Editor’s note: PSP is running season reviews for each Philadelphia Union player. You can read all the reviews here.
What can we say about Sebastien Le Toux that hasn’t already been said? We’ve already told you he’s your favorite player and heaped praise on the guy all year. To call 2010 a breakout season for the Frenchman would be understatement at best. And you can point to the goals and the assists for sure, but I’d hardly say that’s why we all love Le Toux so much.
Philly is a blue collar town and the guy is a worker. Chasing down every lost cause like it could be the game winning goal. Brushing aside would be tacklers who are nipping at his heels and holding his jersey, all the while keeping the ball and never considering going to ground. The work rate is just outstanding.
But it’s even so much more than that. It’s the silly dance he does with Danny Mwanga or the heart he shows to the fans after a goal is scored. It’s the toss of those purple boots to kids in the stands and the applause for every side of PPL Park after the match. And no matter what happens from here on out with the Union, with Le Toux, with anything. Le Toux will be legendary in Philadelphia sports folklore for taking an expansion team, throwing them on his back, and working his socks off.
2010 Statistics
High Point
Low Point
Strengths
Weaknesses
Outlook
An obvious starter going into next season. The question will be where. He seemed to contribute just as well from the wing as he did up top, and with a serious lack of outside midfielders, we could see him deployed out there more.
We’ve come to expect a lot of Le Toux. It probably wouldn’t be fair to anticipate the same kind of output for 2011 in terms of stats, but here’s hoping we don’t have to. After all, I think we all know what to expect from Le Toux in every game: A guy that will go 100% for 90 minutes for as many games as there are in the season.
Not sure you mean infamous. Why would an athlete be detested or have a bad reputation for working his socks off and carrying his team? I think his low point was more of a low point for the team, and something definitely beyond his control: the injury in the USOC match against NY. After two tough loses (TFC and NY), the absolute last thing anyone needed to see was the man responsible for 4 of the team’s first 5 goals being stretchered off with a knee injury.
That injury against the Energy Drinks – I remember thinking, “We’re done.” It really was a low point for the team. (And, as I recall, a bad tackle, too.)
Infamous was a Freudian slip…Philadelphia sports and all. My terrible grammar has been corrected.