Is Pineda set to be the new ‘Conductor’ of the Seattle Symphony?

Sounders FC have never really been one of the most vocal sides in MLS especially from midfield.

In Year 1, Freddie Ljungberg was certainly vocal but too often his words were more castigatory towards his colleagues, rather than encouraging. He also expended too much effort ‘encouraging’ the officials, when his younger colleagues looked to him for leadership.

After the Swede departed, slowly and in his normal unassuming way, Brad Evans became the side’s midfield leader.

From both press box and stand, you could see him with his arms outstretched; pointing out to colleagues the space where that run could have been made, or the pass could have been played.

Hard as it is to be heard in a cauldron like CenturyLink, Evans relied to a great extent on visual guides; including waving, pointing and some serious gesticulating.

This lead us to give him the nickname ‘the Conductor’ because he seemed to be orchestrating everything that went on around him.

If you ever have a conversation about soccer with Brad Evans, you’ll see why he is so roundly suited to the task. Few outfielders in the league can break down a game so tactically astutely within seconds of playing in it.

Whether he ends up in coaching or media after he retires, you can be assured he’ll be eloquent. No wonder Alan Hinton called him a sensible even par person.

Back to the subject of shouting, last year Sounders added one of the shoutiest (yes, it is a word) players in MLS in defender Chad Marshall. If new GM Garth Lagerwey really wants to tackle profanity inside the stadium, he should start with Chad!

But Marshall is a centerback and there are of course limits to how much information you can impart from deep inside your own half. By all accounts, he will be joined there by Evans in 2015. This means the club will need a new conductor in midfield.

It is here that Gonzalo Pineda’s otherwise unremarkable interview following last night’s 6-0 win over FC Tucson becomes very interesting. It was not a mind blowing interview by any means. No sensible player wants to go overboard on a 6-0 win over a minor league side, especially in a friendly but something very interesting did emerge.

In a very short time, Pineda used the word ‘movement’ four times. It seemed to be his focus and one left with the impression that midfield movement had been stressed to him before the match as an area to the side needed to work on so often did the Mexican refer to it.

“I think it was a good game for us. Obviously the opponent wasn’t sharp enough. I think it was good just to improve the movement a little bit. It’s always very positive to score six goals and have a clean sheet,” was his response to the initial question about his overall thoughts on the game.

He added:

“The first half was really good. We showed a little bit of good movement. It was a very complete night for us.”

On a specific question about his relationship with Michael Azira, who will likely fill in the holding role while Osvaldo Alonso recovers from injury, Pineda mentioned it again:

“It was good. I think we did a good job. We still need to work on some movement defensively that sometimes wasn’t sharp enough but I think we are in a good way to improve that.”

The tangent at which Pineda’s answers unremittingly flew suggests that he will be the new Conductor in midfield; orchestrating, leading by example, talking and of course waving and pointing.

That should come as a relief to those fans worried about the massive hole Evans’ departure leaves in midfield.

Certainly Pineda brings bags of experience and given that Evans used to rely on hands rather than words to be heard above the noise level, language should not be an issue although Pineda’s English is very good indeed.

There are of course bigger tests than FC Tucson to come.

But for now, it seems that Sounders midfield organisation will be in …. safe hands!

Odd fact: The Tucson line up had not only its own Pineda, but a Papa too. And a Prost!

FC Tucson 0 : 6 Sounders FC – Match Report from SoundersFC.com

LINEUPS

Seattle Sounders FC: Stefan Frei (Troy Perkins 61’); Tyrone Mears (Zach Scott 69’), Brad Evans (Damion Lowe 69’), Chad Marshall (Jimmy Ockford 69’), Leo Gonzalez (Andres Correa 69’); Marco Pappa (Kenny Cooper 69’), Micheal Azira (Andy Rose 69’), Gonzalo Pineda (Cristian Roldan 69’), Lamar Neagle (Aaron Kovar 69’); Clint Dempsey (Chad Barrett 69’), Obafemi Martins (Kevin Parsemain 69’)

Substitutes not used: None

FC Tucson: Pat Pablete; Edgar Reyna, Sebastian Pineda, Michael Kafari, Ian Ramos; Andreas Acosta, Eliot Prost, Garrett Losee, Shadi Harb; Dominic Papa, Odaine Sinclair

Substitutes not used: None