Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - #254: Interview with Eryk Williamson

Episode Date: February 21, 2022

On the brink of his return from an ACL injury last August that sidelined him for all of World Cup qualifying, Portland Timbers midfielder Eryk Williamson joins the pod to talk about cold showers in the Azores and his breakout 2020 season, what he's learned from Diego Chara, why he was left off the Olympic qualifying roster and how he overcame that setback to win a trophy against Mexico in the Gold Cup.support Scuffed on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedsign up for our weekly newsletter: https://scuffedweekly.substack.com/ join the Discord: https://discord.gg/X6tfzkM8XU buy our merch: https://my-store-11446477.creator-spring.com/drop us a question at this link and we’ll try to answer it: https://forms.gle/rfzSEZJwsvnWSCxW7 Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus any bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show, plus all patrons get access to our private Discord server, live call-in shows, and the full catalog of historic recaps we've made: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedAlso, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.comAnd check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedhq.com/store Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the scuffed podcast. I'm Adam Bells in Georgia. With me is Greg Velasquez in Iowa. We talk about U.S. men's soccer. Our guest today is Portland Timbers and U.S. men's national team midfielder Eric Williamson, who is close to his return from an ACL injury he suffered at the end of August. Eric, thank you for being here, man. Thank you for having me, Adam. Anytime. I saw your interview a couple weeks back where you said you're still a little ways out from getting back on the field, still rehabbing a little bit. What's the latest on that? timeline. Yeah, I think we've sat down and evaluated where I was. My first full week of training was this week, no restrictions. I know a few weeks back, I was still, you know, getting into passing drills and getting into just little things with the team and now it's full training,

which has been good, which is obviously a step closer to the return. I think it's maybe another week or two of this, of this, you know, next phase and then trying to get in minutes from there. So hopefully, you know, two to three games into the season, trying to, you know, trying to break into the team to try and get 10, 15 minutes here and there. It seems pretty, it seems like a pretty fast recovery to me, I mean, considering the timing of the injury. Yeah, I think it's, it's moved fast. It's good to have, you know, a staff that worked so hand-on with me the entire five months. I know that. You know, I was lucky enough to stay here during the off-season and continue to rehab and making sure that, you know, every day was a step in

the right direction. We had a, you know, very eager plan once it happened to get back as soon as possible, you know, obviously as safe as possible, but also just kind of pushing those limits as well. So I think we've pushed it to a good extent. And, I mean, I feel great. It's probably the best I felt yet and it was my first full week of training. Awesome. I want to go back in time a little bit and ask you about something that I haven't seen you that you've talked about too much. You spent a few months in 2018 at C.D. Santa Clara, I think, is the club in the Azores.

Yeah. Some islands way off the coast of Portugal, for those of you listening. Like, what can you tell us about that experience? Yeah. I mean, it was, to tell you straight up, it was just different. And it was one where I didn't know any Portuguese, the closest thing to Portuguese that knew was Spanish, and Spanish isn't, you know, too close. So going there, it was the first week was absolutely beautiful. It's a big tourist island.

There's a bunch of cruise ships coming in. You know, the island was flooded with people, and it was just kind of buzzing. And facilities were definitely different from here. They weren't the best. And, you know, coming from, you know, the University of Maryland and then six months with the United States of Maryland and then six months with the United States. the timbers, you know, you get so much, you get treated so well. And I think there was just kind of a little eye-opening to see the different levels of, you know, Portuguese First Division, but not having the facilities that, you know, we have here in Portland or we had at Maryland.

And I really kind of woke up to, you know, the idea of being a pro. It was, you know, things weren't going to be the best on the field. Things weren't the best off the field. But, you know, I had to do what I needed to do to grow not only as a person, but as a player. fields were tough with my first time I think in a long time I was wearing soft grounds every single training something as simple as that but

once November came around since it was such a tourist island no one was touring so the entire the entire island essentially shut down restaurants closed there were you know three grocery stores open and it was just

you know a rough couple of months but I learned so much as a person as a pro that I think it led to a good step in the right direction when I came back in 2019. So it was a good learning experience for me, but it was definitely a different one for me. Yeah, how did it toughen you up? I heard you say somewhere that it toughened you up. Like what, what did you mean by that? Yeah, you know, I didn't have heat.

It was, you know, weather similar to Portland where it was raining a lot and, you know, it can get cold. I didn't have a dryer. It was learning learning how to watch clothes. hang out outside and, you know, try and get them dry before the rain came. And just kind of, I was there alone, essentially. It wasn't, you know, I had guys, you know, Jeremy Bobesi. I had, you know, Kendall Macintosh guys in my corner that I knew coming into Portland. That was, that kind of helped me grow into a person in Portland. But in Portugal, it was essentially me by myself. And, you know, no heat, no, no, no Wi-Fi. I didn't have phone service. I, you know, it was just going off

of Wi-Fi everywhere I went. So it was definitely eye-opening and it was, you know, one where I just knew I had to grind through it. But, you know, playing on fields that aren't the best, you kind of, you know, get that extra edge technically. And it really translated when I got back here, but also just knowing every day was a battle to get on the field, I had an idea, but going to Portugal was, you know, it wasn't speaking the same language as a coach. And something as simple as that made it made it even tougher. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I saw like on Google Maps, the field is kind of like out in the country a little bit.

Like out in the farm fields sort of? Yeah, like there was like a city that was walking. It was Puente deilada, the island I was on exactly. And it was probably close to a 10 minute drive. I didn't have a car. So everywhere I was going, I had a carpool with a teammate or I had to call a taxi. or and it's kind of an older stadium that that has history behind it but it was so far away that

like there was kind of nothing within you know five minutes at any direction of the stadium so it was very very very eye-opening it was you know showers in the cold um you know it was kind of one temperature water at all times of the year so it was you know get in and out the shower as fast as possible something as simple as that you know little little luxuries you kind of take for granted that, you know, not everyone that was kind of able to have, essentially. Man, you were living that pioneer life out there. Yeah, exactly. I felt like I went back in time a little bit, a little.

All right. Well, so in 2019, as you sort of mentioned, when you got back, you spent, well, I think you spent most of the season with the reserves. You played some MLS minutes. But then in 2020, you were basically an every game starter from the beginning of that MLS's back tournament. to the end of the season. So what clicked for you between those two seasons?

I think a little was kind of coming back from Portugal. It was like I knew that I had to make my mark. Now in my second year, I kind of knew what was being asked of me a little more. Breaking in that 2019, you know, playing a game here or there, I realized, you know, I wasn't too far off. It was just kind of taking that little next step of, you know, whether it was a little more intensity defending

or, you know, taking a little bigger role. on the ball. It was kind of figuring out what was being asked of me. And going into 2020, you know, I don't think I was home for very long. I was home for a week and I made sure that I was here working with the staff, working, you know, in the gym to make sure I was ready to go from the jump. And then obviously COVID hit. I think I was, you know, talking to Miles. I was planning to start the following game. I think it was New England away. So I knew I was that close. And once quarantine hit, it was, you know, I wasn't like, I'm going to feel sorry for myself that that chance is now gone. I was that close. And I continue to make my mark. And coming out the bubble,

I think I was just so excited to finally get out the house that it was, you know, I was buzzing in an individual training and that translated to team training. And I think from there, I kind of felt like, I was ready to make a mark. I was very optimistic of starting in the bubble. And once it came, Gio said, you know, it was a good first step, but we have ways to go. And it just kind of was knowing one performance wasn't good enough. And it was trying to build in every performance. And I think that's translated over the last, you know, 18 to 24 months.

It's been not, like, from my first game, can I improve every single game to, you know, take that next step and go to the next level. Okay. I want to ask you about Diego Chara and talk a lot about the national team. But first, let me just plug the Patreon. We are a listener-supported ad-free podcast. So if you are able, please consider supporting us on Patreon. The link is in the show notes. So, Eric, one of your teammates in Portland is Diego Chara. You know, maybe the greatest defensive midfielder in the history of MLS.

I guess it's debatable, but he's up there. what have you learned from him i mean i'm just going to go ahead and say he i think he is the greatest defensive mid player like i've never seen anything like it he's the best pro on and off the field you know he's here one of the first guys here every day with four kids and he's as happy as could be you know it's never uh you know i'm just here it's another day it's always you know today could be my last day and he and he trains like that every day and it tries like that every day and it translates to the game. You know, you look at MLS Cup final. You see what he's doing at the end of the game. You see the work he's putting in preseason. It's, you know, almost his 40th year in the league,

and he's still, you know, showing guys, you know, this is how it's done. And we've grown over time. I think we've become a lot closer than I ever expected in terms of my first year here. I was I was scared to say hi to him, and now it's, you know, I don't think I can, I can walk past them without saying hi to him again. So it's our relationship that's really, really grown. And it translated well. I think he got to trust in me that, you know, playing with him, you're always going to trust a Diego Char behind you or next to you.

And I think I started to earn his trust where you could see he started, you know, playing to another level as well where, you know, he's scoring goals. And now it's, you know, who can score more goals. and we kind of challenge each other to be better every day. And I think there's no one other than him that I could look up to and kind of idolize to be as good as he is now and have a career like he's had. So are you saying like he maybe would have been reluctant

to get forward and try to score if he didn't trust you and once he did trust you, then now he's out there trying to be a striker? Yeah, I think he sees how much fun I have with it. He's like, oh, let's try this. And it's translated well, and it's, we joke all the time. I think he had three goals last year. And, you know, I couldn't, I think it's the highest he scored maybe ever in league play. And it just was showing that he was a little more excited to get forward and a little more kind of,

he had, he had knowing that I would know when he's going forward. And if I'm not going forward, then he would do it and then vice versa. So it's been one that's, you know, second to none. You could never replace a guy like Diego Chara, but, man, it's, it's been the best, you know, 18 months with him as well. And knowing that he resigned, it's, you know, three, four more years or however longer he plays, that we continue to play together. Cool. I think I saw you say somewhere that you were a winger growing up.

Is that true? Yeah. When I went into Maryland, I went in as a winger. I think our first couple preseason games, I played winger. We changed a formation to a 4-4-2, and I played as a two-front. And, you know, I'm not the biggest guy. I was a little scrawny kid going into Maryland, so I was trying to figure out the best way to play against, you know,

six-four centerbacks. And I think it translated a little to kind of play in that attacking mid-roll as kind of a false nine with a, you know, true number nine up there with me. And then slowly with Shirley, it was then playing the 10 and then playing, you know, in a diamond midfield as one of the eight. So I was able to, you know, test the waters a little bit not only at Maryland, but with youth national teams, I think for the first two years, youth national teams, I was a winger. And it wasn't until you 20s that I went in as a, as like a dual pivot eight kind of ten,

real, well, kind of how it is with the national team. now. So it's, um, just kind of getting that experience as a winger and, and being able to have that flexibility in my game, but also if I venture out there, I'm, it's kind of familiar waters as well. I think I saw you say in a, in another interview that, uh, the thing that you had to maybe learn the most about was defense, the defensive side of the game. What are you strengths as a player right now as you see them? And what are, what are the things you're focused on working on? Yeah, I think it's just kind of being a little, you know, grittier with, you know, on the defensive side, you look at Diego Char.

I've learned a lot playing with him. You know, it's sometimes I see myself doing things that he does. And, you know, seeing him put in the tackle, it's like, well, you know, time for me to do this. It's can I try and add this to my game? And games where he wasn't in, it was, can I, you know, carry the role of Diego Char and try to be the, you know, the one putting in tackles, the one stopping counterattacks, the one that you know it's going to be hard to take. get by, but also kind of the strength of being able to keep the ball and carry the ball forward.

It's a quality I didn't necessarily try to have. I think it came naturally. And the more I've played, and the more I've been on teams, I've been trying to incorporate that into my game where I'm controlling the pace of the game or controlling the tempo of the game where guys can give me the ball and we know, okay, we're safe, we're going to slow this down or speed it up when we have to, and kind of having that flexibility of slowing it down, but also being able to, you know, drive to game forward as well. Yeah, I'll just throw some opinion of my own in there and say it's really fun to watch you glide with the ball.

Stop and start and go, you know, go past people. I think you tweeted out, you've talked about this before, but I think you tweeted out the, and I took that personally meme about your exclusion from the Olympic qualifying roster. and a lot of us fans wanted to see you on that team and not just retroactively. Like we wanted you on the team even before the tournament. Why were you left off? What reasons were given to you for that decision or were any reasons given? Yeah, I think it was just a little of coming off an ankle injury.

I wasn't the sharpest. I've learned that trying to figure out the system that Greg and Jason were playing was was one that I needed to make my own, and I think I wasn't comfortable enough with the system they were playing, and I didn't adopt it as my own. It wasn't until, you know, going into the Gold Cup or kind of after leaving the qualifying tournament, it was talking to Greg, talking to Jason, it was maybe I needed to take that role a little sooner with the Olympic team. And quite frankly, I think we just didn't see eye to eye in terms of, you know, maybe I was thinking I was doing or trying as hard as I could or, you know, portraying that I was trying hard.

And the way I play, I've, I've had people say that it looks too casual at times. And I think it's just the way that, you know, I move as a person. I can see that. And I think that's where we again didn't see eye to eye. And it was just, hey, I think it's time to get ready for. Champions League and all I could do from there was not dwell on it. Coming back here, it was talking to the technical staff. It was, hey, what did you think of camp?

You know, being able to see some of the clips from camp, what did you think of this? And we sat down and we talked about it. And it was one where I knew I wanted to push to be in the Gold Cup team. And the only thing I could do was prove everyone wrong. And essentially, I think those performances leading up to the Gold Cup did exactly that. And I think I was able to prove myself at the Gold Cup as well. That was very exciting for me, just not only being the national team, but knowing it's always been a childhood dream to represent the U.S. in a FIFA tournament. So it was definitely riding high on confidence from kind of the performances, but also just kind of a little bit of a bite, a little bit of, you know, sassiness to the game of, of, of, of, you know, sassiness to the game of, of, of, of, of.

hey, you know, I'm here to play. I'm here to prove our going wrong. I don't want to bore you by getting too deep in the weeds, but if you want to talk about it, I'm curious, like, what specifically did you do differently? I mean, is it this like proving that you were trying hard thing? Or, like, what did you do differently going into the Gold Cup that showed them that you were ready when they didn't,

you weren't ready before? Yeah, I think it was that. I think it was my intensity the way I trained. And just going back to the idea that they wanted me to make the position of my own, you know, playing as a dual aid, it's different from how, you know, maybe a West McKinney plays it or, you know, Eunice Musa or Christian Oldon, all of these guys that are playing in this dual pivot. Ten, everyone plays it differently. And it was kind of taking that, knowing my game, how can I, you know, be the best version of myself, but also staying true to the system. And I think that's what ultimately led me to being in the position I was and being able to start a final. I think Greg knew that not only I was ready, but I had something to prove.

And being able to have that chance, I was excited, super eager. But I knew that it was the biggest game I think of my career. But I couldn't see it that way. I had to make sure that I stayed on the ground and fought through that game, you know, playing Mexico on a goal cup final. if you told me, you know, 12 months ago after being cut from the Olympic team that I'd be there, I wouldn't believe it, but I knew that, you know, knowing myself, adversity, I think, was, you know, my biggest motivation is to kind of prove everyone wrong. And I think it's the same, same, same now where I want to prove everyone wrong that I can push to be in this World Cup group. I know it's,

you know, aiming for the stars and it's one that I'm ultimately going to push for it. That kind of adversity is nothing compared to having cold showers and no cell phone service in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Cold showers and not being able to dry your sheets to go to bed at night. Dude. It's not all glamorous, is it? No, not exactly. And it's part of being a pro.

And I wouldn't say I learned it the hard way, but I learned it in a very different way than other people. Have you been watching the U.S. qualified? I assume you have. Yeah, I sit down for everyone and just watch, just seeing, it's tough. I mean, all these games are all different. You see the game in Minnesota is obviously different from the one they played in Canada. And it's you see the personnel that's playing and being able to, you know, maybe potentially

add something, something I sit there and reflect on too is maybe I can push myself and and Greg may need a different personnel for a certain game, whether it's now, whether it's coming to summer or coming closer to the World Cup, you know, no one knows what can happen. And it's just a matter of, you know, watching it, seeing what's, you know, trying to figure out what's being said, what's being, you know, the tactics, the goal of games. Obviously, the goal is to win every game, but it's not going to be easy, you know,

going to Azteca, going to go into Canada, you know, going to Panama. all these games aren't going to be easy and just seeing how these guys are taking it, knowing that best comes the best, I'm there fighting with them, just knowing that it's not going to be an easy task. One of your old team, one of your old U-20 teammates,

Luca De La Torre, who also, you know, it also took him a little while to break in with the national team. He got his first start in this last window. And I guess at the same position you play, you've been playing for the national team. I guess here's my question.

Like, somebody knew who's coming into that, job, assuming you want to help them do a good job at it, based on what you've learned about that role, what's the key thing somebody has to know about, like, doing that job in Burralthor's system before, you know, before they can actually get it done? Yeah, I think it's, I mean, it's a, it's a tough cast. I think it's one of the most important, you know, the three midfielers Greg has. It's probably the biggest components to the, to the group. You know, you need flexibility. You can't, it's not all going to be the same personnel. And you see the amount of changes they've had, you know, Brendan Aronson's the only player who's played every game. And that just goes to speak

that, you know, there's so many guys coming in and out that, that adds so many different things to the, to the group. And, you know, guys like Luca seeing him from the U-20s to now, you know, I think he was one who was also a winger with the U-20s. And now he's kind of similar to me where I love to see him drive the ball. We have a very similar game. I think his is a little, a lot quicker. In terms of, you know, changing directions quicker. But it's just, I love to see him breaking through. And it's one that I'm excited to, you know, push to get back to be with the group and, you know, catch up with these guys. But I know that that position is just so tough. And there's so many different ways to play it and seeing Luca take a head on and make it his own.

seeing the Westin, seeing the use of the musas. And it's just been very excited to watch and trying to add my own little personality in there somewhere as well. Are there, just last question about that, but are there like bedrock cues you have to learn from Burrhalter? Like, you know, this happens, I got to go here or I go here. And this, we've been diving into Canadian tactics over the last week and I got this stuff on the brain. Yeah, definitely cues. I mean, there's a lot of pressing cues that's different from the way we play here that Greg wants to play there. But also, like, on the ball, it's just kind of adding that flexibility of getting the ball in front of the back line behind the, you know, the second line of the fence or, you know, little things like that. That makes it super tough to play. It's not easy in the first three camps I've been with Greg. Like, it's, you know, I've had a terrible experience. kind of trying to learn it. You know, I didn't do the best job, and it's, it's because it's so difficult.

There's so many different cues that you have to know timing is everything in that, in that system, and it's just kind of getting reps and getting used to just how Greg wants to play is very tough. And, you know, it's not one cue where I can say, hey, when this happens, you do this. It's reacting off the other team as well. So it's very complex, and I think it's been so successful because of how complex it is as well. Sometimes people make fun of me when I ask this question, but I'm going to ask it anyway.

Is there anything you wish I was asking you about? No. I think you asked a lot, especially, I mean, the Portugal stint was probably the biggest, I wouldn't say a turning point, but the biggest eye-opener, I think, in my career. And that kind of translated to kind of my breakout year, which was honestly a whole you know, 12 months later, essentially, or 18 months after going to Portugal, but it's just kind of taking those little moments in my career just to kind of lead me to where I am now of knowing it's not going to be easy, knowing not everything's, you know, prettier on the other side

or easier on the other side. So it's, I think you hit it, you know, pretty straight on and it's been, you know, good chatting, but I think it's one that, like, again, we've, we've went all across the board from, you know, I think learning from two Diego's is kind of the biggest, you know, luxury I have on the attacking side and then the defensive side. So it's picking the brains of two grades. It can kind of shape me to be, you know, both on, good on both ends of the ball. Yeah, I didn't even ask about. Larry, but yeah, that's, I'm sure that's true.

It's good to hear that about Portugal because we, you know, us sickos who are like rooting for the U-20s, you know, we remember that those performances in 2017, we see that you go over there, we're like, that's cool, he's going to Portugal, and, you know, we never really hear anything about it. And we got players all over the, all over the place over there and probably having different sets of challenges. Yeah, and I mean, everyone wants to move to Europe, and then it's, you know, getting alone to Portugal First Division, it looked amazing. It felt amazing. And then going there was,

wasn't that it wasn't fun. It just was a lot harder than I'd ever expected. I thought it was going to be, to an extent, I'll walk in the park, go play a couple games in the first division and come back and break through with Portland. But it was, you know, that's not the story that was written. And, you know, it challenged me to be who I am now. So. Awesome, man. Hey, thanks for doing this. What a pleasure. No problem, no problem. All the best to you as you complete that recovery. We can't wait to see you back on the field.

Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thanks everybody for listening. We'll see you.