How a ‘hunger’ and team-first approach have earned Leo Chu a Sounders starting spot

TUKWILA — If in need of an example of how to respond when given an opportunity to play, watch Leo Chu.

The Sounders were down six players — three starters — due to international call-ups when they traveled to play Sporting Kansas City in March. Chu was called on at left winger to make his first start of the season, accounting for four assists in the 4-1 win.

And the Brazilian has yet to let go of the spot in the lineup.

In fact, Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer rarely shares who’s going to get the nod each week. But when Seattle (5-2-1) hosts Minnesota (3-2-2) at Lumen Field on Saturday, Schmetzer was clear, “Leo is going to start, for sure.”

Sounders keeper Stefan Frei said Chu’s evolution started in preseason training camp. In addition to being newly married, expecting his first son and showcasing a fresh hairstyle, Chu was stronger and displayed a better understanding of Seattle’s system.

“He showed that he was hungry to get minutes,” Frei said. “When the minutes arrived at first a bit sparingly, he was willing to do what the team needed, which was really nice. He’s an attacking-minded player, but I remember his first few games [this season] getting subbed in and doing a lot of defensive work.

“That’s the hunger to get on the field; ‘coach what do you need from me, I’ll do it.’ Now that he’s been starting a few games, it’s trying to maintain that.”

Through helping defensively, Chu has been able to use his quickness to work alongside forward Jordan Morris to create goals for the Sounders. Morris was the benefactor of the four assists against SKC, teammate Nico Lodeiro providing the primary assist on one goal. Morris and Chu connected the following week against the LA Galaxy.

“It was funny because we never played together, that was the first time,” Chu said of teaming with Morris in Kansas City. The latter typically plays on the left wing but was shifted to the traditional forward position. “We both are fast and it’s easy for us.”

Morris likely won’t start against Minnesota after playing 89 minutes for the U.S. men’s national team Wednesday. He leads the league with eight goals while Chu and Lodeiro are tied atop MLS in assists with five each.

“I would always remind people that it is a team sport,” Schmetzer said. “Leo and Jordan are effective as a pair, but the team was in a good run of form and those road games were suited for their skill set when we were defending a little deeper and their ability to run in behind. … There are nuances there. I wouldn’t yet place those two in Oba [Martins and Clint] Dempsey category, but they do certainly have something. They have something.”

Chu’s magic on the ball was spotted as a youth in his native Porto Alegre, which is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. People called him “Flechinha,” which is Portuguese for “Little arrow,” after his grandfather’s favorite player Jose Tarcisio de Sousa.

Tarcisio was known as the Black Arrow for Chu’s hometown Gremio club. The striker helped the side win the Brazilian championship in 1981, the Libertadores Cup in 1983 and the Intercontinental Cup in 1983.

Chu’s late grandfather had him watch clips of Tarcisio playing and emulate some of his movements. Chu joined Gremio’s academy at age 10 and worked his way to playing for the first team at the onset of the pandemic in 2020, pantomiming shooting an arrow in honor of Tarcisio after the legend died in December 2018.

Former Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey said film and analytics led the club to offer Chu a contract because safety protocols prevented the staff from seeing him play live. After a conversation with Sounders midfielder Joao Paulo, who’s also Brazilian, Chu was ready to sign in August 2021.

The Sounders paid a transfer fee of $2.5 million to Gremio. Chu fills the U22 Initiative roster spot and he made a base salary of $550,000 last season, according to figures provided by the MLS Players Association.

It’s been a fast-paced two years for Chu, 23, where he became fluent in English, settled in a new country, learned a new league and had to get used to playing before fans. The majority of his games in Brazil were behind closed doors because of the pandemic. His mother hasn’t even seen him play as a pro but is expected to make her first trip to the U.S. in May to see her son.

“Everything has changed in my life,” Chu said. “But when life is good, the game is fun. It’s easy.”