John O'Brien, August 2004
John
O'Brien had only just fought back after a long period
of recovery from a persistent Achilles' tendon
injury when Ajax USA visited Amsterdam in February
2004. He'd returned to the first team just weeks
before the trip. Our (mostly American) attendees
considered themselves lucky to see him in action against
ADO Den Haag and
PSV. How lucky they were (and how UNlucky John
is...) soon became clear. The PSV fixture is
still his last game for Ajax to date.
O'Brien had sustained an injury. Again. This time
it was his hamstring. For a while, it seemed like Ajax
were going to give up on him and not offer him a contract
extension.
They did, in April 2004, but we haven't heard
from John since. Ajax USA did hear
from John's fans. How is he doing? Is he training at all? When
will he be back? Is there any news? Alas, we had to reply that
we didn't know either. So we decided that it
was about time to give the man himself a quick
phonecall. That was today. Thanks to our friends in the Ajax
press office, who were - as usual - happy to set it up for
us. Plus, our gratitude to Ajax.nl for use of these
photos...
* * *
* *
Monday 05 July. The day after Greece surprised the
world and itself by winning Euro 2004. Ajax's Dutch,
Swedish and Czech internationals were on vacation. The first
training of the new season was scheduled for Wednesday,
the 7th, so the ArenA training pitches were going to
be deserted for two more days. Deserted? Not quite... One
man was already running, stretching and doing exercises
with the ball. That man was John O'Brien, first with
Ajax physio Pim van Dord, later with fitness coach
René Wormhoudt. Johnny O'Brien, fit at last. He couldn't
wait until Wednesday. He wanted to do something. Be ready for
training. ready for a new season.
By the time of the first pre-season friendly at
FC Omniworld, however (on the 10th), O'Brien
had dropped out again. A minor re-aggrivation, reported
Ajax.nl. Nothing serious. But O'Brien once again missed the De
Lutte training camp. Then he missed the U.K. friendlies. And
the Amsterdam Tournament. And the start of the season. The
"minor re-aggrevation" was once again serious enough to keep
him sidelined for six weeks at least. Another injury. Will it
ever end, John?
"I'm almost there now," O'Brien says. "I really am. I
trained with Young Ajax last week, a few times even with the
first team. We're talking about full group training here. With
ball. I did everything. I was supposed to play with
Young Ajax this week."
The game he was supposed to play was yesterday
night, against the amateur team of Stormvogels Telstar in the
town of IJmuiden, the final pre-season friendly for the
Ajax reserves before the start of the
Beloftencompetitie ('Talent Competition'). John
O'Brien? He did not play.
What happened?
"Minor hamstring injury. Left hamstring. I sustained
it in training, on Monday."
Another setback... More delay... Isn't that
frustrating?
"Of course it is. It's very frustrating. But
this really is a minor knock. There is no damage and I should
be back in training next week. But yeah, it's frustrating. I
always try to tell myself: this can happen, it's not much of a
problem. I force myself to look at the bigger picture: it's
August and I know I'm almost there."
A familiar site: John O'Brien
working solo with Ajax trainers. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
February to August... That's half a year. And it
wasn't your first persistent injury, either. Did you ever lose
faith? Or was there always light at the end of the tunnel?
"The light at the end of the tunnel was always
there. Definitely. If I'd really lost faith, I think I
could not have carried on working. At a certain point
I stopped planning, though. I forced myself to not think
about the ultimate goal, but only about the next step. At first
I couldn't do anything. Then I started running. Then I was
ready for some heavy fitness training. Last week I did
everything. I look forward to every next phase. Being able to
train hard was enough to make me really happy last
week."
What was the hardest time for you?
"I got injured in February and it took me much
longer than expected to return to the pitch. In April and May
things started to improve. The period in between was
hard. In March, in particular, it was sometimes very hard
to stay optimistic."
That was the period of your contract extension
talks with Ajax.
"That's right. That made it even harder."
Can you tell us about your new contract? What's
the deal?
"It's what we call a 'performance contract'
for this season. I have a relatively low basic salary
now. Low for Ajax standards, anyway. On top of that I get match
premiums if I play. I don't get those if I don't play. The
latter is the key difference with a 'normal' contract,
where you usually do get your match premiums if you're
injured."
Wasn't it hard to accept that deal? Didn't it
feel like they've lost faith in you?
"Actually, no. I mean, let's face the facts:
I've been very injury-prone for quite a long time now. I think
it's perfectly normal and reasonable that Ajax have their
doubts. I can't blame them. You know, there's even a very
positive side to it. I feel less pressure now. I feel less
guilty about being injured."
What about the American national team? Do you
ever hear from them?
"Oh, yeah! I'm in touch with Bruce Arena very
regularly. He sends me e-mail every once in a while and he's
called me a few times. He asks me when I will be ready to
return, which is a good sign. It's really good to know that
they're interested. They're in the middle of the World Cup
qualification right now. The 2002 World Cup was such a
great experience. Now I really know what those World Cup
qualifiers are for, what the reward is. I really want to play a
few of those qualifiers."
John O'Brien etched a place in US
soccer history when he scored
against Portugal in the 2002 World Cup. [Photo:
CNN/SI]
Well, okay then: when will you return to actual
competitive action?
"What can I say? You know... I can come up with
a plan, imposing deadlines on myself, but I've learned that
it's a better idea not to do that. I want to focus on the next
step. I hope I can do fitness training early next week. Maybe I
can be back with the group later next week, or otherwise the
week thereafter. But let's say that I hope I can play
my first game - probably with the reserves - in the third
week of September or so." (MP)
John, thank you very much for - once again
- taking the time to answer our questions! We'll see you
soon!
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