Roger Levesque

At the start of the season the Sounders starting forwards were Blaise Nkufo and Fredy Montero. During the off-season the team protected Mike Fucito from being picked in the expansion drafted and also added O'Brian White in the off-season. 2009 starting forward Nate Jaqua was back and expected to be healthy after missing much of 2010 hurt. Pat Noonan was still on roster after missing much of last season hurt as well. The Sounders also had 2 younger players in David Estrada and Miguel Montano who could play forward.

All of these players mentioned are forwards, thats 8 players other than Roger Levesque listed at forward (Steve Zakuani is also listed as a forward, but he doesn't play either of the 2 forward positions in the Sounders default formation, he is normally on the left wing), and head coach Sigi Schmid has used Brad Evans as a forward in the past. Counting Evans that makes 9 other players that Sigi could use at forward, 6 or 7 of them would likely be above Levesque on the depth chart, so what to do with him? In Friendly matches before the start of the season Levesque spent most of him time on the field at right back. The depth at forward caused the team to change his position. I can speculate that Levesque was only on the team at the start of the year because he is somewhat of a fan favorite and with his 5 seasons with the USL Sounders had been a nemesis of the new MLS expansion team and arch rival in the USL Portland Timbers.

Fast Forward to mid July and Levesque has made 4 starts and 13 total appearances. How?

• Blaise Nkufo retires, announced on day of the opening game
• O'Brian White acquires blood clot problem, continued complications with it throughout season
• Nate Jaqua has had fitness issues and has rarely been counted on to start and finish any game
• Brad Evans has missed significant time with injury
• Steve Zakuani's broken leg has restriced Sigi from using midfielder Mauro Rosales as a center forward
• Pat Noonan hasn't made an appearance until July, still recovering from injury
• David Estrada and Miguel Montano have been reserved for, uh, reserve league

So Levesque has actually had to play, he is a scrappy player and is not getting any younger at 30 years old, but has always shown clinical finishing and a hustle that earns him a few more chances at goal. He doesn't have nearly the skill of Montero or speed of White, but he is getting results (he has recorded 3 goals and 2 assists) and making it hard for Sigi to choose Fucito over him.