Haji Wright, the young star who chose New York Cosmos over MLS and Europe
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Version 0 of 1. The battle between the established, 20-year stability of Major League Soccer and the free-spending upstarts in the North American Soccer League is being fought on many fronts, with news this week that the NASL may take legal action over changes to Division I standards. But perhaps nowhere is the NASL making more progress than in the fight to sign the best young American talent. It came as a shock across the US soccer landscape earlier this year when Haji Wright, star of the American U-17 team, onetime member of the Los Angeles Galaxy academy, and rumored target for European powers such as Schalke, chose to sign with the New York Cosmos. The deal made sense for Wright – an NASL contract carries with it little of the long-term restrictions that make player movement from MLS a challenge. And for the Cosmos, a way of showing they can compete with MLS and European teams is always useful, whether through the buy-in of stars like Raul and Marcos Senna or the occasional victory over an MLS team in the US Open Cup. Related: Exhaustion and a 176th minute winner: The NASL game that lasted nearly three hours Still, if the Cosmos merely stopped at Wright, the victory would be empty, temporary. If, however, Wright becomes a trailblazer, the first of a steady flow of top American talent to the Cosmos, it could signal a sea change in the views held about the two leagues. So as Wright’s first season in New York nears a close, how’s it going? Well, Wright’s primary team, Cosmos B, plays in the fourth-division NPSL, and Cosmos B won that league, led by coach Alecko Eskandarian. In Eskandarian, the Cosmos have a coach steeped in the style and program of the parent team. He was also a former MLS standout who came of age in a very different American development system, starring at Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey and the University of Virginia. “It’s just a completely different landscape,” Eskanderian said. “I think there’s positives and negatives as well. I look at the differences – when I was growing up, there were no academies. I played high school soccer, I played college. But I also think I learned a lot of valuable lessons. In my experiences working with younger players, as a freshman playing varsity, you learn where you fit into place, pick up the bags, pay your dues. And that’s important for a young player. Nowadays, with a young player in an academy, with the national team, that’s not the same experience.” So for Wright, the decision meant playing with the varied resumes that come with Cosmos B – some young players like Wright, property of the Cosmos proper, and others, often years older, looking for a professional chance. Training was often two-a-day affairs, once with Cosmos B, the other with the Senna/Raul Cosmos, with the latter playing for the big club while transitioning to a role running the academy. “It’s really helpful training with him, and playing games with [Raul],” Wright said. “I’ve learned so much in training, little stuff he’s talked to me about – movement, how to hit the ball, so many things. Most players don’t get to play with someone like Raul, so it’s a huge advantage of mine.” Meanwhile, both Wright and his coaches believe the NPSL mix made a huge difference, giving him the kind of tests he wouldn’t have received among his peers on the U-17 national team, or in the Galaxy academy. “When you play with older players, five, six years older, it’s a very different experience,” Wright said. “Technical ability, experience, they’re much better.” Even at his age, Wright still managed to break into the team for the Cosmos earlier this season, and coach Gio Savarese has been impressed by what he’s seen already. “He’s very quick. He has great abilty with his feet. He has a great shot when he doesn’t rush. He is able to connect with players. He’s dangerous on balls in the air. But he’s also a guy who can cause a lot of danger going forward, finding space, because of his pace and speed. So I think he’s got great tools at 17 years old. I think he needs to be a more steady player. He needs to be a player where you send him the ball, he’s able to hold it, he’s making good decisions, how to pressure players, to be part of a unit. All of that is from the mental side. And I see it happening soon, because I see it happening already.” Savarese said he sees parallels with his own experience – Savarese signed with Deportivo Italia at age 15 in Venezuela, before coming to the United States in 1990 to play college soccer. Of course, there’s a little bit of a difference. “This path for him will allow him to become a better player sooner,” Savarese said “He’s playing with Raul, with Marcos Senna, and he’s learning from them.” So the adventure continues for Wright, and it’s been successful enough to lead to another American U-17 signing, this time Alexis Valela. “It definitely matters, because he’s an example,” Savarese said of Wright’s role in the Velela signing. Wright, for his part, said the two are good friends, and talked extensively about the Cosmos experience. “And now with Alexis, you can see another player coming in with different qualities. But it’s still a professional, looking to the Cosmos to help him become the professional player he hopes to be. So I definitely think there will be more coming to us, and more coming to our league.” In the meantime, Wright has a few more weeks in the Cosmos’ season, and is hoping to make one more appearance in the first-team before the end of the year. Then he’ll take in more of the sights of New York, he said – the Statue of Liberty sits atop his list. Neither player nor team would commit to a long-term deal. But everyone seems pretty happy with how it’s gone so far. “You never know what direction he might take,” Savarese said. “It might be us, he might move on because of potential interest in other clubs. But at the present, he’s our player, he’s developing, and he’s on a very good path to succeed. I don’t think there’s much doubt he’s going to be a successful player.” And whether that future takes Wright to Europe, or even to MLS, Wright believes he and Valela are setting forward a new path for American youth stars – that there are choices alone is new, and revolutionary. “In the future, I can see people talk about the two of us being pioneers for young players to come to the NASL,” Wright said. |