It may be six days into the month, but it really did take this long to decide who I'd name my Player of the Month for March. It is in part because there were a fair number of candidates, but that few really stood above the rest played its part as well. But decide I have, even if it took a bit longer than it perhaps should have.
My decision came down to a short list of players: Nick Rimando, Tony Beltran, Jamison Olave, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert (our defense has been very good, by and large), Sebastian Velasquez, Ned Grabavoy. Why have I ended up on the player I've ended up on? Read on and you, too, can follow my broken thought process.
Nick Rimando was the solid goalkeeper we know he is. He kept us in match after match after match. He's massively important to our season and our club.
Tony Beltran soldiered through a brief injury spell to keep the club's back line solid, and he did it quite well at that. With the transfer of veteran Robbie Russell, this is not the only time he'll be required to soldier on.
Jamison Olave has been at his domineering best, shouldering attackers away from challenges, heading out of the defense, and generally looking as good as he's ever looked. If he can maintain this sort of form and remain without major injury, we'll be looking good.
Chris Schuler is continuing quite admirably in his development and looks every bit the first-team player. Were Nat Borchers to suddenly disappear (don't do that, Nat!) we would still have a strong defense — though, of course, there's only one Borlave.
Chris Wingert rounds off our defense, and while he hasn't been dazzling or tricky, he's been effective and solid in no small measure. His passing's been precise, which is important at the back but doubly important up front — we don't need our wing backs getting stuck up front and losing the ball, do we?
Sebastian Velasquez has set the world alight, starting in his first three professional matches and showing himself as a creative attacking force. He has much work to do in his ongoing development, but if he continues as he's started, we'll have quite a player on our hands.
Ned Grabavoy rounds off my short list for his newfound attacking movement. The number of times we've found him bursting behind defenders has been staggering — now he just needs to finish those shots and we'll be sitting pretty.
* * *
With a list like that, how do you pick? Never mind that, I have. Jamison Olave, you're my man this month.
Olave has battered attackers in ways only he knows how. It's always delightful to see forwards get upset, flail around at the referee, and protest as heartily as they can — especially when there's nary a foul to be seen. I'm not sure how exactly he manages it, as I'm not a professional footballer and unskilled in the dark arts (or light arts, or something) of defense. Still, what a guy, eh?
And while we've conceded four goals, none have been particularly down to The Verb's defending. While he does perhaps lack a bit in defense-organization, he makes up for it in speed, skill and strength.
If we're to speak of his statistics, we can see that he's been solid. It's more than just an impression thing. In March, he had a 100% tackle rate (6/6, according to Opta data), had 14 interceptions (quite good — an average of 3.5 per match!), and cleared the ball 23 times. Now, perhaps that speaks to a lack of cover for the defenders, but you judge your defenders at the best of times and the worst of times. Clearly, this is somewhere in-between, but Olave's form has been impeccable.
Throw on the fact that he's finally joined the ranks of Twitter, and you're left with a nice little cherry on top. Long may this form continue.
Comments