ASN: A banner yr in 2017 leaves Sargent excited for the longer term

In 2017 Josh Sargent agreed to phrases with Werder Bremen of the German Bundesliga and in addition achieved the uncommon feat of enjoying in each the U-20 and U-17 World Cups. ASN’s Brian Sciaretta spoke at size with the St. Louis native about his stellar yr and his future ambitions.

BY

Brian Sciaretta

Posted
December 13, 2017
9:55 AM

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THERE IS NO QUESTION that the top of 2017 marks a transitional and unsure interval for U.S. Soccer. The nationwide staff has no coach, no technical director, no aggressive video games on the horizon, and a lame-duck federation president. Regardless of all that, there’s a lot referred to as to which gamers will likely be a part of the rebuilding course of.

After all Christian Pulisic and John Brooks will play an enormous function. However 2017 made it clear Weston McKennie, Jonathan Gonzalez, Matt Miazga, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Tyler Adams will likely be firmly within the combine as properly.

Yet one more participant who is raring to enter into this equation is Josh Sargent who turned heads in 2017 after enjoying in each the U-17 and U-20 World Cups and can formally signal for Werder Bremen on his 18th birthday in February.

November’s pleasant towards Portugal indicated that U.S. Soccer goes to steer the nationwide staff in a youthful path shortly, even earlier than naming a everlasting coach. Regardless of not but being an expert, Sargent was surprisingly referred to as up for that sport however didn’t participate attributable to an harm.

“I’m actually very excited,” Sargent informed ASN. “I wouldn’t say it is pressure. I am looking forward to this rebuilding process because I know there is a lot of talent in this pool. I’ve had the honor of playing with a lot of the youth guys.  I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish. I think the future is really bright. I’ve had the honor of playing with a lot of the youth guys. It’s tough we didn’t qualify but I know all these young guys are looking to prove something.”

And beginning on January 1, will probably be full steam forward for Sargent who will participate in Werder Bremen’s winter break camp. That can primarily mark the beginning of his skilled profession after spending nearly all of 2017 with three totally different nationwide groups.

However like with any high younger participant, Sargent had vital choices as to the place to start his profession. He admitted that staying domestically and enjoying for Sporting Kansas Metropolis (which held his homegrown rights beneath MLS’s geographic guidelines) was an choice for him however one of many driving considerations was the dearth of enjoying amongst high younger Individuals primarily based domestically. In 2017, the one America youngsters in MLS to obtain important enjoying time had been Tyler Adams and Djordje Mihailovic.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I always told everyone I wanted to go to Europe to play because you can see those are the best teams in the world,” stated Sargent. “But as it got more and more realistic in terms of going pro, it became a long process trialing at clubs. I went to K.C. here. I had to see what was best for me and I talked to my mom and dad for a while and we decided that the best option was for me to go to Europe.”

“MLS was definitely an option for me at first. It would have been nice. Everyone speaks English and it’s only three hours away. But I believe in life you have to do what is hard for you in order to build yourself as a person. When you look at MLS, you don’t see many young players getting minutes. But Weston and Christian are getting minutes. I don’t know how you can refuse that.”

However it was additionally not nearly staying domestically vs. going overseas. Sargent had numerous European choices after trialing with PSV Eindhoven, Stuttgart and Schalke. In the long run he selected Werder Bremen, a membership that’s presently flirting with the relegation zone. The membership additionally made a managerial change in October and has scored simply 11 objectives by 15 video games.

Sargent, nevertheless, was pondering large image with Werder and felt at residence with the membership straight away. Total the prospect of relegation didn’t concern him and he’s assured it’ll stay within the Bundesliga. The brand new supervisor, Florian Kohfeldt, beforehand managed Werder Bremen’s U-23 staff and is accustomed to Sargent.

“When I looked all these clubs, they were all such great teams,” Sargent recalled. “But what set Werder apart is that there was such a ‘homey’ feeling. When I went there, I could tell in my heart that this the place. The coaching staff was very nice and welcoming to me. Werder isn’t doing too well but the fans are amazing and are still attending every game. It’s an amazing atmosphere. The city is amazing, same with my teammates. I just loved it when I went there.”

As a local of St. Louis, Sargent was a product of the famed Scott Gallagher Soccer Membership that has produced elite gamers comparable to Taylor Twellman, Tim Ream, Will Bruin, Brad Davis, Pat Noonan, Steve Ralston, Mike Sorber – all of whom have performed for the USA nationwide staff. Kevin Kalish was the Sargent’s coach at Scott Gallagher from across the age of 11 by 16 and performed a giant function in his improvement.

“You could tell at a very young age he moved extremely well,” Kalish stated. “He had tremendous insight and a great mentality. He was just a natural finisher and a goal scorer. While we helped with his development with the environment we put him in, he definitely was extremely naturally gifted. We’ve had a lot of tremendous players come through the club and Josh would be right up there with the best of them in terms of where we thought he would project out at.”

“Not to put pressure on Josh, but I just feel he has the physical profile that fits the Bundesliga well,” Kalish added. “He’s a player that can deal with the physicality of the game but also he’s technical and intelligent enough to play that style.”

After all there’s additionally one other big a part of his profession past Werder Bremen and that’s the United States nationwide staff. Wanting forward Sargent is aware of that he’s nonetheless eligible for the U-20 staff and isn’t against returning to that staff for the 2019 U-20 World Cup however for now he’s centered on the senior staff.

“I hope to be playing up with the big boys from now on” he says whereas laughing however shortly provides: “I have to prove myself each day – first with Werder and then with the national team. I hope to do the best I can and hopefully the coaches believe in me and let me play as much as possible.”

Along with signing with Werder Bremen, Sargent was nominated final week by U.S. Soccer for its Younger Male Participant of the Yr together with Jonathan Gonzalez, Tyler Adams, Tim Weah, Luca de la Torre, and Erik Palmer-Brown. If the only real standards was worldwide play, Sargent would most likely simply win after enjoying in two World Cups and scoring 12 worldwide objectives in 15 official video games between the U-17 and U-20 nationwide groups.

“It’s quite a feat and it’s not something that happens often,” Kalish stated. “But there are so many variables that go into all of this. I don’t know that I’d use the word surprised because I thought he had the ability, but to have all of it work together and come to fruition is just a tremendous feat for him. He seized the moment and actually performed.”

However trying again on 2017, Sargent acknowledges it’s lot to absorb. He is aware of that in a single yr he achieved feats that few others have.

“The World Cups were two different experiences as a whole,” Sargent stated. “Going into the U-20s, I didn’t know if I’d even play but it turned out very well for me. But going in there I was just going for the experience to start, to see where I am against them. Then going from the U-20s to the U-17s, there were a lot of expectations since I did well with the U-20s. But I knew at the same time I couldn’t worry about that. I just had to do the best I could and help lead the team since I had the experience of going to a World Cup.”

“It has definitely been an amazing experience for me,” he added reflectively. “It’s been pretty hectic going from one plane to the next but I feel pretty honored. Not a lot of kids are able to do that. I’d redo it if I could. It’s been a great year.”