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Utrecht - Ajax a special duel for O'Brien
He was never Cruijf or Maradonna, because John O'Brien has
never seen these legends play. When he played basketball, the
21-year old American was Magic Johnson; to play soccer he had
to be in Europe. For four years he played for ajax, that lended
him out to FC Utrecht. Next sunday is the big match between
Fc-Utrecht and ajax.
The team of trainer Marc Wotte has scored eleven times so
far and the only critisism is on the vulneable defense. Almost
the whole team, including O'Brien wants to attack.
O'Brien has been compared with Jan Wouters a lot of times -
Not by the player himself by the way- and he is flattered by
it. O'Brien doesn't know the career of his former trainer, but
he heard in stories how good a player Wouters used to be.
When O' Brien understood that he wouldn't get much playtime
in the next year, he let himself be lended out to Fc- Utrecht.
Sparta was also a candidate, but the ties of former Utrecht
player Wouter made the difference.
O'Brien was raised in Los Angeles and naturally, as a kid he
surfed a lot. His father worked for the NASA space program and
made the remarkable step to go and sell icecream. He wanted to
be his own boss.
For his development O'Brien wanted to play in Holland, to
get better training and to see some big matches. He had heard
of the famous ajax school and when he was sixteen he was tested
a couple of weeks at ajax. After the holidays he was asked to
return.
O'Brien also went to the economics high school, where he has
completed two years of international management. The rest of
his study wil be done in evenings. "soccer is a physical sport,
but you also have a lot of free time. Some people have hobbies
to stimulate their mindes. i don't, that why i study."
"In America i was an attacking midfielder, at Ajax i
immediately became a left-back. I had to adjust. In America you
have more time and space to act. Overhere youre opponent is
less then a meter away when you get the ball. The american
trainers are technically ok, tactically not. but they could
inspire me"
After the A-team he was promoted to the second team. At
first he was Left-back then left-half and eventually he ended
on the "four" position, that's how they call an attacking
defender at ajax. "I didn't like to play left-back because i
had trouble to hold back and because of that i made mistakes.
Then everybody was upset."
The story goes that in the states soccer is looked upon as a
sport for sissy's. When you don't have talent for Baseball or
American Footbal you play soccer. O'Brien is amazed by this
story. " you're really no sissy when you decide to play soccer,
but it is true that there isn't much respect for the game."
Other sports couldn't get his interest. "Until i was fourteen i
used to play Baseball, i didn't care about this game.
O'Brien, who speaks dutch very good says " a little" a lot.
He found it "a little" difficult to come to holland as a
sixteen year old and stand the temptations of Amsterdam, but
now he has grown attached to the dutch freedoms. He doesn't
think that the American gouverment will copy the dutch drug
policy, because everbody would't try the goodies right
away.
Sometime he also likes " a little" that players and trainers
swear a lot during training and matches. "Especially at ajax
there is a lot of shouting going on. When you made a mistake
you immidiately heard the trainer shout at you. In America is
more like; better luck next time" He also went "a little" crazy
when he scored his first goal against Cambuur at the highest
level in Holland. Of Course he misses his family, the greatness
of th eunited states, the weather and the shops that are always
open. On the other side his family says that he is beginning to
get a little of the dutch mentality.
"I'm not very chauvinistic. Also i'm not really proud of my
country (country's soccer ?), but i want to give something back
to America by playing soccer. I used to get very angry at the
national team. In other sports we used to crush the europeans.
In soccer whe were the ones that were butchered.
Next sunday is the match between Utercht and ajax. For
O'Brien, who hopes to return to amsterdam someday, that is a
special game. Like no other he knows how that attitude of ajax
will be. "Before every away-game of ajax they were gonna play
there own game and win. They just believe that they have more
quality.
- Willem Vissers
from de Volkskrant
11 September 1998
