U.S. midfielder John O'Brien played all five games for the USA at the 2002 World Cup but has made only one national team appearance since, in March of 2003. He left Ajax Amsterdam over the winter to sign with Den Haag and spend several months in Southern California working with Athletes' Performance to rehabilitate hamstring problems that have plagued him for the past two years. He has been called into the U.S. training camp for the friendly against England on Saturday.

By Ridge Mahoney, Senior Editor
Soccer America Magazine

SA: Why did you leave Ajax?

JOHN O'BRIEN: It was a big step, stepping away from a club where I played for so many years. I still had a chance to play there toward the end of the season, but I didn't really feel conditionally that fit. I was training and everything and I was playing in reserve games, but I felt my hamstrings were still susceptible and that we hadn't really changed anything to make me more fit to play in the games.

There was obviously a lot of frustration about my injuries coming back and then in November I played one [first-team] game and got injured again. That was all adding up and I just didn't feel like I was getting on the right path to get myself out there and playing a lot.

I had it before when I was younger, when I was playing in the reserve team, so basically the past two years it's been Achilles' and hamstring problems.

When I was in Los Angeles for Christmas, I met with the Athletes' Performance people. We talked about what I needed to do and it all seemed to make sense with what I was feeling. It was a different approach and I liked that so I decided to go for it.

SA: What is the approach?

O'BRIEN: A lot of training I was doing over in Holland was just trying to make my hamstrings stronger and build up your conditioning to get on the field again. One of [Athletes' Performance] focuses is mechanics, getting your mechanics to be as efficient as possible. As it turns out, a lot of how I was moving was actually putting extra stress on my hamstrings, so it wasn't really about getting my hamstrings stronger, it was using them differently and using other muscles around them to help them out.

The training is pretty sophisticated. A lot of it is core strengthening: your back, your midsection, your hips.

Every time you're injured and coming back you try to put on the right mind frame and try to get through it. For all that time, things were adding up and weren't making sense and there wasn't any clear vision about what I needed to do to get healthier. That was something I was missing. It was good to come back here and get that vision and find there's a certain mechanical way that will work best for you. Doing it better and better will make me a more durable player.

SA: What was the reaction from Ajax about your plans?

O'BRIEN: I asked them if I could do this program, and they said, ''No, you can't go away and do it because your contract's finishing and we don't you to go away for months and come back at the end as a fit player. It's not in our interests.''

So I told them, in that case, ''I prefer to go.'' I went up there and turned in my contract. I told the coach, and he had been aware of it a little bit in advance, because in the trainings and stuff I could tell he wanted to use me in the first team. I told him I was planning to do this in consideration of his position.

They were surprised and there was talk about it for a little while, but a lot of guys understood from my perspective, what I'd been going through the past few years and wanting to try something different.

When I was getting over my hamstring and leading up to that first game I played in, there were all sorts of little problems I was having. I felt like I was ready to play, I played about 70 minutes and pulled another hamstring. Coming back from that I just had a bunch of problems and didn't feel like I was getting any stronger. When you rehab you're supposed to get a lot stronger — conditioning-wise you have to build up in a game situation — but I didn't feel like it was working for me

SA: Coach Ronald Koeman was fired after you left and he had played you at left back. Were these factors in your decision?

O'BRIEN: The team was going through some problems and wasn't playing too well.

In terms of position, that wasn't a problem. Koeman was under a lot of pressure then, so sometimes trainers under a lot of pressure aren't going to help you out a lot. If I needed to play a game or half a game, he might not have been into that, I don't know. Most of this decision was on my part, to try and find some clarity about why these things were happening to me and work on that.

SA: How much have you touched the ball? How much soccer have you played?

O'BRIEN: I've been training out here for about three months now, and for the last month I've been doing quite a bit with the Galaxy. I've been in training sessions with them, doing some drills and
conditioning work, some very soccer-specific. So I think that's set me up for training with the national team at that level, so we'll see how I do when I'm in camp and if I can get into a game or not.

It takes a couple weeks to get your real touch back. I don't feel too far away. I haven't tested it in games yet and that's the next phase.
One day I was with a group and we were training on a track around where the Galaxy was training. It was the first day Steve [Sampson] had seen me and he started laughing: I was next to a couple of basketball and football players and obviously I stood out a bit. Steve thought that was pretty funny.

SA: Did he try to recruit you for the Galaxy and MLS?

O'BRIEN: He just wished me luck and said he was glad to see me out there. I was grateful he gave me the opportunity to train and do some soccer stuff.

SA: How much contact did you have with Bruce Arena?

O'BRIEN: We had talks every once in a while, an e-mail here and there asking me when I was coming back. I informed him I was going to do this program and since then we've talked about how it's going.
I'm glad I'm getting the opportunity to train with the national team again. I'm looking forward to that.

SA: What is your situation with Den Haag?

O'BRIEN:รก The team is growing and it's a good city so they should have a decent team and they're trying to grow into that role.

I just want to get back playing. I have a year contract with them. I want to go out there and enjoy it and see what happens. It's a good chance for me. They want to play me in midfield, which I'm looking forward to.

All this work I've done to rehab, I have to put it into use on the soccer field. This national team camp provides a good opportunity for that.

SA: This must be the most time you've spent in Southern California since you left more than a decade ago to join Ajax. How different is it?

O'BRIEN: There's a lot more traffic than 10 years ago, I can tell you that. It's fun to live out here again. I'm close to my family and I've kept in touch with everything around here, so it hasn't been too much of a shift in my lifestyle or anything.

My brother's getting married in Maui in June, so I'm looking forward to that.

I've been able to hang out here and there with them and my family for a good period of time. It's been good. It's been fun.