“I have to be pushing myself to be playing more, to be playing even better than last year, to try to raise the level, try to score more goals if I get opportunities to play higher up on the field and try to contribute to the team.”

Mohammed Saeid said that a couple months ago during Crew SC’s preseason. As evidenced in his two appearances this regular season, the midfielder is successfully carrying out his goals.

The Swede started for the Black & Gold last Saturday at FC Dallas, playing close to the full 90 and putting in a solid performance.

“It felt good, good for my confidence,” he says. “I feel like I was good for the whole preseason, and when I got the chance I felt that I took it, and hopefully I can keep playing.”

Saeid has taken advantage of both opportunities to make a difference on the pitch, notching his first assist in the home opener against Philadelphia. Subbing on in the 74th minute, he curled in a perfect corner to Kei Kamara’s head in the 87th to cut the Union’s lead in half. Although Crew SC drew with Dallas 1-1 and lost 2-1 to Philly, Saeid’s impact is noticeable.

“When you’re not in the starting eleven, it’s never easy,” Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter says. “So you work hard in training and you want the opportunity. And when you get the opportunity, you have to perform, and that’s what he did. That’s the best case scenario for the coaching staff, is that you have guys chomping at the bit to play, and when they actually play they do a good job.”

Where Saeid impresses most isn’t in the obvious goal column—it’s his passing accuracy. Among Crew SC’s starters in Frisco, Texas last weekend, he was the most accurate in his distribution at 89.47 percent and was the best on his team of anyone with more than four passes attempted.

He only trails Vice Captain Wil Trapp by a tenth of a percentage in passing accuracy this season at 89.23 percent (of players with more than four passes attempted), but he edges Trapp in their two shared appearances by 1.35 percent.

It’s apparent the two midfielders showcase sharp passing, and Saeid credits Crew SC’s playing style for his precision.

“We keep hold of the ball,” he says. “We don’t rush anything and that gives me time to find spaces in between midfielders, strikers that give me more space to be able to pass the ball and draw the players into me and pass it off. It all comes down to the keeper and the defenders being calm in position, which also allows me to get more space and time.”

As a team, the Black & Gold’s passing accuracy is second in MLS at 81.59 percent, only trailing Seattle at 81.75. Plus, Columbus is well above the League average of 76.41. With several players available for selection in midfield, it boosts the competition and produces a better result.

“I think that’s why they brought all the guys in,” Saeid says. “It’s good for the competition. Everyone reading the game in midfield, and you can see in training and in games that people are performing, so that’s credit to us midfielders, the team and the coach.”

It helps that Saeid is so versatile, knowing how to play multiple positions and where the ball should go. So how did he get to that point? He says it all started with a game.

“It all comes down to being technically aware of positions and it helps that at West Brom[wich Albion] Academy, we had a game which is called snake,’” he says. “That game, you start right back and you go all the way to the striker, so you get a feel of every different position and what kind of passes the other guys are expecting. I think that helped me a lot growing up.”

It helped him growing up in Sweden, developing in England and has continued to assist him in his professional career with Crew SC. Of players with over 1,000 passes last season, he finished third in MLS with 88.87 percent in the passing accuracy column. And we’ve already witnessed that same exactness from No. 8 in 2016.

“The smarter players always have to be one step ahead of the other guys. To be able to make it professionally you have to have something special. Being a couple of steps ahead will always give you the upper hand and that feels good for me.”