After a tumultuous week in Seattle, new Designated Player Nicolas Lodeiro made his MLS debut on Sunday for the Sounders.
The Uruguayan international, expected to play an immediate role in boosting his new club's sputtering attack, had an impressive start in his first action, a 1-1 home draw against the LA Galaxy.
While the attacking midfielder did not play a direct role in Seattle's goal, scored by Cristian Roldan, the numbers indicate a promising performance.
Lodeiro was quickly the hub for his team, notching 124 total touches, the fourth-highest total this season, in addition to making a whopping 94 passes, the most for Seattle and 14th most this season.
Additionally, the chemistry with Sounders star Clint Dempsey was...say it again, promising, as the players' heat maps show the duo played in different, if complementary, places in the attacking half.
Here's Lodeiro's heat map from the game:
And here's where Dempsey played, according to his heat map.
Finally, Lodeiro and Dempsey connected from the get-go, with the Uruguayan sending the American 18 passes on the day. You can see the Lodeiro-to-Dempsey passing map here:
Benjamin Baer contributed reporting to this article.
