ASN: Stoke Metropolis’s Freddie Anderson goals for U.S. U-20 future after January Camp

ASN’s Brian Sciaretta spoke at size with U.S. U-20 defender Freddie Anderson about his first U.S. call-up, his improvement at Stoke, his father, and his future targets that can now start with a mortgage at Cork Metropolis FC.

BY

Brian Sciaretta

Posted
February 07, 2025
8:00 AM

SHARE THIS STORY

WHEN THE RECENT January camp for the US U-20 crew received underway final month, it was an enormous alternative for Freddie Anderson. The central defender from Stoke Metropolis was making his debut for the Stars & Stripes solely shortly after buying his first American passport.

Born and raised in England, many individuals there know Anderson by way of his father, Viv Anderson, who was a longtime participant with England’s nationwide crew and who performed with a number of high golf equipment together with Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, and Manchester United.

However the youthful Anderson is making an attempt to chart his personal course. He’s now growing at his membership, Stoke Metropolis, and can spend the 2025 on mortgage with Cork Metropolis within the Irish Premier Division. Freddie and Viv have a really shut bond and even with Freddie taking part in for a unique nation, his father was equally excited for the chance for his son to play for the US.

“I always say my dad is one of the most important figures in my footballing career,” Anderson informed American Soccer Now from the U.S. U-20 crew’s January camp. “He gives me lots of tips and advice and you can’t really argue with him when he tells you something. He’s been there and he’s done it. But he’s also very wary to not try and clash with what the coaches say. He’ll always ask me first, what the coaches are telling me and if I know why they’re telling me that. Then he’ll give his own expertise on what he thinks as well – and why. But he always tries not to clash with what the coach is telling me because he understands that they’re doing it for a bigger picture.”

“He only wants what’s best for me and we both agree this is the best opportunity for me at the minute,” he added. “And he was really happy when I got called up and he was almost as happy as me.”

The present United States U-20 crew has proven a number of promise all through this cycle and have already certified for the 2025 U-20 World Cup, which is able to start in September. In current months, the crew has defeated France, Chile, and South Korea. Breaking into that crew might be troublesome and Anderson realizes that. This crew is way deeper in central protection than in current U-20 cycles with Benfica’s Josh Wynder, Augsburg’s Noahkai Banks, and Bournemouth’s Matai Akinmboni main the way in which and others such Atlanta United’s Noah Cobb and Bayern Munich’s Grayson Dettoni additionally within the image. Of those 5 defenders, solely Dettoni was launched by his membership to play within the January camp.

However at camp Anderson was impressed with the U.S. crew’s stage and the model of play underneath head coach Marko Mitrovic the place he says central defenders are anticipated to be “brave on the ball” and to drive a excessive line.

“I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into it,” Anderson mentioned. “But I was really impressed with everything. It felt really professional. Everything is done to the highest level. Whatever I was expecting, it’s definitely blown it out of the water. The play is really good. There’s lots of talented player, especially in this camp. I only knew Keyrol Figueroa coming in. I played against him one or two times before in England. My main takeaway is that there are talented lads here and hopefully this team can do some great things.”

“Obviously, it’s not easy coming into a group where the lads have known each other for quite a long time and they’ve been in multiple camps with each other before,” he continued. “But I found the lot have been really welcoming and I found it easier to make friends. I settled into the group pretty well. It’s been quite a smooth transition.. I think Marko is a really good coach. He’s really intense and he gives very little good details in his instructions, which I really like.”

Anderson’s call-up wasn’t shocking to him as he was conscious the federation was scouting him and was ready for him to lastly receive his American passport. His citizenship stems from his American mom, and he has visited the US a number of occasions together with his grandfather nonetheless dwelling in Virginia. He additionally holds Jamaican citizenship.

When requested about how he knew U.S. Soccer knew about him within the first place, he says “I don’t actually know, to be honest” however believes it was by way of household reaching out.

“It’s a weird one,” Anderson mentioned of the method of becoming a member of the U.S. setup. “I’ve known I’ve been eligible to play with them for a while. Obviously you can’t play unless you’ve got a passport. Only this past year I got around to getting it all done. I had a few meetings with some people at U.S. Soccer, and I told them that my passport was done. That’s when they said they could watch me a bit more closely and choose if they want to select me for a camp. Obviously, it happened for me and I’m really grateful. I’ve been on the on the fringes with England and been called up to Jamaica before, so I was hoping to get called up because the setup with U.S. Soccer is amazing. It’s a great country which is hopefully going to go on to do some great things at big tournaments.”

Transferring ahead, Anderson faces an enormous upcoming season within the Irish Premier Division with Cork Metropolis. His season at Stoke Metropolis was going nicely with the U-18 and U-21 groups, however finally the membership felt he was prepared for a mortgage that will introduce him to common first crew minutes.

The excessive level for him professionally got here earlier this season when he earned the beginning for Stoke Metropolis in a Carabao Cup match away in opposition to Carlisle United. In that recreation which was his skilled debut, Anderson scored within the forty eighth minute to open the scoring of a 2-0 win.

“It’s my first season breaking into the first team,” Anderson mentioned. “I made my debut in all 17. I think I was the youngest goal scorer for Stoke post 1960s. I scored on my debut, which was amazing. After that I was back with the U-21’s, which is amazing being the captain. It’s a learning curve. Obviously, we’re playing in a tough league, so we played against top players every week, so I’m developing every game.”

Making the World Cup crew might be troublesome, however the brand new begin date for the match in late September doubtless signifies that many gamers won’t be launched. That can doubtless pressure Mitrovic to have a a lot bigger participant pool than earlier U-20 cycles and there might be situations the place he has to dig deeper.

“Obviously, everyone here wants to be in that final team that goes to the World Cup,” Anderson mentioned of the U-20 World Cup. “I’ll say to me personally, I really want to go to that. It would be big and it would be a great experience, especially this only being my first camp. Hopefully fingers crossed. I’ll give it my best and we’ll see what happens.”