Even though Chad Marshall had already clocked 10 full MLS seasons prior to 2014, he was still one of the league's elite defenders in the years that followed. The center back was drafted second overall by the Columbus Crew back in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. He won three Supporters' Shields in Columbus, in addition to the 2008 MLS Cup. He won the MLS Defender of the Year Award in both 2008 and 2009, while also making the best XI in those years. He made the All-Star team in 2009 and 2010. His Crew career of 253 appearances was full of accomplishments in its own right, but he essentially began a whole new career in 2014.
Ahead of the 2014 MLS season, the Seattle Sounders acquired Chad Marshall in exchange for an undisclosed amount of allocation money. Whatever they paid, it was well worth it for the man widely regarded as the best CB in MLS history. He got straight back to being a top defender in the league in his first season in Seattle. He assisted a goal in two straight April matches. The first came against Chivas USA, where the ball deflected off of him straight to Lamar Neagle. The second took place in a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids. He lobbed a header up for a Clint Dempsey goal. In the very next match, he scored his first Sounders goal against Philadelphia, an important match-winner header at 84'.
The Air Marshall earned his third All-Star appearance in 2014. He once again assisted a goal against Chivas USA later in the year. At the end of the season, Marshall earned his third MLS Defender of the Year Award, a feat no one else has ever done. The Sounders also won the Supporters' Shield, which was the fourth of his career. In addition to all of these, Marshall anchored the back line to a 2014 US Open Cup title, defeating the Union in the final. He helped keep 9 clean sheets on the year. As the first seed in the playoffs, Seattle defeated FC Dallas, though lost to the Galaxy on away goals in the second round.
After what some may call a decent first season with Seattle, Chad Marshall continued his incredible defensive form in 2015. His back line held 8 shutouts. For the fourth time, he was an MLS All-Star. He did not contribute to any goals all season long, until the very last game of the year. Seattle earned a fourth place finish in the West, leading to a revenge postseason win over the Galaxy. In leg two against FC Dallas, Marshall scored to save the season with just moments to go, but Dallas ultimately sent his team packing with a 4-2 penalty kick shootout result.
During the 2016 season, Marshall found a spurt of goal scoring form, while collecting 7 more clean sheets. He opened his account on the season with a goal in Houston to equalize at one in the dying minutes. In the following fixture, Marshall scored off the corner kick on the Philadelphia Union to claim another three points. In a Cascadia Cup loss to Portland, the central defender notched the lone Sounders goal with a power header. He finished it off with a match-winner against the Chicago Fire in September. Seattle finished fourth again. They beat Sporting Kansas City, and finally FC Dallas in the playoffs. The Western Conference Final win over Colorado sent Marshall to his first MLS Cup with his new team. After a perfect defensive performance and 0-0 draw, Seattle won the final match and earned the legendary defender his second Philip F. Anschutz Trophy.
In 2017, Marshall hit double-digit clean sheets for the first and only time in his Seattle career, with 10 of them. He assisted the game-clinching goal against the Portland Timbers mid-season with a slight flick. He then added another helper during a 4-0 win over Minnesota through a lovely cross into the box. Just two weeks later, Marshall scored his only goal of the campaign on a set piece against the same Minnesota United side. The Sounders narrowly missed out on first place in the West, just by the wins tiebreakers. This did not deter them from returning to MLS Cup. They simply dominated Vancouver and Houston, but their time to get dominated came in the cup rematch with Toronto FC.
In 2018, Chad Marshall matched his single-season career high in goal scoring with 4 goals, the same as 2016. He also put one away in a CONCACAF Champions League win over El Salvador's Santa Tecla. He dished out an assist in a 2-2 draw with SKC with a flick on a long throw-in. Marshall's MLS goal scoring did not begin until the final day of June against the Timbers in the rivalry. His goals came in bunches, as he yet again scored in two consecutive August fixtures. The first came against FC Dallas off another Nicolas Lodeiro corner kick. The latter was versus the Galaxy, as he knocked home a Lodeiro curled ball in. Marshall's last ever professional goal took place in a 3-2 victory over the Houston Dynamo in October of 2018, scoring a signature header in his 400th MLS appearance. The playoff run ended before it started, losing to Portland. Despite this, at the ripe age of 35, Marshall was named a finalist for MLS Defender of the Year. This time, Aaron Long narrowly beat him out for the award, with Marshall as runner-up.
In 2019, Chad Marshall played his final 720 minutes and eight matches of soccer. His knee surgery from the previous playoffs hampered his abilities. He decided to call it quits on his career in the middle of the season. Marshall was extremely durable over the course of his career, very rarely missing games. On May 22, 2019, the career of perhaps the greatest defender Major League Soccer has ever seen, came to an end. The 2019 Seattle Sounders would go onto win MLS Cup, technically winning Marshall his third. He sits in fifth all-time in minutes played with 35,843. The resume speaks for itself, as he won virtually everything he possibly could during his MLS career. As one of the best players to touch an MLS pitch, Chad Marshall's time with the Seattle Sounders places him at #14.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS | CS |
2019 | SEA | 720 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
2018 | SEA | 2,584 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
2017 | SEA | 2,366 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
2016 | SEA | 2,634 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
2015 | SEA | 2,529 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
2014 | SEA | 2,790 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
Σχόλια