After Sounders FC training on Wednesday, Head Coach Sigi Schmid approached Brad Evans and asked his captain how things are going individually. Schmid’s side is seven games into the season, the point when he originally said he wanted to evaluate the play of Evans in his new centerback role.
Evans has played several different positions during his career – including stints at centerback on the international stage – but this is his first season as part of the middle of the backline for Seattle. The 30-year-old has played every minute of the campaign so far at centerback, guiding his club to a 4-2-1 record and a league-leading 0.71 goals against average.
“I think he’s still learning, still improving. He feels a lot more comfortable at the position, so I’m happy with it,” Schmid said Wednesday. “There’s still more tests to come and probably a mistake or two to come, but right now, I think he’s doing more things right than wrong. I think his anticipation and reading the play have improved from the back.”
In addition to his team’s record and goals-against average, Evans has the individual numbers to back up Schmid’s complimentary remarks.
After winning an impressive 2.8 aerial duels per game as an outside midfielder in 2014, Evans is up to 3.7 per contest this season. To put that in context, last year Chad Marshall finished first in the league with a slightly higher average of 4.3 aerial duels won per match. Evans has also yet to receive a yellow card in 630 minutes of action and has completed nearly 80 percent of his passes (all stats courtesy of WhoScored.com).
Thus, he and his teammates agree with Schmid in that things are going pretty well.
“I don’t think we’re quite where we want to be yet, but to be able to grind out results and get shutouts along the way is a good sign early in the season,” Evans said. “The good part about this group is that we’re all putting in the work to get better. Guys are noticing their errors and trying to fix them as best they can…There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we’re in a decent spot right now.”
Added fellow defender Tyrone Mears: “I think he’s shown already that it’s going to be no problem for him to play [centerback] for a long time.”
Schmid originally thought about moving Evans to centerback when the two chatted on the phone during the offseason. They agreed that it would be in the best interest of the team and Evans’ future.
This weekend, in what could be the toughest challenge of his early days as a centerback, Evans and the Sounders face David Villa and New York City FC. Though he could be hampered by the hamstring injury that kept him out of the last two games, Villa remains arguably one of the most prolific strikers in the world.
“You always want to test yourself against the best players, and he’s one of them,” Evans said. “Even if he’s 75-percent, he’s still going to make you work. …It’s a great test for all of us.”
Sunday’s match is set to kick off at 4:00 p.m. PT with national television coverage on FOX Sports 1.
