Seba's Revenge

I know Sebastian LeToux will never publicly admit to it, but I'm sure that Sunday's win against the Sounders felt really really good. Nothing says 'screw you' like a goal and two assists against your former team.

Sounders fans know Seba's story well. In their 2007 championship year, Seba was the league's MVP and leading scorer. In 2008, he increased his goal scoring total from 10 to 14 and finished second in the league. Along the way he became known as Mr US Open Cup. Then in 2008, he was became the Sounders first MLS signing.

Last year was not a good one statistically as Seba only scored 1 league goal. Even with his struggles in moving to Midfield most fans continued to love him because of his work rate and his constant energy. At the end of the year, the front office took a chance an left him unprotected in the Expansion Draft hoping his high salary would scare off Philly. It was a calculated risk and one that blew up in our face.

The thing the front office didn't think about was that Seba was a player who you knew would work well in Philly. In fact, he is the type of player that fans LOVE in Philly. Philly fans demand one thing from their players - effort. That's all. This will be the only time I will ever speak nicely of the city, so get ready for it. Philly fans get a bad rap. People think that winning is the only important thing. The fact is that they want players to appreciate the opportunity in front of them and work their ass off - just like any other person in the city. Looking back, LeToux was the perfect fit for this team and this city.

The results are clear - Philly fans already love him and he has 6 goals and 5 assists in 9 games this year. (both are more than any current Sounder this year) I didn't see most of the game, but it was apparent in the time I was watching that LeToux was a different player this year than last. In fact, he looked like the same player that he was in 2007/2008. He had energy, confidence and the license to be creative. Where was that last year? Did he feel to much pressure being the first Sounder? Did Sigi grossly misuse him? Was there something else going on?

It's hard to imagine that he would have the same stats if he was on the Sounders this year, but one has to believe that his impact would have been made elsewhere. One thing you can count on is for Seba to never give up - something no one can say about the Sounders this year. Not protecting LeToux in favor of Marshall was clearly a mistake. One that we are paying for right now.