Meet FCD’s new draft pick and center back.
Every once in a while when an opportunity presents itself we like to roll out these little short interviews. They’re not meant to be particularly hard hitting or investigative, just to give us a little sense of the player and their background.
George John was nice enough to agree to a few quick questions and hopefully we’ll new a little more now about one of FCD’s newest additions. Even if he won’t play for a bit.
1. How’s the knee, I understand it was a little swollen on day three of the combine?
Coming into Dallas I knew that my knee was a bit tired from the combine and figured I’d need to rest it a bit. However, the doctor here said that I have suffered bone bruising and stress fractures in my knee and that I will need to sit out quite awhile in order for it to heal. Essentially, I came back a little bit too early to play in the combine and my knee wasn’t ready for the amount of work I put it through and now I need to sit out to let it get it’s strength back. I’m pretty bummed out that I can’t participate in trainings, but at the same time I know when I come back, my knee will be 100%.
2. Who’s idea was it to switch center back for the combine and why do you think it a good move for you?
Well although I played center midfield most of my college career, my coaches told me that I would inevitably be a center back at the next level. I was planning on playing center mid at the combine, but my team at the combine was overloaded with center mids and the first day my coach asked me if I would be willing to play center back and I agreed. In addition, since my knee wasn’t all the way healthy I thought playing center back would be a better position for me to show well since my mobility would be hindered a bit. All in all it worked out, and I’m excited to play center back and really learn the position.
3. What’s your first impression of the FC Dallas team and organization?
My first impression of the FC Dallas organization is that it’s a very well run club with very professional facilities and personnel. I’ve only been here a week, but everything has been top notch and all the right things are provided for the team to be successful. I have been working closely with the trainers and they have been doing their best to make sure that I rehab my knee in the best way possible.
4. What do you think the biggest challenge will be stepping up to MLS?
I think the biggest challenge of stepping up to the MLS will be catching up to the speed of play. I know that the speed of play is much faster in the MLS than it is at the college level, so that will definitely be a challenge for me to overcome. Also, I think just having the confidence to play at this level will be a challenge, mistakes will be much more costly and everything will be scrutinized much more than at the collegiate level.
5. Can you tell us about your soccer career to this point? College, club, ODP, select?
I played 6 years for the club ECFC in Seattle. My head coach for the final 4 years was Brian Schmetzer, who is currently the head assistant for the Sounders FC. I was playing up a year on that team though, so for my U18 year I played for Crossfire FC with my correct age group. I was a member of the ’87 WA ODP team for 4 years, however I was a late bloomer and never made it into the regional team. There were a couple of guys from my ECFC team that ended up at the University of Washington (one of them was Ely Allen, current player for the LA Galaxy) and they sort of encouraged me to follow them there, so although I was recruited by some other schools I ended up going to UW and I’m thankful that I did, because I had a great experience there and really grew up as a player.