Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Two new Homegrowns in fold
PHILADELPHIA » They had the scarves, the interviews and most of the same photo ops. They were the subject of the same fawning quotes, about the future, about possibility, about promise.
The only difference, Union sporting director Earnie Stewart pointed out Friday, is that the club’s draft was a day early. That’s when Matt Real and Mark McKenzie, the club’s seventh and eighth Homegrown Players, were added to the fold, and they got their welcome to the public Friday as the Union hosted the first two rounds of the 2018 MLS Super Draft at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Though the Union lacked a pick Friday, they still added two pieces that, according to sources in the league, are of first-round quality and enter the pros at a younger age (18) than most of drafted talent.
“This is what we’re about,” Union sporting director Earnie
Stewart said. “… It’s who we are, it’s what we try to do so very, very pleased that they signed.”
Real is a Drexel Hill native who logged 1,067 minutes over 17 starts for Bethlehem Steel last year, scoring a goal and an assist. He signed with Steel in Jan. 2017, eschewing a commitment to Wake Forest, and has been with the Union Academy since the Under-14 level.
McKenzie is the same age but spent the fall at Wake, appearing in 16 games. The native of Bear, Del., logged eight appearances with the Steel as an amateur.
Both players have recently been in camp with the U.S. Under-20 team while playing at various youth levels. They’ve played together for years, graduating from the same Academy class.
“It’s a big moment for me,” Real said. “These last couple of weeks for me have been surreal. I’m still kind of soaking all this in. It feels like a dream of mine which it is, and finally I feel like I’ve accomplished it. But to this point, nothing for me is done. I still need to work hard to accomplish more and more, and hopefully one of my goals is to start at left back for the Philadelphia Union one day. Like coach said, I’ve accomplished nothing in the MLS so far, so I just have to prove to them this preseason that this is where I belong. “
“I felt for me to achieve my dreams and to push myself to the next level, I felt that I had to come back home,” McKenzie said. “And after having conversations with my family and sitting down with myself just thinking and then eventually
calling Earnie and seeing where they saw me, and I thought it was time for me to come back.”
The Union traded both of their picks in this draft — shipping the first rounder to New England for Charlie Davies in 2016 and the second rounder to New York Red Bulls for the rights to Adam Najem last February. New England took Western Michigan defender Brandon Bye at No. 8, while the Red Bulls grabbed one of Najem’s former Akron teammates, Niko DeVera, at 31.
Those deals were sealed with the recognition of what Stewart called the club’s “engine” for growth, and Academy that would soon churn out adequate alternatives to the draft.
McKenzie and Real join a five-strong contingent of Union Homegrowns — with Anthony Fontana, Derrick Jones and Auston Trusty — on the roster. That corps had grown an identity behind the scenes, embracing the expectations and opportunity as the vanguard of what the club hopes is a new chapter.
“It’s an honor to be in the Academy, one, and then to be pushed to hopefully succeed and excel at the next level,” McKenzie said. “And Earnie, I feel like he’s done a great job down to the coaching staff with the first team, the Steel and the Academy. Everybody wants you to succeed. They put the time and the effort into grooming you into quality players, so I’m forever thankful for that.”
The quandary for the club hasn’t always been identifying and elevating talent, but in offering opportunities for it to flourish. Jones found minutes difficult to come by after a quick start last season, and Trusty has yet to make his competitive debut.
The thinking in that
arena has shifted this offseason, though. Stewart said the club is still on the hunt for a No. 10, but the decision to move on from a productive but suboptimal Roland Alberg indicates that Fontana and Najem will have chances to earn. When asked point blank if the Union planned on adding a veteran center back, Stewart flatly said no, placing faith in a young corps that includes McKenzie, Trusty, Jack Elliott, Josh Yaro and Richie Marquez, the latter of whom is the elder statesman at age 25.
“Once you choose something and you have the engine that we have with the Academy, you have to give a pathway as well for those players to get important minutes,” Stewart said. “We’re going to have some players dive in, swim and they’re going to stay afloat.”
“That is a young back line, but at the same time, the only way you learn as a defender is on the field, in the battles and testing yourself,” Curtin said. “They’ll get tested a lot in preseason. We’ll see how they do, but we wouldn’t have brought them up if we weren’t confident in them doing the job. Again, there’s going to be mistakes, they’re going to learn some things, but I also believe in both of those guys.”
Real and McKenzie have the benefit of pursuing this journey together, which makes it all a little easier, and not just in whiling away the hours darting between appearances at the soccer free-for-all of the SuperDraft.
“Mark is my brother,” Real said. “Me and him have been playing together since the academy started. We graduated together; we’re on the national team together. So this couldn’t be any better for me to share a moment like this with him.”