Sean Johnson named to MLS Team of the Week

David Villa is still David Villa. New York City FC’s 2017 campaign doesn’t feel at all like the first two, and for one special reason in particular: the Boys in Blue are finding ways to get it done at the back. And their last man, Sean Johnson, is playing and outsized role.

NYCFC is shucking off its reputation for eminent leakiness before our eyes. They’re allowing at tidy average of 1.1 goals per game. Only Dallas and KC have allowed fever goals overall on the year, while their +7 goal differential is bested only by first-place Toronto.

Johnson has impressed not just by his penchant for timely saves, but also for his willingness to buy into Patrick Vieira’s build-from-the-back playing style, which wasn’t necessarily considered a given heading into the season. The league is beginning to take notice, with news dropping today that SeanJohn made it on to Major League Soccer’s Team of the Week.

MLS TEAM OF THE WEEK #11

GK: #SeanJohn

DEF: Oguchi Onyewu (Philadelphia), Jelle Van Damme (LA Galaxy), Marlon Hairston (Colorado)

MID: Diego Fagundez (New England), Justin Meram (Columbus), Alex (Houston),

FWD: Tosaint Ricketts (Toronto), Nemanja Nikolic (Chicago), Haris Medunjanin (Philadelphia), David Accam (Chicago)

BENCH: Romain Alessandrini (LA Galaxy), Dominique Badji (Colorado), Latif Blessing (Sporting KC), Alex Bono (Toronto), Shkelzen Gashi (Colorado), Julian Gressel (Atlanta), Brandon Vincent (Chicago)

MANAGER: Greg Vanney (Toronto)