Photo: Earl Gardner

Could it be anyone else?

After leading his club to a 4-0 home victory against Vancouver Whitecaps, Borek Dockal easily claims the crown as PSP’s Player of the Week.

Dockal received national acclaim, being named to MLS’ Team of the Week and receiving the highest Audi Index score in the league (for what that’s worth). His performance even led some national pundits to admit they were perhaps a bit too quick to judge the Czech midfielder. “Armchair Analyst” Matthew Doyle tweeted his own apology of sorts. He wasn’t the only one.

The recognition is deserved for the Union D.P., who scored twice to start off the Union’s rout of Vancouver on Saturday. The no. 10 also had five key passes and another shot on target. But his performance was more than the headlining statistics. First, his two goals were brilliant demonstrations of composure and finesse. Doubtless they’ll both be on the end-of-season highlight reel. Second, the center attacking midfielder filled his role completely. Trending to his favored right side only slightly, Dockal distributed the ball in the attacking half accurately and purposefully – precisely what the Union have been looking for since the departure of Tranquillo Barnetta over a year-and-a-half ago.

Above all, Dockal gave Philadelphia Union fans something concrete to cheer about. The Union boast some serious potential in their young players and have for sometime. But it’s been quite a while since they’ve had a player that performed so well on the field as to grab the attention of the entire league – even if just for the week. This week, Borek Dockal did just that.