Back from injury and more focused than ever, the Whites’ inspirational captain is determined to make up for lost time in the crucial climax to the season.
Engage yourself in a football discussion with any Everton fan and they will doubtless speak of the debt they owe David Moyes. Since their manager’s arrival at Goodison Park in 2002, the Toffees have improved season-on-season to the point that, flying high in the Premier League and into the last 16 of the UEFA Cup, they are no longer living in the shadows of their city rivals, Liverpool.
Indeed, a strong finish to the current campaign could see the Blues beat the Reds to fourth place for the second time in three years; an applaudable achievement when you compare the amounts invested by the two clubs. But Everton supporters aren’t the only people with positive words to say about Moyes. Fulham captain Brian McBride is also grateful to the man that first gave him a chance in English football.
The Scot was cutting his teeth in management at Preston North End in 2000 when he first turned to McBride, loaning the striker from the MLS where he had been playing for Columbus Crew.
Brian’s season at Deepdale was punctuated by a potentially serious blood clot that required surgery to remove, but despite that, he did enough to move the club to attempt to sign him permanently at the end of his loan. The MLS rejected their $1.8m bid, but three years later Moyes again called upon Brian, this time taking him to the Premier League for a three-month loan spell at Goodison Park.
“My time at Everton was very enjoyable, and to be honest with you, it was a great experience for me, not only playing-wise, but I also got to experience how David Moyes coaches, and I took away a lot from that,” says Brian of his early days in England. “I thoroughly enjoyed being at both clubs and playing for him. David gave me the chance to play in this country and I’ll be grateful forever for that.”
McBride left no doubts as to whether or not he was up to Premier League standard, scoring four times in eight appearances for the Toffees in a 10-week loan spell that the MLS again refused to extend; a decision that came as a disappointment to the player himself who thoroughly enjoyed his time on Merseyside.
“It was pretty awesome. From day one when I got there until the day I had to leave, the club was extremely good to myself and my family. They always went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable and to make the transition easy, even knowing that it was only for a short period. The fans were very energetic, great fans, and I can’t say a bad word about anything to do with the club. From the chairman down - he’s very friendly and talkative - it really is a very nice setup there and I enjoyed it.”
These were early days in Moyes’ tenure at the club, and few would have predicted how far Everton would progress in the ensuing five years, but McBride confirms that the then-relatively inexperienced manager was already exhibiting the traits that would push his side on to greater things.
“I think a lot of it has to be put down to the manager’s ability to get the best out of his players,” he considers. “They have a very good group of players, but they also seem like they’re up for every game. They’re focused, they have a great work rate for each other, and I think that’s indicative of David Moyes, at least from the time I spent with him, of how he expects everybody to play. If you’re doing it right he’ll tell you “good job”, and if you’re not, he’ll tell you too, and that’s a great aspect to have.”
Back then, when Brian was first testing his abilities in Europe, there were very few Americans plying their trade in the English league, compared to today when he need only look around the Fulham dressing room to see four of his fellow compatriots. At the last count there were 13 Americans at Premier League clubs, a fact that the 95 times capped US international attributes to both the rising standards of the MLS, and the Premier League’s willingness to consider players from previously relatively untouched territories.
“It has to do with both,” he says. “But players before me laid the groundwork for it. Kasey [Keller] is one of those and you had John Harkes, Brad Friedel and Claudio Reyna, they all basically opened doors for the rest of us, and a as a player I think if you get the door opened you’ve got to take the chance. Fortunately soccer in the States has been growing, not just in popularity, but in quality too.”
Speaking in FulTime magazine recently, Clint Dempsey detailed how McBride had acted as a “mentor figure” for him upon his arrival at Fulham, but the man himself is typically modest in playing down the role he has played in helping his young countrymen like Clint and more recently, Eddie Johnson, settle into their new environment.
“I think if you’ve been somewhere for a while and someone comes along who’s new, it’s not your job, but if you can help them in any way then you should. I don’t think that’s just in soccer, I think that’s in life in general and hopefully there’s something I can do for whomever, regardless of if they’re American or not.”
Whilst nobody connected with Fulham can have enjoyed season 2007/08, it has been particularly tough for Brian. Handed the captain’s armband at the start of the campaign, things started off promisingly enough as he re-united with his former Preston striking partner David Healy to good effect, but after just 195 minutes of playing time it all went horribly wrong.
In an incident that pretty much embodies Fulham’s fortunes this season, the striker fired in the opening goal in the match against Middlesbrough at Craven Cottage, but in the act, his supporting leg crumpled underneath him, leaving the player in a heap on the floor and facing a six-month layoff.
“It was a crazy injury,” he reflects. “When it happened I wondered “did somebody tackle me?” But for my quad tendon to just tear was a crazy thing to happen.”
After the initial joy of celebrating the goal, Fulham fans watched in anguish, chanting Brian’s name in support, as he was stretchered from the pitch.
“My wife and daughters were at the game, so then we waited in the medical room together. I knew it was pretty bad, because I couldn’t lift my leg, but I didn’t know what exactly it was,” he recalls. “After that I went to the hospital, with Hameur [Bouazza], because he had done his shoulder too, so we went together.
“The specialist wanted to see me that night and thankfully he was able to take a look at it and diagnose it correctly. It was actually a very strange injury. I know a lot of people were talking about it being a dislocated kneecap, but it was a lot more than that. It was actually my quadriceps tendon. Your thigh muscle goes into a tendon that attaches to your kneecap and basically keeps your quad in contact. It enables you to lift your leg, and it had completely come away from the knee.
“After that I got on the phone to my national team doctor and he told me, “the quicker you do it, the quicker you’ll be back, because the muscle goes quickly.” So it was important that I got the operation done as quickly as possible.”
However, the Club captain, who is no stranger to freak injuries, having thrice fractured his face, amongst other ailments, is quite philosophical about the ordeal.
“It was definitely not something I saw coming,” he says. “But unfortunately it happens in soccer and these are things you have to get through, in life generally as well. If you have a little setback you have to refocus, push through, and be better when you come out of it.”
And so began a lengthy rehabilitation process, culminating in his recent return in the home triumph against Aston Villa.
“I was in a brace for three months, and on crutches for six weeks of that. It was so hard at the beginning, I couldn’t really feel anything for three months, but I can’t thank the Fulham fans enough for their support. Not only everyone I saw by chance, but also the people that passed on messages through the Club and through other friends. It was very uplifting, very supportive, and I really appreciated it.
“It was fun to be back and be a part of it," he describes of his first substitute appearance in the Villa victory. “I’m still trying to get things back to where they were in terms of strength, but it’s getting better every game, and it’s pretty close now. Things like jumping and quickness come last, but I should be full strength soon.”
Which is obviously great news for Fulham as the Club enters the most challenging finale to a season since its return to the Premier League.
“The most important thing we can do as a team is focus on the next game ahead of us,” he states. “If we worry too much about future games ahead and our league position then our minds are focused on things we shouldn’t be focused on just now. We’re definitely in a position we don’t want to be in, but all we can do is concentrate on the next game and make sure we’re prepared for it. If the players can put into motion the things that the Manager wants, then we will start to turn our results around, and that will hopefully bring us back into the position we want to be in.
“It’s definitely not going to be an easy achievement, but there’s no reason why we can’t do it. We have a good group of players, we have a team that can get results, but certainly there has got to come a time when we actually do it and not just talk about it. That’s why I don’t really like talking so much about what the possibilities are, it’s more important to focus on what the immediate problem is and try to solve that.”
