ASN: After breakout 2017, Miazga sees brilliant 2018

There’s quite a lot of uncertainty relating to the course of the US nationwide crew for the time being as there is no such thing as a head coach and no technical director. However no matter whoever ultimately takes cost, Matt Miazga has a great opportunity to be an enormous a part of the crew’s future.

BY

Brian Sciaretta

Posted
December 22, 2017
3:15 PM

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AS 2017 DRAWS TO A CLOSE, the arrival of one other 12 months is welcome information to American soccer followers who wish to flip the web page of a troublesome interval and look in the direction of the long run. Luckily there are many life like cause for American followers to be hopeful this time of 12 months.

There isn’t any query that 2017 was 12 months for Matt Miazga who established himself as a primary crew soccer participant in Europe the previous 12 months. He’s not alone both as many different younger gamers have additionally stepped up.

Miazga, 22, was probably the greatest defenders in MLS with the New York Crimson Bulls in 2015 and his standout efficiency on the U-20 World Cup that 12 months attracted curiosity from Premier League groups. In 2016 he sealed a transfer to Chelsea and made a pair of appearances. Within the second half of the 12 months he started the primary of two loans to Vitesse within the Eredivisie however nonetheless didn’t see common minutes.

However in 2017 all that modified. Early within the 12 months, he broke into Vitesse’s beginning lineup and helped it win the Dutch Cup for the membership’s first ever main trophy. Then at the beginning of the 2017/2018 season he continued to begin in each Eredivisie and Europa League video games towards opponents similar to Lazio and Good. With yet one more sport remaining in 2017, Miazga has already eclipsed 3000 minutes performed this calendar 12 months for Vitesse throughout three high competitions.

“This year has been very good in terms of getting a lot playing time and continuing to develop and get better as a player,” Miazga instructed American Soccer Now from Holland. “I had a lot minutes in 2017 in league play and international play. Continuing to improve is the most important thing and you do that by playing regularly – not just once but twice a week, sometimes even three games. Getting that experience is different than just playing once a week. With Europa games, Cup games, and League games, there is a lot of pressure to consistently perform.”

But when 2017 was establishing himself as an everyday European footballer, 2018 will doubtless result in much more change for the New Jersey native. In June his mortgage to Vitesse will expire and he’ll return to Chelsea. This summer season he’ll both attempt to break into one of many world’s largest golf equipment or go on one other mortgage – most definitely it will be at the next degree of Vitesse.

“You always have uncertainty as to where you’ll be after this season,” Miazga stated. “At the end of the day, you’re hear on loan so you have to perform well and then you go back to your parent club in Chelsea. Then who knows? You stay for preseason and fight for a spot in that squad or maybe the next opportunity will be another loan at against higher competition. Right now, I think everything is going according to plan. Chelsea is very happy with me. I am confident with how everything is going and everyone has their own journey and path to reach the top.

In Holland, Miazga is happy with his development. He is now playing left central defense as opposed to the right side where he played with the Red Bulls. That has forced him to improve his left foot and he is now more versatile in his ability to distribute out of the back. More importantly, however, the coaching staff believes he is growing into a leadership role and taking on more responsibility. 

Miazga is also in constant communication with the coaching staff at Chelsea that monitors his progress via an app they created to track the stats and analytics for all of the many players the club has on loan. Then once every month and a half, the Chelsea sends members of its staff to watch Miazga play live and analyze matches on tape.

“I am always trying to improve every area of my game to be as complete of a player as I could be,” Miazga stated. “So my passing out of the back has gotten a lot better, same with my maturity and my leadership on the field. The manager now sees me as a leader on this team. I am trying to be that commanding defender on the field. I am experiencing all these different types of games and all these different situations.”

Internationally may be a transitional interval for Miazga. The failure of the US nationwide crew to qualify for the World Cup will doubtless have a dramatic impact on the participant pool and central protection could possibly be one of many positions most importantly reshaped.

Gamers of the earlier cycle like Geoff Cameron, Matt Besler, Omar Gonzalez, and Tim Ream might give approach to a youthful era of extremely gifted defenders. Miazga is a core member of that group however there are others. Wolfsburg’s John Brooks is essentially the most established American central defender however he has usually been injured. However Cameron Carter-Vickers is now a starter on mortgage at Sheffield United, Erik Palmer-Brown just lately signed with Manchester Metropolis, Justen Glad is without doubt one of the high younger defenders in MLS and gamers like Walker Zimmerman and Tim Parker might get a glance in January camp.

Irrespective of who the following coach is for the U.S. crew, he may have a plethora of gamers to select from within the backline and Miazga believes that competitors shall be an enormous profit.

“There are a lot of good players up and coming and establishing themselves in European football,” Miazga stated. “I am really good friends with Cameron. We’ve been partners for quite a while since the U-20 World Cup qualifiers in 2015 through the U-20 World Cup and U-23 qualifying. Now we started a senior team game together.”

“But on the national team, it is a friendly competition for spots. It’s the best players in the country fighting for time. There are a lot of good young defenders. In the end, it makes everyone better. That’s football and it’s nothing personal. Off the field, we get along.”

However it’s a troublesome time proper now for all American gamers, not simply people who had been a part of the failed qualifying effort. There’s very littler certainty relating to the course of program as there is no such thing as a males’s head coach, no technical director, and a lame-duck federation president. It in all probability won’t be till the summer season when the boys’s program begins to take form.

Miazga was a part of the U.S. nationwide crew roster for November’s pleasant towards Portugal and had a standout efficiency within the 1-1 draw with Portugal and he’ll doubtless proceed to be part of the transitional interval. It doesn’t matter what, he believes that higher instances are forward.

“In football you have to look forward, you can’t dwell on the past. You can learn from you’re mistakes, look in the mirror, take responsibility, and then look forward,” Miazga stated. “Against Portugal, that’s what we did. [Interim coach] Dave Sarachan did a really good job of establishing a really good vibe. Dave told us beforehand that anytime you wear a U.S. jersey, it’s an honor and it’s a privilege. He told us to go out and play with heart and that’s what we did.

“I think everyone is looking forward to it seeing how it all unfolds: who the next president is going to be and who will be the coach. But in the meantime, I just have to control what I can control and that’s play my best football, and continue to grow as a player and person. If I continue to do that, no matter what happens on the technical side of things, I know that everything else will work out for me and fall into place.”