John O'Brien, New Year's Eve, 2003
I caught up with John via telephone while he was back in
my neck of the woods -- California -- during the Holiday break.
After some technical difficulties on the part of this
interviewer, I began by asking how his vacation was
going...
O'Brien: Yeah, good.
Home with the family, back in L.A., just training with myself,
doing some conditioning.
AUSA: Did you get anything good for
Christmas?
O'Brien: Yeah, I got
this nice little flashlight that fits on my keychain, I'm
pretty excited about that. I also got some things for my new
house, some housewarming presents.
AUSA: How's your fitness and
recovery effort going?
O'Brien: Going well.
I played a game with the second team the last week before
Christmas break, against FC Twente's first team (an
Amstel Cup game). It was a good game to come back in. So
I'm fit, pretty much, playing games, practicing, training some
here, with weights, that type of thing, so hopefully fitness is
not an issue when we start up again in January.
O'Brien's return to competitive
action, with Young Ajax during
controversial loss to FC Twente in Amstel Cup competition. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
AUSA: So would you consider yourself 100%
fit?
O'Brien: Yeah, I'm
100% fit, like I can partake in training. Obviously, we have
the second half of the season coming up and we have about --
well usually it's a month, now it's kind of shortened -- we
have about two weeks to get fit, so that should get me in game
condition. I'm not that right now, but I'm fit otherwise, I
have no problems. I can do everything wth no pain or
anything.
AUSA: And you're going to be training with
the first team from this point forward?
O'Brien: Yeah,
before I came back I was training with the first team. The
coach just wanted me to play with the second team.
AUSA: Can you tell me a little bit about
that game? I didn't see it, but apparently the goal was based
on a referee's error.
O'Brien: Yeah, I
actually didn't see it either, I came out around the 70th
minute. That was the deal; I was either gonna play a half or 60
minutes, just kind of tell the coach when I was tired. And it
was 0-0 when I was in there, and I came out in the 70th minute.
The Twente fans were yelling some things the ref didn't like so
he (suspended) the game, and we went into the locker room for
15 minutes. On the way back out, I was talking to a guy in the
hallway, an old teammate of mine, and he said they scored. So I
didn't see what happened, but supposedly, when he stopped the
game it was a throw-in, and when he started the game again he
gave'em a corner kick. And off of that corner kick they scored.
So, that was it. They tried to protest it, but... no deal.
AUSA: What are your short term goals?
Obviously your long-term goal is to get your place back in the
first eleven, but do you have any interim goals that you'll be
able to judge your progress by?
O'Brien: No, I think
that's pretty much an interim goal, to get back into the first
team. In January I already start games, so then I can
play.
AUSA: So are you expecting to be in the
first team selection when the season resumes. Not necessarily
in the first eleven, but just being selected for the team, for
league games?
O'Brien: Yeah, well
it depends on how many fit players we have. If we have 20 fit
guys then I could be out of it. But in preseason, I'll be with
the first team. It's a good chance to go out and show the coach
what I can do, and that I can still do it (laughs).
AUSA: Where do you expect to play if you
play?
O'Brien: Probably
left-fullback. That's the position these coaches usually use me
at.
AUSA: Let's talk about the U.S. game coming
up in Amsterdam... What do you expect that game to be like for
the U.S. players?
John O'Brien pursues Frank de
Boer in USA's previous game against Oranje,
prior to the 2002 World Cup. [Photo: Scott Bales/YCJ]
O'Brien: Ah, you
know, the U.S. team won't be thinking about results, really.
It'll be a good experience for a lot of the players to play
against a team like Holland. It'll be a tough game for sure,
playing away and them having the European Championships coming
up. A lot of the players are gonna have to prove themselves.
So, I don't know, it'll be a good experience, should be an
important game. No expectations.
AUSA: And do you expect to be a part of
that team? Have you had any insight as to whether that's gonna
happen?
O'Brien: Yeah, I
talked to Bruce, and I should be able to be on the team
then.
Too bad for those of us going along on the Rendezvous in
Amsterdam trip that the Netherlands-USA game wasn't
scheduled a couple weeks earlier. It would've been a nice
mid-week event. Oh well, we'll have to console
ourselves with the likely prospect of seeing the American
Ajacied back in action with the Ajax first team. Fingers
crossed, and best wishes to Johnny O!
- Interview by Jim
McGough
