in my life. I guess the only thing that’s changed is that I play for a better team.”
It’s a situation that worked out about as well as it could have for Roldan, who could easily have ended up elsewhere. He was one of the SuperDraft’s most coveted prospects after a standout two-season run for Washington and was projected by some to go as high as No. 2 overall to New York City FC.
But in a somewhat surprising development, he ended up falling all the way to 16th, where the Sounders were waiting after engineering a trade with Real Salt Lake.
“The draft is a very interesting thing, especially in the soccer world,” Roldan said of his draft-day drop. “It’s hard to set yourself on a number. I didn’t get upset when I dropped because I think the draft picks are just a number. If I’m going to be a good pro, it’s going to be wherever I go. I didn’t look at it in a negative way.”
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After Roldan’s first career start against Dallas, Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid said he would have liked to see more aggressive play from his young midfielder. But less than two weeks later, after Seattle’s practice on Friday, Schmid was quick to highlight Roldan’s rapid development – even in the short period of time he’s been with the club.
“He continues to grow,” Schmid said. “I thought he was very, very good in training today. … It’s just a matter of him getting his body position right, collecting the ball on his first touch, going where he wants to go, and he continues to improve on that all the time.”
As with all their young players, the Sounders coaching staff will have to decide how much time to give Roldan with the first team and how much he will spend with Sounders 2, the team’s USL affiliate. This will become particularly interesting when it comes to US Open Cup play, a tournament in which both teams are competing and players aren’t allowed to suit up for both squads.
However, if Roldan continues to develop at his current rate, he could become a mainstay in the Sounders’ first-team rotation sooner rather than later.
