Steady Trapp set to play 100th game
On most soccer clubs, the defensive midfielder isn’t much of a numbers person.
The so-called holding midfielder has a good chance of being the team’s leader
in touches, passes and passing accuracy, but unless something peculiar happens, he won’t deliver a winning goal or assist.
A holding midfielder makes his money in the buildup. As Crew SC midfielder Wil Trapp sat in a diner this week on North High Street, some 10 miles from where he grew up in Gahanna, he said he was flattered but didn’t put too much stock in the latest number put before him. In the likely event Trapp takes the field at Mapfre Stadium tonight for a game against Toronto FC, the 24-year-old will log his 100th appearance in Major League Soccer.
It’s an achievement, to be sure, Trapp said, but one he won’t ponder for long. He referenced Ryan Giggs, a midfielder who logged more than 600 appearances over two-plus decades with Manchester United, to illustrate the bucket to which he can now contribute a hard-earned drop.
“I don’t like to be satisfied,” Trapp said. “It’s a great honor, it’s wonderful, but it’s certainly nothing that I’m going to hang my hat on.”
A nice, round number does, however, allow Trapp the opportunity to reflect on the moments and games that got him to 100, such as the first one — July 7, 2013, against the Portland Timbers. Trapp, who signed with the Crew in December 2012, had recently wrapped up playing in the U-20 World Cup in Turkey. The Crew was headed home from a midweek game in Los Angeles against the Galaxy.
The day before the game, Trapp said he received a text from Crew defender Danny O’Rourke.
“He texted me: ‘You ready for tomorrow?’ And I was just like ‘What?’ ” Trapp said.
Trapp recalls being excited and a little nervous, but not overwhelmed. Two years at Division I soccer powerhouse Akron and a recent tournament on the world stage had prepared him. He quickly proved his worth, starting the latter half of the 2013 season and then quickly established a rapport with new boss Gregg Berhalter, hired as coach in November 2013. Trapp laughed as he remembered Berhalter’s piercing eye contact in one of their early meetings.
“I’m like 20 years old and this guy won’t take his eyes off me. Like, ‘Dude, look away,’ ” Trapp said. “I couldn’t be happier and couldn’t have fallen into a better situation.”
In implementing a style of play that emphasizes building out of the back, Berhalter said it was evident early that Trapp would play a key role.
“I think from early days we realized Wil is a
Defender Drew Moor will not make the trip after being diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. … Jozy Altidore and Justin Morrow lead Toronto FC with two goals apiece. … Toronto is 1-0-2 in road games this season.
special player,” Berhalter said. “I think the way he approaches the game is great. He’s a very easy player to coach and is a pleasure to work with.”
Trapp offered another qualifier to the 100 appearances milestone: “I would have liked to have it sooner, let’s be honest.”
Trapp credits early diagnosis and intervention for limiting the effects of the second of his two concussions, suffered in August 2016. But the first, sustained in practice early in the 2015 season, protracted what looked like a promising Both teams are looking for some sort of spark. Will midfielder Federico Higuain and defender Harrison Afful be ready to play, and can the Crew regain its rhythm after suffering its first shutout of the season last week at Chicago? Toronto has not yet lost but only has seven points to show for its five-game unbeaten streak. season.
Cleared for return, he played a half against Vancouver on April 8, 2015, but didn’t feel right, came out and didn’t see the field again until late June. The hardest part of the first major absence of his pro career, Trapp said, was the unknown of how a concussion would impact his daily life. Also difficult was a sense of missing his team.
Doctor visits and rehab kept Trapp busy, but because he so relished his time with teammates, it often was little things that stung, like returning to training to find he wasn’t up to speed on the latest inside joke.
Or in a more specific instance, when he arrived at the Crew training facility only to find the team instead went go-karting to reward a nice win the previous weekend.
“I show up and no one is there and it’s like, ‘Ah, all right,’ ” Trapp said. “When you’re injured and you’re not in with the group, it’s really hard because you don’t feel like you’re a part of it.”
Concussion-free since a late September return from his second concussion, Trapp said he doesn’t fear further injury. He has been healthy through the first six games of the 2017 season and it’s clear he continues to be central to the Crew’s philosophy.
Berhalter named him captain on March 2. A contract extension that will keep Trapp with the Crew through 2020 came less than two weeks later. A little more than a month into his captaincy, Trapp believes trust has continued to build within the team, as has the quality of the average player. With effort, belief and humility, he said the 2017 Crew is capable of beating any team in MLS.
“It’s really just keeping that ship as right as possible and not getting too high and not getting too low,” said Trapp, the holding midfielder providing the steadying leg.