Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - #420: Mark McKenzie joins the pod

Episode Date: August 8, 2023

Sanjay Sujanthakumar interviews Mark McKenzie in person in Genk on the UCL exit, playing in Belgium vs MLS, New York vs Philly, Heath Pearce's foot speed, McKenzie's goal-scoring form at the end of last season, and many other things.----Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes once a week, plus access to the Discord and live call-in shows, by signing up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed  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 scuff podcast where we talk about U.S. soccer. Hey, everybody. This is Bell's introducing this episode, which is a Sanjay Sujante Kumar interview with Mark McKenzie at a hotel in Henk on Sunday morning. Sanjay is our roving correspondent in Europe for a few weeks here. He's got a lot of irons in the fire, but the first interview he landed and was able to record is this one with Mark. Mark was generous with his time, and they talked about a lot of things, including, the differences between MLS and the Belgian League, his goal scoring form last, at the end of last season, who's faster between him and Heath Pierce, many, many other things. Enjoy. Welcome to the scuffs podcast, Sanjay here, and I'm joined by Gank in United States men's national team defender, Mark McKenzie.

Mark, thanks for coming on the pod. I appreciate you having me, man. I was going to ask how you're doing, but I think I know the answer to that to an extent. It's a cruel sport. A couple of results didn't go your way this week. despite dominating the play in both games, you're out of UCL. How are you doing right now and how are the guys feeling? Yeah, I think naturally you can feel a sense of frustration and disappointment. Just with Wednesday's game, you know, you have UCL aspirations and, you know,

they kind of fall out of your future just because, or temporarily, I should say, because of penalties. You know, when you leave it a chance like that, sometimes it goes away and sometimes it doesn't. I thought we dominated for good stretches of the game, but just didn't have the killer instinct in the final third. So, yeah, definitely a difficult one to take. But so the goal is mine, and next week we have Olympiacos away in the Europa League. So you just got to look forward to that.

You know, and then that's for yesterday. Yesterday was another one similar to Wednesday where you dominate the game. I think they only had maybe two chances. One of them was the goal, and one was a half chance. out from distance. So aside from that, you know, we control the tempo, control the the game, but just lack that, again, quality in the final third to be able to break them down when they're sitting in a low block. So again, disappointment, frustration, but we've got a lot of games this year. So the end of the day, you just got to look yourself in the mirror,

look at each other man to man, and figure out what issues, you know, we have to resolve in terms of on the pitch, and then what lessons we need to learn in order to be better. Yeah, how do you put that behind you? Like, I'm sure you've experienced that type of game or games before in your career. Obviously, this is a different level of disappointment, but, you know, how do you kind of cope with that and move on? The good thing is this year we have a lot of games that come back to back to back. We put ourselves on the position last year to be able to compete in Europe. So, you know, with that being the case, we have, you know, two games a week, you know, for the next few months.

And I think with that being the case, you're able to, You're not allowed to internalize a lot of the results sometimes. Sometimes I think when you have a week and in between matches, you have six days to look back and, oh, well, I could have done this. And in the training week, oh, we should have done this. And now you have two days to one recover and now already prepare for the next opponent. So you have to be able to flush it out your system, those negative emotions, and be able to criticize yourself constructively, of course,

figure out where you could have done better. But now apply that to the next game. Now you have a real rhythm and a flow because the games come fast, so being able to just play and work out those kinks as you go. You know, with each new opponent, of course, you have to figure out new ways and adapt. But again, you're able to find a consistent flow through the schedule because the games are back to back.

So on a lighter note, who would have win in a foot race between you and Heath Pierce? Me, of course. I don't know how many times I got to be. tell him but look if i can get heath in his prime uh i'd still think i'd beat him but respect to him for feeling confidence so for club and country where do you want to be in three years going in that 26th world cup where do you want to be club and country yeah for me it's uh yeah on an individual individual no right and i'm jaskin um yeah i'll be in my prime you arguably uh think i still have areas to improve my game, but I want to be playing, you know, in the Champions League.

That's my ultimate goal right there, competing, you know, to advance with that tournament. I'm playing in the top five league, playing for a top, top five side. So, yeah, that's me being ambitious, but I know I have equality. I know I have the ambition to do it. I know I have, you know, the mindset, you know, to accomplish that. So, you know, for club, that's definitely where I want to be. And then for the national team, I want to be playing the World Cup. You know, I have that under my belt in Copeland, you know, be a staple within the group.

I think I've worked hard. You know, I think I've had areas my games improved for sure. But, you know, don't we all? I think every player can say that. So at the end of the day, all I can do is focus on myself and mitigate any kind of reasoning for being left out of the group moving forward. Yeah, so we'll get back to the roster stuff in a bit. But for your club future, is there one of those leagues that you'd really like to play in terms of the top five? Stylistically, anything you think could be a really good fit?

Yeah, I think the Bullseig would be a good fit for myself, just in terms of being a mix of football, you know, as well as the transitional aspect of it, of the game there. not necessarily sitting back in a block with being able to high press, being able to get after teams, being able to use my ability to play a high line, you know, and compete with attackers, you know, in space. So I think the bonus league would definitely be a league. I could see myself playing in a league for sure as well. And then the ultimate goal is, yeah, the Premier League, right? That's where everyone wants to play.

But me being where I'm at in my development, I definitely think that the Bundesliga would be a great fit for my game. So yeah, hopefully that happens. So getting back to the national team, you know, you getting into that group, how bad was the shoulder issue at the end of the season? And can you talk us through what those conversations were like with PJ in terms of not being in the group over the summer, either group? Yeah, no, it was, yeah, the shoulder itself, you know, it was a difficult one because, yeah, it happened to the last game of the year, you know, already an emotional result, but, you know, after having, you know, a day or so to allow the swelling, you know, and the information to kind of go down, you get an idea of what the injury is,

and you have to weigh out the risk you reward of playing or not playing. Again, me being the kind of player I am, the kind of person I am, I could definitely push through it, but I also had to make a, you know, a call as well and figure out, okay, well, what's the potential that I do further damage and I'm not able to play, you know, to my fullest, you know, since the game is in, you know, seven days, you know, or in two weeks, you know, what does that look like for me? And I had many conversations with, you know, the doc, you know, here in Gank, you know, as well as with the national team. So, yeah, at the end of the day, I don't necessarily think it came down to my shoulder because, yeah, if I got the call, I would have gone, you know,

100%. But that's just the way football goes. go some times. So I wouldn't necessarily use the shoulder as a reason for me being, you know, left out of the group. Because, yeah, if I got the call, I would have made it happen. You know, I would have done whatever my power to make sure I was, you know, in a position to contribute to the team since, yeah, the fourth was my last game, you know, in Belgium. And then I think the, they had a friendly match, I believe, the week after. And then the 15th was the semifinal. Yeah, the Mexico game. So, yeah, well, that's the way it goes, right?

You know, and then after that, you know, you have the Gold Cup, which is another difficult one because now I'm in that period right after the seasons ended and I'm already, you know, preparing to report back to Gank, you know, to prepare for the UCL, you know, qualification campaign. So, you know, I think we started training already on the 24th, 23rd of June, which made it very difficult to be able to rest and now feel fully fit to come into this year. you know, I would have had maybe a week to kind of, week and a half, to allow my shoulders to heal, as well as get some, you know, recovery and recuperation for my legs.

So, yeah, for me, it was trying to find the balance between the two, difficult at the end of the day to, you know, have a conversation, you know, and say, okay, well, you know, I want to be there. I want to represent my country, you know, whenever I get the opportunity. But I also have to understand that if I'm not planning for my club team and I miss out on an important period in this time in preseason to work in with the group and

to get the fitness back to play matches regularly and to put myself in the right mental and physical space to compete and going to this UCL campaign then it could hurt my opportunities further with the national team so yeah not tough or not

easy by any means to have to you know decide between the two but ultimately you know my club performances, my club fitness is going to have a real indicator of putting myself in a position to be called into the national team.

So, yeah, that's kind of like a rundown. That makes a lot of sense, and I think you probably did the right thing, long term. So let's talk about your game a little bit. One of your strengths is the ability to play a line-breaking pass,

but doing so comes with that risk of misplaying a pass and inviting a quick, dangerous, counter, how do you balance that risk reward playing out of the back? Can you talk about how you develop that decision making over time? Yeah, I think it just comes a repetition. Ultimately, you do it time and time again. You know, maybe you do it in situations and training where you're not under the same pressure. So you get comfortable playing the passes through the lines, playing them with both feet with the right foot, left foot, you know, dribbling into a line raking

pass or playing it from a goal kick or in a midfield, in a mid-block buildup. And then you start to add pressure, you know, you do them in real game, real live situations, maybe in training, you know, and then you have the comfortability to be able to play the passes and know you can do it, but now it's about adjusting on the fly. Here at the club, we have these fit lights, so they flash, you know, last minute. So we work on that a lot in training, you know, specifically myself with the defenders coach and some of the other central defenders, but it's about those last minute responses. And when you can trigger that mental, you know, and cognitively of understanding, okay, well, when I get this pass here, I've already got to know

what gate is open, what gate's not open, what light's going to flash, and what light isn't going to flash, to be able to react quickly because it replicates real game situations where you can get a pass from your other central defender, from a midfielder, from a fullback, and you're under pressure, and now you have to respond quickly. And I think that's something that really helps a little trick, a little tidbit, you know, that I think other players can definitely lean on, but it's something that I work on, you know, regularly because, again, it helps tremendously. And then when it comes to weighing out those passes, it's about reading the game,

understanding the situations, you know, having the IQ to say, okay, where are we at in terms of have we been up and back, up and back, up and back, or have we been able to maintain some level of possession, some level of composure, you know, as a team on the ball? and now maybe on the third time shifting a team back and forth a second time somebody's going to be late sliding across or a wing is going to get frustrated and start to press me and now I can now take advantage of maybe a numerical advantage on the side or maybe their eight isn't slid all the way across on our near side eight or our 10 and now I can play a line breaking pass on a diagonal which now puts the other team on the back foot

and now they have to turn backwards and cuts out, you know, six players potentially. So, again, it's about reading where your team is at in the game, where you're at in the game, and you have to make the call. And sometimes it goes your way, and sometimes it doesn't. You have to live with that, and that's the game we play. You make the decisions on the field. But if you make the decision with confidence, okay, you may have made the wrong decision, but at least you made the decision.

So you've got to live with that. that's just the reality of football. That lights thing sounds pretty cool. So did you ever experience anything like that in the U.S.? Or was that totally new when you got here? And is that like a common system here? No, it was something that I first experienced when I got here. I think it was a newer technology.

But it's something that really helps you on the cognitive side of the game. And I think when you take football out and you just work on the cognitive things, it allows you to tap into those quick reflexes to be able to really. respond quickly to a light and a signal on your motorist goes, okay, well, if light is red, I got to use my right foot, but I got to pass my left foot. Or if the light is blue, I got to pass my left foot. But I got to, you know, so now you have to really think through these things, these moments, respond, you know, in a moment and play.

I think that is what ultimately will help you, you know, sometimes in a game in certain moments or maybe mentally tired or physically tired, being able to mentally stay engaged and say, okay well I still know too technically I'm still strong because mentally my reflexes are still top so so you've been in Belgium a bit which of the three official languages have you learned the most what's the is Dutch the one that's most common here yeah so how's your Dutch come along and what do you make of the whole the language diversity here yeah no I'm mainly the Dutch speaking you know region and Flemish to be you know exact but yeah my Dutch is It's pretty good.

I know enough to get by. I can hold a conversation relatively speaking. So I've been in two and a half years. I was able to pick it up. One of my sister's friends is from the Netherlands, so she was able to, her mom was able to give me some lessons with the language. So it helped a lot in the beginning, especially. And, yeah, now it's just being in a locker room in the dressing room,

you know, walking outside, going to, you know, dinner, restaurants, and you pick up on on different, different, words, you increase your vocabulary, you increase your ability to pick up, you know, what's being said and respond to it. So, yeah, that's pretty good. But definitely different when you have guys in the locker room just switching between languages, you know, speak in English one second, then Dutch, then French, then, you know, so. Can you say gang like a local? Because I said, on the way here on the train, I said, Ganken, a few different people corrected me at once. They were not happy.

Yeah, it's a henka. Yeah, yeah. So you talk about this in other places, but can you describe how playing in Belgium is different from playing the MLS? Yeah, I think it's a league where you have so many players coming here to showcase themselves. It's almost like a feeder for many of the clubs around Europe to come and watch and pick talent, especially young talent, who are able to play consistently and now figure out, you know, if they're ready to take the next step or not. But when I talk about the game here, it's a physical game, you know, it's a game where the speed of play is a bit faster. You get punished, you know, for certain moments, for certain mistakes or lapses in concentration.

The physicality of it, you know, you will get hit hard. Some teams are going to play maybe more football, but some teams are happy playing high-pressing, long ball, win the second ball, play in the transition, playing on counterattacks. You know, for example, you got a team like Circle Bruges, you know, who I played against several times, and it's very difficult to play against him

because they just fly at you, you know, and building up, they're not trying to build up, they're trying to get in behind, you know, they know, especially, you know, here in Kank, we want to play a high line. No problem. You dump it in behind. We win the first ball,

but they're there for the second ball and they're doing scrapping, you know, and I think teams are really built in certain ways to be able to hit you hard, you know, in these moments. So I think in that sense, you will feel the increase in speed of play. You'll feel the increase in intensity because everybody's fighting for every inch. Everybody's fighting to showcase themselves and ultimately to put themselves in the position to take the next step in their career, but also to help their team take the next step, you know, to play in Europe because here in Belgium, you only have the top three or four, you know,

are going through to Europe. And it's only the number one, you know, at the end of the season, who gets the chance to go into the Champions League group stage. And then after that, you have qualification. So you want to be in that position because it's also money. Guys are fighting for money as well, you know? So when you add all that together and you also have promotion relegation here, you know, so if you don't make it into the playoff in the last, you know, month and a half of the year,

you now find yourself in an eight-week holiday period, vacation period. Nobody wants to be in that position because you know when you get back, it's going to be absolutely miserable. You know, you only have the Belgian competition to play in. You have the Belgian Cup to play in. But if you don't maximize those opportunities during the year, then, yeah, it's going to be another long year of the following season. So I think when you add all that together, you have a real challenging league that I think a lot of people maybe sleep. on because like, oh, it's Belgium. It's not really, you know, what town do they really have there?

When you look at outgoing players and you see, you know, the quality that's sent to many of the leagues around the world, you get a real understanding of how Belgium and what is produced here, you know, in this league. So a lot of centerbacks are slightly taller than you. In terms of your body type overall, what disadvantages as well as advantages have you noticed at this level? Yeah, I mean, yeah, we talk about, you know, height, and I'm probably a few centimeters shorter than some of the others.

But, you know, for me, that's, I don't see it necessarily as a disadvantage. We see it more as a challenge, you know, to showcase, you know, my abilities elsewhere to showcase my ability to adapt and develop, you know, in areas where I'll see it as a weakness. Maybe I see it as, yeah, an ability to stretch, you know, my game, you know, and to grow even more. So with that being said, yeah, okay, height-wise, a few centimeters shorter, but being able to jump early, get up and win your duels is something that I work on constantly,

because it's something that you face on a regular occasion as a essential defender. When you go against different strikers, you know, we got just played against, for example, we played against Burnley with Walt's Wakehorse, you know, he's, what, 190-something, you know, in terms of centimeters. I'm speaking in metric system. But, yeah, you know, he's 6-3, you know, so when you have a guy like him being able to figure out in situations, okay, well, if the ball's coming to his chest, nobody's going to necessarily be able to challenge because it's a low-driven ball. But now how can off his first touch, how can I react? If his first touched off his chest, I know if it's not a good control, I can beat him around. I can step around them, you know, on the ground, being able to have the ability to step in front of guys and have the quickness, you know, to do things like that.

And I'm using him just as an example, but, you know, around the league, we have different strikers. Some are more, some are shorter and quicker and want to play you into space. We have the speed to be able to hang out with you in the space. So if you want to play long balls, we can do that all day. You know, so in terms of positioning on cross is being able to reach a situation. situations, okay, where am I in relation to my first post, my goalie, and my next defender, okay, where's a striker at? You know, how can I make contact with him before he jumps, you know, to be able to knock him off

his timing and now I can attack the ball first. So these are all little, you know, tidbits, you know, that I constantly work on. But, again, you know, we talk about height being a disadvantage, but, you know, it's the same that goes for maybe a tall center back who doesn't have the ability to turn in space and behind and play high, you know, in a high pressing team. So, yeah, it's all relative for me. I just see it as a challenge to show even more reason why, yeah, I've worked hard to get to where I am today. Yeah, have you always been a centerback and had that understanding of the game from that part of the pitch?

And were you always slightly shorter at centerback? Or did you – were you bigger maybe when you were younger and then you learned as you got older? You picked on more of these things that you're talking about. Yeah, I think I originally started as a forward, you know, or as a midfielder forward. So being able to play in those positions and understand the movements, understand, you know, how players want to play. And as you get older, you start to, you know, get to a higher level.

You know, guys become smarter, guys become more physical, maybe develop, you know, faster or grow, take a hit a grow spurt. You know, so at the time, I was bigger, but I never really tried to depend on my height, you know, to be a reason, you know, why I deserve to start. I wanted more to be about my footballing IQ, you know, my ability on the ball, my ability to be a leader and be vocal. And then, yeah, as I got older, it just became about learning from those around me. I remember being in the academy and you have guys like Gucci-N-Jan-Evo and Moldu and, you know,

and Jim Curtin, you know, I had these guys around me I could talk to, you know, who were bigger than me at the time. I was only like 15 years old. So, you know, being able to lean on them and learn little tools of the trade, metrics of the trade, it's something that I was able to use, you know, as I got older. because it's not always going to be necessarily about physicality. Sometimes it's going to be about outsmarting guys. Sometimes it's going to be about understanding their movements and being them

because the top defenders aren't going to necessarily have to make tackles and win these rules per se. If you're in the right position, you know, at the right time, you can put out a lot of fires before they even, you know, before they even happen. So that was a big thing for me. Yeah, I think your vertical can more than make up for, we'll talk about the goals later, but it's very good bad. So you were the armband two or three times last season.

Did the manager tell you in advance? How did you find that out? And what did that mean to you? No, it's always an honor to wear the band, right, you know, to be seen as a leader within your team. But for me, it's not necessarily here about the band itself. It's just more about being, you know, somebody guys can look to, you know, in difficult times somebody guys can depend on, you know,

when the game is up and down and the ebbs and flows, being a calming figure, you know, on the field. You know, so I think that's been, you know, one of the biggest, one of my bigger attributes, especially in a team where we have some of the young guys, you know, within the group. But in terms of the band, yeah, we have quite a few guys who've been here, you know, for X amount of time, you know, Brian Ayn and who's our captain, you know, Patrick Rosalski, Carl's, that guys who've been here longer than I have, you know,

so I'm only one. of many leaders within the group. But, you know, when the time, you know, when they handed me the band, it was just about doing what I did, you know, not necessarily changing and trying to be more, do more than I had already been doing. You know, now it's just about leading the group, as I always do. So, yeah. And you'd find out, you'd find out the day of, or they'd tell you earlier in the week

and you kind of, you know, you prepare for mentally? No, we have a player's counsel. So depending on who's starting in the day or who's, in and who's out, you know, you get an idea, you know, and then he'll have a discussion with you, you know, about who's a little big captain for the game, but, yeah, again, it's not like I was like, oh, gosh, please, you know, it's just a matter of, you know, this guy's out, this guy's not playing, we're rotating, so yeah, you're next in line, you know, it's a weather band, so, yeah.

You mentioned Questa, how is it playing with him? There's been some high praise around Belgium about you two as a centerback there. He's a quality player, I think that speaks for itself. He's the guy who's got even more experience here than I do. He haven't played in Champions League before and Europa League before. He's been at the club, I think, four years now when I have something like that. So, again, he's a talented player, and his ability speaks for itself. He's got the physical aspect.

He's also got the technical aspect and the confidence to carry the ball into space, to play line-breaking passes as well, to play under pressure, but also to be able to play in space. one-be-one like myself. So I think we work off of each other well and having that ability to play next to one another and learn each other's tendencies. I think that it's a big, big help especially over the season when teams adjust how they hit you. So, yeah, man, he's a great guy as well, a great guy.

So it's my guy. What are some key performance metrics that your club is interested in, like anything people would be, surprised by? No, I don't think performance metrics. It's pretty much like the standard stuff. I don't think there's anything special we do at the club. Not saying that in a negative sense,

but I think now with so much technology and data around, I think every club is investing more in it. So there's necessarily specifically something that we look at in a game because each game has something different, right? But overall at the end of the season, maybe you look back and you see how we were in terms of, you know, as a defender's, we look more so at the defensive third. And what were the metrics that, you know, caused us more problems where we had more difficulties, per se, or where we could have improved, and where do we excel? And how can we now balance out the gap between the two? Yeah, so I don't think there's necessarily anything specifically we look at.

but just overall as the season goes on, trying to look at any kind of tendencies or any kind of imbalances, you know, so that way as you go through the year, you can kind of find the middle ground, you know, with those and, again, mitigate maybe goals against or little things like that. Were there any specific areas you needed to improve in training before you got along on a game, or was it just about waiting for your chance

and hopefully keeping your spot? Yeah, I think one was timing and patience. You know, that's a big thing. When I got here in January 21, it was, yeah, you're midway through the year. Now you're coming into a team that's already pretty much established its runner form. You've got a group of guys who've been playing together for six plus months. So now it's about putting your head down and kind of showcasing what you can do. while not trying to be the guy who was, you know, look at me, look at me, look at me.

Because, again, that doesn't help either because, yeah, you want to be able to mesh with the group and not be seen as necessarily an outlier or an outcast or somebody who just doesn't, you know, bond with the guys in play already. So, yeah, the first six months were just about being patient, you know, taking my chances when they came, learning the league, you know, adjusting. And then the next season, yeah, it was a difficult one because came off of, you know, finishing title first in the playoff, and then we get the Belgian Cup, and then we're going to the next year, and the next year we're struggling to even get in the top seven, top eight, you know, and I think that's the way football can go sometimes.

But, again, I was in and out of the team. You know, it felt like I had performed well and done what I could do, but, you know, the coaches, they just had different ideas, you know, in that season. So, again, just about doing the work, you know, each day, preparing for myself for opportunities when they came. You'll find that everywhere, you know, where maybe a trainer isn't necessarily as fond of you as he's of another guy. He brought in on a transfer or, you know, maybe he has other ideas on how he wants to play, so you have to take that to the chin and figure out ways to adapt and can you to develop. And, yeah, finally, you know, last season, you know, I get my opportunity and also Lucu was, you know, on his way out.

So figuring out the timing of, you know, when he was going to step out as well was something, you know, that I had to be patient with. And finally, you know, he got his move, which, yeah, he had been looking for, so happy for him ultimately, but it gave me the opportunity to finally, you know, get a string of games. And not just to take my opportunity, because that's what it's about. You know, if you're not prepared for the opportunity, as my dad always says, you don't pray for the opportunity, but you pray for preparation for the opportunity. You know, at the end of the day, yeah, you're not prepared for it.

You're going to, yeah, quick. trap the bed. So, so, so, yeah, you know, it's, yeah, difficult sometimes to wait and be patient, but, you know, it teaches you a lot about yourself, you know, as a player, but also as a person, you know, in that period, I had to really learn a lot and challenge myself to get out of any kind of ruts or any kind of feeling, negative feelings, because it only, you know, hurt my, hurt my play. So, yeah, patience is a real virtue, but, yeah, worked hard to get where I am, and it's not going to stop just because I was able to find my breakthrough here. You think socially it's that much more noticeable coming in the winter

as opposed to guys who come in the summer? Like, do you have a strong preference maybe for the summer now after going through that or is it not that big a deal? I think, yeah. As a footballer, sometimes you don't have too much say in when you go. But when you do have the opportunity, it's just about the right time, you know, the right timing, one for yourself for the club, but, yeah, if I'm talking, you know, personally, yeah, the summer's always nicer because you got, you know, better weather, you have

more time to kind of fall into the group, whereas winter is a bit, you're coming halfway through the year, and your team may be, you know, in a difficult stretch, you may be in a really good stretch, so, you know, that can have its perks and its, you know, it's pros and its cons. So I think either way, it's just about finding the right time for yourself as an individual and for the club that you're going to to be able to slot in and do what you do without, again, wanting to step on toes and take all the attention of what's most important, which is the team performances, you know, at the end of the week. So, yeah, okay, every player, I think, would say the summer just because you get,

you're coming off time to rest, recover, and now you can go straight into a preseason. But the opportunity calls and, you know, You know, my dream club Arsenal was calling me in January. I'm not going to sit here and say no, because it's not summer, you know. But, well, no. Yeah, it's an interesting one because obviously a lot of kids coming out at MLS are still in the same situation as the calendar is still, you know, the way it is. So that was the most exciting final day of title race that many people have ever seen. Unfortunately to lose the title on the 94th minute screamer, but how did that experience?

experience affect your preparation for how did that impact your preparation for this season both as an individual and as a team what was the mood in the dressing room heading into this this preseason after what you guys just went through yeah i think yeah naturally extremely difficult going to that game and and working so hard during the year and getting to that position and you know not even losing the game but but losing on a draw you know it felt like you know a gut blow a gut punch, you know, and not on necessarily a goal that maybe he hits it out of 10 times, maybe he hits it two times clean and hits that spot again, maybe, you know, and I think losing on that was, or losing the title, I should say, on that, when you're maybe a minute away from being able to secure the first title in, I think, four years or five years is you could feel the energy within the crowd going, You could hear the supporters, you know, pushing you. And you could sense that the result in the other games were going our way.

And, you know, that buildup is like you're there. You're almost there. You're almost there. Like, you keep pushing, keep fighting. You know, and then to see the ball hit the top corner in the last, you know, minute of the game, it's like, what is happening? And you can't even describe the feeling, you know, because it's like, what?

Yeah, you know, it was one of those one of the craziest moments I had ever experienced in my football and career. But it was a lesson because I felt that we didn't necessarily have to be in the position to have to contend, you know, in the last minutes of the game if we had handled business earlier in the year. You know, I think a lot of guys felt that we had dropped too many results, you know, in the February, March period.

that could have defined us taking the gap, you know, increasing the gap between ourselves and second place. And in the playoff, the points are cut in half. So, yeah, when you look at maybe a 10-point difference, which we had, I think, in January, between first and second and a three- or four-point difference, you know, I can really turn the tide, you know, in the playoff. You know, when every game is close, you know, because every team is within three or four points of each other. So one result can turn the tie from you being in fourth and now you being in second competing. to win the title. Yeah, when you look back on it, you know, myself, I was like,

oh, where could I have, you know, help, where could I have, you know, and everybody goes to that phase of what could I have done more to be able to. But you'll just keep kicking yourself in the back because, yeah, the past is the past. You just have to learn from it. And I think that game in itself gave us the feeling of wanting to be there, you know, wanting to lift the trophy, you know, wanting to be back. in that position again and not come out on the losing side of it, you know, not seeing another team celebrate on your field, especially for the Belgian title when you talk about a rival in the country. So just even more, that's the word I'm looking for, even more motivation to go harder this year, you know, to push harder this year, and to maintain that consistent level that we had maintained for much of last season, you know, for a longer period.

of time because the best teams are able to do that. Best teams are able to manage the ups and the downs, maybe in performances, but are able to come out with results on difficult days. I think that's a lesson that we learned last year. But again, it brought the group even closer together. You know, we have a real bond. So I think that's going to be the determining factors as to how far we go. So a more positive note at the end of last season, you had four goals in a five-game stretch.

Did you change anything in your approach to? of games to start scoring more. Where did that come from? No. I've always had the ability to get on the end of headers, but haven't necessarily been a focal point within the group. You know, we had Paul, for example,

when Wachu's here, on Wachu was here, and he was, again, the focal point. You know, the guy's a freak, man. He's 6-6, 6, 6, 7, and gets on the end of everything. So even when I feel like I'm going to get on the end of something, maybe he sticks a leg out, or maybe he gets to it in front of me. So ultimately, it was just about being hungry for goals at a certain point.

You know, I had, you know, guys tell him, no, you're marking you've been in 60-nights. You still have even scored. And I was like, I've had a few opportunities, but, you know, one gets still off the goal, stole them off the goal line off of a flick, you know, or something like that. So I'm like, all right, I got it, I got it.

And, yeah, once I got the first one, I had already been doing it in training. I'd already done it so many times. It's just about timing, you know, about finding the right place at the right time. Mike Trizori puts in a great service. So now just telling yourself, I'm going to get on the end of it. And funny enough, I think it was the day of the game or something like that. I told my mom, my girlfriend, my sister, I was like, yeah, I'm going to score today.

You know, I'm going to score today. So, you know, and when I got the first one, I was like, yeah, I think I'm going to score next week, too, you know. And it's about not having, you know, having a sense of confidence, you know, in yourself, and your timing, in the service that's being put in and just finding the right spot. Because, yeah, you can be six, seven, you know, and not get on the end of a cross. You can also be six-seven and get on the end of every cross. But, you know, if your timing's not right, you're not the right place at the right time, then you may not find yourself in the right position to score.

So look at a guy like Tiago Silva, who's not the tall essential defender either, but finds himself on the end of a lot of cross. There's a lot of corner kicks, you know, scores several goals each season. So, yeah, for me, it didn't do anything different. Just attack the ball, you know, be hungry for goals and, yeah, help the team. So when Greg was reintroduced his head coach, and he was asked about things he thought the team could have done better at the World Cup. One of the things he mentioned was attacking set pieces.

Is that something you think you can consistently bring to the national team as being a weapon on set pieces? No, I do. I do. I do. I think I've always had that tool. but now you get the feeling for it. And, yeah, I only hope they've seen, you know, where I've improved in that area as well.

So, yeah, I definitely think I can be an asset, you know, be a tool, you know, in set pieces, especially attacking set pieces. So, yeah. What are your thoughts in general on Greg coming back? Look, it was a decision, you know, the Federation made. So as a player, you don't get too much safe sometimes in the selection of,

of coaches. So the end of the day, for me, it's just about doing what I have to do, but drawing what I can control and showcasing that, you know, I've grown, you know, and I can contribute to the national team, you know, in several ways. So, yeah, for me, I think every coach is higher. You know, I don't try not to pay too much attention to it because you don't have much say in it. You know, it's not really about what you feel. It's not about you as a player and what you want. It's a, you know, just think about on the club level, you know, have a coach who you love, you know, one day and they get sacked the next, and they bring another coach. So those are things that are out of your control. So for me, if I'm not doing what I,

you know, what I do at the highest level possible, you know, individually and showcase that, yeah, I should be in the national team. Then I'm never going to get that chance, and they're never going to see that. So, yeah, just control what I can. I control the controllables, as my parents always say. And yeah, whatever decisions he makes, he makes. That's just the reality of it. Let's talk about one of your former coaches, Jim Curtin. He says that he reminds a homegrown alum like yourself

that he wants you guys to finish your careers with the union one day. Is that something way down the road you'd like to do? Oh, yeah. I think it definitely be nice to round things out, you know, back home, you know, their family. So, yeah, hopefully that's many years down the line, you know, after a lengthy career here in Europe. But, yeah, to wrap things up in Philly, you know, back home, definitely be special and be able to, yeah, hopefully help Philly win trophies as well. So I left winning the support of show, and then, you know, yeah, they've got some more trophies before I get back as well.

But, yeah, to help win some more trophies, you know, by that time in my career as well, now with the club would be. It would be great. So you were born in New York, right? And you live there for a bit. I got to put you on the spot, New York or Philly. For me, I'm a New Yorker at heart. You know, I love New York. I moved when I was young, but still have a lot of family there.

You know, I grew up in a New York household. So, yeah, for me, I'm New York through and through. But still got a love for Philly. You know, Philly's been, you know, second home for me. So New York than Philly. But you root for the New York teams, right? I do indeed, renew. What made you want to get into podcasting while currently playing?

And how does that help your ability to handle the media as a player? Yeah, it was a venture. Richie Graham came to me with, and, yeah, I thought it was something different, you know, something I could take my mind off of, you know, football. When you're already away from family when you're sold, he, you know, dialed into football all day. sometimes it can be draining. So for me, when Richie called and said he had his opportunity, I said, it might be interesting just to tap into a new industry,

a new environment with some different people, you know, on a different side of the world, you know, a different industry. So that's Connecticut Heath and the Forsyago Ventures family, and we came up with orange slices. And it's really shown me how much goes into the media side of the game, you know, how much, when you're having a discussion, you know, how you transition, you know, a topic from one topic to another, you know, how you're able to, you know, follow up one question with another without a feeling like a question, answer, question, answer, you know, kind of discussion, being able to have guests on of different personalities and now adapting on the fly of, okay, well, how do we make this guest feel more comfortable because you have maybe some who are comfortable in these environments, you know, on, you know, behind the mic or in a podcast environment. Some are in that's comfortable and maybe closed off, you know, from the beginning.

So, you know, being able to make guests feel comfortable, you know, and make them feel like, well, don't worry, I'm here too, you know, this is not about a camera. It's not about a microphone. It's just chopping it up, just talking, you know, so creating that kind of, that kind of discussion, create that kind of relationship with the guests to be able to have them to open up and be able to feel comfortable to shoot. their little tidbits or experiences they've had in their career and their life. So, yeah, it showed me a lot about potential future endeavors.

And, yeah, it's still teaching me. So hopefully I want to continue with it down the line. Yeah, I mean, you're clearly very comfortable dealing with the media. Do you think it's helped that much with that? Or have you always kind of been that way in terms of your personality? I think just in terms of my personality, I'm a social person. I like to connect with people.

I like to share my experiences. I like to invite people into my life to show them we're all human. So there's no need to feel closed off. We all have experiences. We all have great moments in our lives. We all have moments where they aren't so great. I think being able to manage that and being able to have a heart and be empathetic and invite people in to what I've been doing.

through and what I've gone through. It only makes others feel comfortable around me. So my parents have instilled that in me since I was a kid. Also to be professional. You know, there's no need to speak, you know, with vulgar statements and whatnot. And to, you know, I think those are all lessons that my parents taught me at a young age. So, you know, how do you handle yourself in different environments? You know, how do you end yourself, you know, behind the microphone? into stuff behind the camera. So my dad, he challenged me as public speaking. It's just a simple thing, you know, being able to give speeches and hold eye contact, being able to work your way through

a speech without looking down on your paper the whole time, being able to answer questions on the fly and some simple questions, but more challenging questions, questions that challenge who you are as a person or questions that are simply just objective, you know, and yes or no. So, yeah, my parents, I give a lot of credit to, you know, and then me developing that, that, yeah, those lessons as they get older, you know, in different environments. So, yeah, it's a bit of a mix. Appreciate you taking this much time. Last question here. In addition to podcasting, what else do you do off the pitch?

How do you spend your time? And anything fans may not know about you that you like to share? No, I think I'm a pretty simple person, man, to be honest with you. I play call duty, I play FIFA, I play NBA 2K. I like video games on PS5. I'm a family, I'm a family man. I'm a man of faith. Yeah, I'm finishing up my degree, you know, in school, my undergrad.

So, yeah, there's not much that's really too crazy about me. But yeah, I'm just me, man. I'm just me. Just Mark. That's it. Thanks everybody for listening. Thanks Sanjay for The Hustle. Thanks Mark for your time.

we'll see ya.