Nate Sturgis and Kofi Sarkodie hold off Colorado’s Juan Ramirez earlier this season.
Houston, Texas — In a quiet corner of the Houston Dynamo dressing room sits Nate Sturgis after the Dynamo’s emphatic win against CONCACAF Champions League finalists the Montreal Impact.
The media was swarming around Giles Barnes, Brad Davis and Rob Lovejoy, leaving Sturgis to quietly get dressed and ready to leave BBVA Compass Stadium to go home. That seems to be the way that Sturgis conducts himself both on the pitch and off of it; quiet and unassuming — years of being shuttled around 7 different clubs in Major League Soccer will do that to you — but his performances on the pitch have gone rather unnoticed by many until recently.
Making my way to the press conference after the Montreal game the usual commentary came up; “What an inspiration Rob Lovejoy was,” “they’re [Dynamo] finally taking their chances,” etc. All of which were true Rob Lovejoy enjoyed an incredible stint on the left hand side and the Dynamo were taking their chances.
But all I could think about was how good Nate Sturgis had been, not just that night, but since his inclusion in the team.
Sturgis was on the bench for the first two games of the season, and began his second spell with the Houston Dynamo in a road game versus the Los Angeles Galaxy. Sturgis was beaten by Robbie Keane on the edge of the 18 yard area covering for David Horst for the Galaxy’s goal, but made up for it when he turned in the equalizer.
Since playing 79 minutes versus LA, Sturgis has gone on to play the full 90 minutes in each of the Dynamo’s next four games, including a stellar performance against Montreal.
When Sturgis was at the Dynamo in his last spell he played a number of different positions including centre back. Sturgis is happy that he is finally playing in a position that he can call his own “I think there in the center midfield is my best position. They [Houston Dynamo] played me at center back but it was a position I couldn’t really push for more minutes in. It was where they needed me at the time. Its been good to come in and play my best position.”
When asked about Sturgis’ performances Owen Coyle was unsurprised with Sturgis’ contribution:
“Nate’s got a number attributes that we’re utilizing, if we want him to pass the ball then he can pass the ball but he’s a threat at set plays and he understands how to play the position; how to protect his centre halves and if he needs to switch the play he can do it. Positionally he helps the formation so much, I said come in and show that you can play every game and he was patient the first few games, stepped in, and he’s done very well.”
Right now it seems as though Nate Sturgis is positioned in the center of a midfield three comprised of Ricardo Clark, himself, and Luis Garrido. When asked about his role in the midfield Sturgis told Prost-Amerika “It depends how we’re playing and who we’re playing, usually one of us will take the sitting role and let the other two guys go… within the game that dictates itself.”
It’s been evident over the last four games, though that it’s Sturgis who has been that man. Since his inclusion into the team Sturgis has led the midfield in passes attempted, passes completed, aerial duels won, total duels (tackles and aerial) won, interceptions and total forward passes. He has also committed the least fouls.
Not just that, but independent statistics website “Who Scored” rates Nathan Sturgis as the Dynamo’s best central midfielder this season with a rating of 7.04. Ricardo Clark has a 6.92 rating, and Luis Garrido? a lowly 6.54.
He has been the Dynamo’s “midfield general.”
You may not have noticed, but Nate Sturgis is integral to this Dynamo team’s fortunes going forward. Watching Sturgis versus Montreal it was evident that, while unspectacular, Sturgis does all of the little things, all of the things someone at the pivot needs to excel at, all of the time. Sturgis was everywhere versus Montreal, and its no coincidence to me that as his role has grown in this team, so has the shots on target column.
It’s not just Owen Coyle that has been impressed with Nate Sturgis’ contribution so far, so has general manager Matt Jordan. Jordan spoke about how integral Sturgis is to the structure of the formation, and the style of soccer that the Dynamo are currently employing.
All of this talk reminds me of Emmanuel Petit at Chelsea. You never noticed all the good things he did. Petit was often considered an unsung hero at Chelsea. He left before the golden era and Jose Mourinho, but his partnership with Frank Lampard was one that allowed Lampard the freedom to score as frequently as he did.
Sturgis is this team’s Emmanuel Petit.
He does all the important things without making them look, or feel, important. He breaks up the play, wins the ball back, collects it from the back four and plays the ball forward — something that the Dynamo had been missing until his inclusion versus LA.
The addition of Sturgis to the partnership of Ricardo Clark and Luis Garrido has finally taken hold, and like Frank Lampard, it has allowed Ricardo Clark to get forward and get into positions to score goals.
“We’ll see!” joked Sturgis at the thought of having finally found somewhere he could finally settle, adding that he’s “not looking too far ahead. [I’m] really just concentrating on the here and now. I have a great opportunity to play — i’m just trying to take advantage of that… i’ve definitely learned you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future!”
The unassuming midfielder has had somewhat of a journeyman career so far. But if he continues to produce at the level he is, surely he will have found a home for at least another season.
Sturgis will line up in the Dynamo’s midfield this weekend versus Graham Zusi and Sporting Kansas City at the home of the Dynamo, BBVA Compass Arena. Kick off is at 7.30pm CT.
Follow Scott Nicholls on twitter: @scottnicholls
