TUKWILA, Wash. — With the way he’s been scoring over the past two weeks, it seems strange that Seattle’s Sanna Nyassi couldn’t find his way into the starting lineup at the beginning of the year. After playing sparingly in the latter half of 2009, the Gambian found himself on the bench more often than on the field.
His first start came on April 25, which has followed by a string of substitute appearances. Two more starts came in May, but his next five appearances came off the bench. Before Freddie Ljungberg departed for Chicago, Nyassi seemed destined to be at most a super-sub in the team’s plans.
With Seattle struggling to find consistency, Pat Noonan, Roger Levesque and others were all preferred over Nyassi.
“It is frustrating when you don’t start, but it is important when you come off the bench to make an impact,” Nyassi said. “Earlier on, I didn’t have enough time. Later on, because of a lot of injuries, I came in and made sure that I capitalize on those chances and try to fit in.”
[inlinenode:320503]Fast forward to the last week-and-a-half, when Nyassi has scored five goals in 11 days and has locked down a starting spot. So what has changed?
First, Nyassi caught a break when Ljungberg was traded to the Chicago Fire in early August. The veteran had occupied the right midfield spot whenever healthy, but with the Swede out of the picture in July before his trade, Nyassi entered and provided three assists.
Second, Seattle have found stability in the center of midfield. A long-term injury to Brad Evans robbed Seattle of a goal-scoring threat, and with the steady Nathan Sturgis taking Evans’ place, the Sounders needed another dynamic presence on the outside.
They have found that presence in Nyassi, who has scored each of his five goals when he’s drifted in from the wing and placed himself in the middle of the park.
“My speed really helps me run past my marker,” Nyassi said. “Sometimes they have the upper hand because they’re tougher, they’re taller.”
In that way, Nyassi’s almost like the third striker in a 4-3-3 formation.
“There's different ways to basically skin a cat,,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid explained, “but one of our strengths is [Steve] Zakuani and Nyassi, and their speed and ability to put pressure on the opponents wide. That necessitates for our central midfielders to play more in conjunction and in unison with each other.
“At the beginning of the year, one of the reasons we couldn't find that rhythm is because we missed Evans on and off for games, we missed Alonso on and off, and had to shift things around.”
[inlinenode:314764]During the first few months of the season, Seattle slumped to a 4-8-3 record, thanks in no part to an anemic offense. Now, Seattle are back, using the starting wide midfielders from the club’s first-ever game.
Nyassi and Zakuani, two African-born players with an abundance of speed, have provided excellent offensive thrust during Seattle’s 9-1-3 run in the past 13 MLS games.
Nyassi has likely played himself into the club’s future. After the Gambian youngster’s playing time was sliced late last season, the 21-year-old must have wondered if he’d ever figure prominently in Seattle’s plans.
For the humble Nyassi, he hopes to continue his run of good form despite the attention. He’s probably received more interview requests in the past week than he had in his entire career. But for a player who had not scored in two MLS seasons before the recent outburst, the goal explosion was as gratifying as it was unexpected.
