Sounder at Heart Attacking Player of the Year: Nicolás Lodeiro

There were a lot of surprises in the year of 2020 but one thing managed to stay consistent, Nicolás Lodeiro being a key part of the Seattle Sounders’ offensive success. Probably the most important attacking piece in MLS since he joined the Sounders in 2016, Lodeiro has been nothing but a home run for Seattle — and that continued in 2020. He has always been appreciated by Sounders fans but it took until this past season for him to finally make the league MVP finalist list after posting 7 goals and 10 assists over 20 matches this season.

It’s hard not to sound redundant while praising the Uruguayan international. We all know how good he is but even then maybe we don’t appreciate him enough. The linchpin to Seattle. The captain. Our everything. Our 2020 Sounder at Heart Attacking Player of the Year with 47.2% of the vote. Nico Lodeiro. Do a butt-slap to celebrate, you’ve earned it.

It’s easy to forgot the beginning of this season, but Lodeiro didn’t play in the first two league matches or the Concacaf Champions League before lockdown. However, he was able to nearly match his 2019 production of 7 goals and 12 assists in eight fewer league starts. An impressive output to say the least.

Perhaps this year the attacking duties throughout the squad were more spread out. Lodeiro wasn’t the only Seattle attacker who nearly won league MVP. Homegrown superstar Jordan Morris also found himself in the awe of the league, as well as our voters. He finished the voting with 23.3% of the total vote.

We can’t have a player of the year discussion without bringing up our Peruvian goalscorer, Raúl Ruidíaz. The deadly striker managed to score twelve goals in just seventeen regular season matches. That hit rate was good enough to secure 29% of our year end poll voting.