Edwin Cerrillo’s role changed this season with the Galaxy.
Instead of being part of a midfield rotation with the likes of Gaston Brugman and Mark Delgado, Cerrillo, 24, had all eyes on him this season after Brugman was traded to Nashville SC and Delgado was moved to LAFC.
“From the first moment that I got here, it was a new opportunity for me from Day One,” Cerrillo said. “I took it head on and I wanted to make that (defensive midfield) position mine.
“Last year, I was sharing some time with Gaston (Brugman), good competition, great guy and someone who helped me and I looked up to him, but like I said I wanted that position to be mine. This year, I had a good opportunity to do so. We haven’t had the results we’ve wanted, but on a personal level, a good achievement for me. I feel it physically, but it’s all good.”
Heading into Saturday’s visit to Seattle to face the Sounders, Cerrillo has already set a personal high in regular-season minutes played (2,145). He’s started 26 of the 28 regular-season games for the Galaxy (4-16-8).
“I think I’ve grown physically, mentally, emotionally, having more games under my belt, having more experiences in bigger games as well, has helped me, just maturing,” Cerrillo said. “I’m in a position where you need to have a lot of experience and have to be everywhere at the same time, so that’s something that I’ve kind of grown into and also on the leadership side. I’m getting older too, so I can get on people and kind of make that position not only myself own, but also help others.”
Maturing in the leadership role has been the next step in Cerrillo’s growth. This season’s lineup doesn’t look like last year’s MLS championship squad. When you add in newcomers Lucas Sanabria and Elijah Wynder, both new to the Galaxy this season, that adds even more importance to Cerrillo’s job.
“I see myself a little bit in them,” Cerrillo said. “You come to the Galaxy, you’re expected to win and the standards are very high. Sometimes you feel the nerves or you don’t have the confidence. Based on my experience and me growing in my leadership ways, just talking to them and trying to get them acclimated at the beginning of the season and now, Elijah is playing alongside me in the midfield, so I’m just trying give him that confidence that I have, so ultimately we can both play good.”
Galaxy coach Greg Vanney agreed that Cerrillo’s responsibilities this year have grown, due to the changes in midfield, including the absence of Riqui Puig as he recovers from a torn ACL suffered in last year’s playoffs.
“He came in last year to show his value in the midfield,” Vanney said. “His ability to be kind of a role player, with Riqui (Puig), Mark (Delgado) and Gaston (Brugman), was an important role for us, stay at home, appreciate the defending side of things, to get the ball to guys who need the ball when they need it. Just a very kind of a selfless role.
“He’s had to go through another year of having to adapt with the relationships that he’s had around him. The thing that we keep pushing him on is reading situations and using his voice and organizing things around him. For me, there’s two kinds of players that you want players to evolve into at that position over time. There are doers who see things that need to get done and then they go try to do them and then there’s guys who are leaders in those positions and they see things that need to get done and they make sure that guys that are responsible for those things get those things done.
“The bridge we’re working to get Edwin across is to use his voice, use his ability to read situations to communicate to the players around him, to help position players and solve problems and not necessarily try to do everything.”
GALAXY at SEATTLE SOUNDERS
When: 5:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Lumen Field, Seattle
How to watch: Apple TV+ (MLS Season Pass)
