Zavaleta’s sound game boon for TFC
Defender part of sturdy backline for Eastern Conference champs facing his old Seattle squad
TORONTO — Eriq Zavaleta is the lone member of Toronto FC’s roster that has history with the Seattle Sounders, the opposition in Saturday’s MLS Cup final.
And the 24-year-old defender, who has found a home in Toronto as part of a tenacious three-man backline, has mixed feelings about his short time in the Pacific Northwest.
Taken 10th overall by Seattle in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, ironically using a pick acquired from Toronto, Zavaleta was initially excited to be headed to the Sounders. Coach Sigi Schmid played with his father Carlos at UCLA and Zavaleta saw Seattle as an exciting soccer town.
Signed to a Generation Adidas contract by the league, Zavaleta gave up his last two years of college eligibility. And he arrived as the Big Ten offensive player of the year with 18 goals and four assists in helping Indiana win the NCAA title.
“It was cool for me to be drafted there as my first club,” Zavaleta said of Seattle. “I don’t think the experience went exactly as I had planned it, for sure.”
While Zavaleta scored 28 goals for the Hoosiers, he spent time as a defender growing up.
“We weren’t really sure which position I was going to play (in Seattle). We flip-flopped a couple of times,” he recalled. “I came in there initially as centre back. Didn’t have the greatest of pre-seasons, if I’m honest. And then was immediately transferred back to playing forward and I thought I got better as the year went on.”
He made just five appearances with the Sounders, spending 31 minutes on the pitch.
“Not nearly as much as I would have liked,” he said. “I think after that they just sort of gave up on me, to be honest. They loaned me out to Chivas (USA) and said, ‘Let’s see what he can develop into there.’ ”
Schmid had told Zavaleta prior to the 2014 season he was going to be loaned out. The coach’s preference was as a forward with the North American Soccer League’s Indy 11 in Zavaleta’s hometown of Indianapolis. But Zavaleta wanted to stay in MLS.
Chivas USA was interested and coach Wilmer Cabrera knew Zavaleta from his time in the U.S. under-17 residency program in Bradenton, Fla. Plus Chivas wanted him at centre back. Schmid gave Zavaleta the choice. “I felt like I was centre back, I felt like my higher ceiling was as a centre back. And Chivas was in the MLS at the time. It was another opportunity for me to play at that level and get comfortable at that level.”
In 2014, he saw 1,323 minutes of action in 17 games with Chivas in California, where he lived two blocks from the beach.
“I got better every game. By the end of my stint at Chivas, (I) felt confident that I could play in this league.”
But not in Seattle. He never wore a Sounders uniform again as Seattle traded Zavaleta to Toronto in January 2015 for a second-round pick in the 2016 draft.
“Seattle — and Sigi — tried to do right by me by sending me to Toronto,” said Zavaleta, whose only beef is the Sounders did not give him the chance he believes he deserved there.
He found family in Toronto in the form of head coach Greg Vanney, his uncle who had played under Schmid at UCLA and the L.A. Galaxy.
Zavaleta has worked hard to push aside those family ties to prove he’s here “because I deserve to be here and because I can help this team win.”
He has done just that, battling a gaggle of centre backs to join Nick Hagglund and veteran Drew Moor in Toronto’s back three.
If anything, Zavaleta believes Vanney has been tougher on him because of the blood bond. But he says it has helped make him a better player.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder has been bothered by a nerve problem in his foot for several months, but has played through it.
Seattle has several players with ties to Toronto.
Goalkeeper Stefan Frei spent his first five seasons in Toronto before joining Seattle in 2014. Seattle midfielder Nathan Sturgis (14 games in 2011) and forward Herculez Gomez (seven games in 2015) also spent time in a Toronto uniform.
Zavaleta remains friends with Seattle striker Clint Dempsey, who will miss Saturday’s championship game due to an injury. Chad Marshall and Brad Evans are also friends.