With Thierry Henry snarling in his direction, incredulous at the howler made by the New York Red Bulls’ rookie 18-year-old, Matt Miazga looked to have a rather steep learning curve ahead of him. The New Jersey native of Polish descent has certainly scaled that arc in the 18 months since that blunder against the Columbus Crew, but now he has another peak to climb. London is calling.
Miazga this week completed a remarkable rise, with Chelsea wrapping up a £3.5m move for the centre-back. At 20, he in the vanguard of Major League Soccer’s homegrown crop, and at Stamford Bridge he will be given the kind of platform no American player has had since Tim Howard also made the move from New York to the Premier League over 12 years ago. The past year was unanimously acknowledged to have been a good one for Miazga – lifting the Supporters’ Shield as one of the Red Bulls’ standout performers – but maybe not this good.
So what are Chelsea getting from their new American stopper? At 6ft 4in, the lanky Miazga certainly commands a presence, but there is a technicality to his game too. Athleticism is indeed his greatest – and most obvious – asset, yet his ability on the ball will serve him well in a more technically demanding division. Miazga can pass.
He arrives with an international background too, although his track record makes Timothy Chandler look like a flag-waving nationalist. Miazga turned out for the United States’ Under-14s, -16s and -20s sides, but also played for Poland’s Under-16s and -18s. His future was the subject of discussion – Poland wanted him to commit – but his substitute appearance for USA in a World Cup qualifier against St Vincent & the Grenadines put paid to Polish hopes. It was for USA that Miazga first caught the eye of Premier League scouts.
Last year’s Under-20 World Cup was a breakthrough event for the defender, with Tab Ramos’s side only knocked out on penalties by eventual winners Serbia. He might not have been Captain America, but in effect Miazga was the USA’s leader at the back, showing the kind of leadership capacity not seen in many players of his age. By his own admission, he is hardly a natural figurehead but has worked hard at that aspect of his game.
In MLS terms, Miazga has pedigree, marking David Villa out of a Yankee Stadium derby in a nationally televised game last June, and also finding the net for the Red Bulls in a 3-1 win. At Chelsea, however, the 20-year-old will have to prove himself all over again. First-team opportunities will be at a premium, with some already mooting that a loan deal away from Stamford Bridge might give Miazga the best chance of making an impression in England.
“We don’t rush him, but he will be one of the squad members for the future,” Guus Hiddink explained when asked about what role Miazga will play at Chelsea. “He’s a young guy stepping up to the national team and it’s always good to have such players here so you can see what they are capable of in training. He’s a young player, a promising player – let’s see if he can get himself to the high demands of this club and the Premier League.”
2015 saw the Red Bulls became a very different franchise, with billboard faces like Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill replaced by more shrewdly acquired signings. Head coach Jesse Marsch placed more of an emphasis on organic development, and Miazga was arguably the primary beneficiary of that renewed approach. He became the poster-boy for MLS’s often maligned homegrown program.
“I think he’s been one of the best defenders in the league this year and should be considered in that echelon,” Marsch gushed towards the close of last season. “His starting points are very high – everything from his mentality, to his awareness, to his athleticism – which means his ceiling is very high.”
Others aren’t so convinced, though. “He is a really nice guy, but pretty naive and he plays young,” a mystery former teammate, who apparently played with Miazga in New York, told the Secret Footballer. “He looks big but he is soft, so hopefully he gets a little stronger and meaner otherwise he will be eaten alive in the Premier League. He is a good kid, so I am happy for him, but he needs to be loaned out to get experience.”
Miazga has resisted the Premier League’s overtures before – with Leicester City and Stoke City both reportedly interested parties – but this time English soccer’s pull has proven too strong. The defender could probably have used at least another year in MLS, backing up what he achieved last season, but the appeal of joining one of the game’s biggest clubs is understandable.
On the flip side, Chelsea fans – with little over 48 hours of the transfer window remaining – will surely question how the signing of Miazga, as well as Alexandre Pato, can possibly turn around their ailing campaign. Why the latter was sought is anyone’s guess, but Miazga has been signed with at least one eye on the future. The past year has taken him further than anyone could have envisaged – providing encouragement that in a better league he will only improve further. And with Henry now working as a TV pundit in England he might still have the Frenchman to send him a well-meaning scowl every so often.
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