Soccer America Q & A with Harkes: ‘Quarterfinals are realistic’

After spending the first six years of his pro career in England, club and country captain John Harkes hopes to lead D.C. United to a repeat MLS title and the U.S. national team to its ù and his ù third straight World Cup appearance. SOCCER AMERICA: What’s the worst place you’ve ever played at? JOHN HARKES: The worst one? SA: Yeah, from your time in England and in qualifying here. Places like Grimsby … JH: Grimsby Town and Millwall. I’ve been chased off the park at Millwall, twice. Once in the playoffs when I was at Derby. That was pretty nasty. You’ve got other people on your heels, right behind you, yelling obscenities, “Yankee Bastard” and stuff like that and I’m thinking, ‘Wait a minute, you’ve got one in goal!’ [laughs] That was bad. That and internationals down here in the past, playing against Guatemala and El Salvador, qualifying for the 1988 Olympics and the 1990 World Cup. We always had some bad experiences, but it hasn’t bothered me. Other players, maybe it does. I think the players take that and turn it into a positive thing. You get the adrenaline going, playing in front of 35,000 lunatic fans, instead of having 10 people in the crowd. SA: Is there a difference between fans in Europe and fans in Central and North America? JH: I think they’re the same, really. They shout stuff. It’s just … SA: The swear-words are different. JH: Yeah, different swear-words, but they all mean the same thing. Whether or not you call it passion or anger or frustration ù and the lifestyles are different. But I’m out on the field and the fans are there to express themselves. They’re always going to be there. SA: Your performance has improved a lot recently. What do you attribute to that? JH: Getting over my ankle surgery, I guess. And back to full fitness. I know I came back way too soon. When I was getting the ankle surgery in January, I thought to myself that I wouldn’t be available to play until March. We had our qualifying games and I played in them and didn’t do myself justice. Steve [Sampson] and Clive [Charles] asked me if I could play, and I played. But just settling in with myself this year and concentrating on my game at club level for D.C. United, that’s allowed me to just train and do what’s best for me. SA: How frustrating is it playing carrying a knock and knowing you could be doing better? JH: Very frustrating. Especially when you read about it the next day in the paper. It is difficult because when you’re not 100 percent fit and you’re frustrated and you look at your performances ù nowadays you can read about it in the paper and about 60 percent of the people covering soccer don’t know about the game. So they write about statistics and quotes. Instead of taking something positive from that game and saying, ‘Maybe they learned something from that,’ they move on to the next game, and the next game and the one after that. It’s frustrating within yourself. You think, ‘I could have got to that ball quicker, I could have cut back, played a one-touch or two-touch.’ When your fitness isn’t there, it means a lot. But when the whole of the national team is working hard, we get the best results. We tend to forget that at times. The results we pulled out in 1994 and 1995 and even some results this year, we get the best out of us when we think we’re the underdog. When we think we can walk around the field and play one- or two-touch, it doesn’t work. SA: Did you play hurt a lot in England? Did they push you to do that? JH: Yeah, I played hurt every season except for my first one. Coming off after the 1990 World Cup, I had a stomach tear. I took the summer of ’91 off, when Bora came on board, and going into the following season with Sheffield Wednesday, I felt really healthy. But you tear an ankle ligament in England, the physio’s saying you’ll be back in two weeks and you know for a fact you’re supposed to be out six to eight weeks. I didn’t do myself justice coming back here, playing with my heart instead of thinking ahead. I got one ankle done and now I need an operation on the other. You get through those things, but even in training I know that if I don’t strike the ball with my right foot properly, it’s going to hurt my ankle. That’s part of the job. You’ve got to accept that and get on with it. SA: Looking at MLS Year 2. What are your impressions of that? JH: As far as the product on the field goes, we’ve definitely improved. We’ve got a lot better with the depth of each team. The 12th, 13th and 14th players on each team are definitely picking up their game, especially the younger, American players. I think last year they came in with a lot of effort, but didn’t really understand what it was like, not thinking up top what it’s like to be playing professionally, day in and day out. And how they handled themselves off the field as well. They were still living like college kids, partying on the weekends and doing whatever. This year, they’ve picked up their game. The clubs themselves are a lot more organized in terms of running things, how they’re making it better and easier for the players. You don’t have to worry about things off the field as much. This year we’re allowed to concentrate on playing the game. I consider myself very lucky with D.C. United. We’ve got [GM] Kevin Payne, who knows the game and has been involved with soccer for a long time. He’s running things very professionally and it allows us to really focus with things on the field. Overall, we’re doing quite well, although we could push a bit a bit harder in terms of marketing off the field and go for a strong TV deal if it happens. If we can’t get people bidding for a strong TV deal ù I know it’s difficult to do. But at the same time I think they can do a lot better job in terms of showing the games, highlights and putting soccer on TV. Watching ESPN, three games may be played in one night and I’m looking on the ticker for the score and there’s nothing else there. But recently, they’ve got a Saturday morning highlights show, so it’s coming along. SA: What do you think of those nicknames? Yours is the Juggler, right? JH: Well, I don’t know who picked those [long pause], but I guess their intentions were right. I guess they needed to build us up as heroes, like the NBA or something. They’re funny. You take from it what you can. SA: Bruce Arena singled you out in a recent interview, saying that he wanted a greater effort from you on and off the field. How do you feel about that? And how difficult is it for you to come back from so many years of pro ball in England to play for your college coach at D.C. United? JH: I think it was more difficult in the beginning than what it is now. That’s down to two things. One: the players themselves are taking on more responsibility instead of just relying on the coach. And Two: Bruce himself has improved from last season. Last year was his first season as a professional coach. He and Bob work very well together. We discussed what he said and Bob Bradley even went up to him and asked him why he said that. ‘You need to tell John why you said that and what you meant.’ I was surprised to see that, especially when things were going so well. I was enjoying my game and the players were doing very well. I asked him what he meant by it and he just meant more appearances for D.C. United off the field. So he said. SA: Who was the best coach you ever played for? JH: Probably my Dad [laughs]. Professionally? Ron Atkinson [Harkes’ coach at Sheffield Wednesday]. He had a unique ability to really get in touch with each of his players and get the best out of every player. Every day in training and every week in games. It wasn’t a case of having to force the issue that he wanted to be respected. He just earned that respect. When it came time to work hard on the training field, he made you do it. And you wanted to do it for him. Some days he’d goof around and play, but he defined the line of when you enjoy things and when you really work hard, and he didn’t try to mix the two together. Maybe it was just the age I was at. I was 23 and I went over there to be a professional in Europe and maybe it was because of that. But Bruce Arena is a tremendous coach as well. I rate him among the top because he’s not only a good coach tactically with what he can do for the team, but also because coaches have to be good administrators, and good speakers to the press. The way he handles himself and the way he makes us feel relaxed about the game. Bruce isn’t the type of coach to throw things if we lose a match and say, ‘Hey, I want you in training Monday morning and you’re going to run your butts off.’ He’s more of a thinker. He’ll look at a situation, see what we can take from it and carry on throughout the week. We owe a lot to him and Bob. The way we’ve put results together in such a short space of time. I really respect him for that. SA: And the worst coach? JH: The worst one? SA: Yes. Was there ever a situation in England where you felt like packing up and going home? JH: Oh yeah. That happened a lot. But the positives outweigh the negatives. But players sometimes focus on the negative too much. They look at something and take it against themselves personally. When you’re younger, you feel that way a lot. But as you get older you start to look at things a different way, you try to see the sense in what a coach is doing. I don’t like to name the worst coaches, because you may get to face those coaches again. Soccer is a very small circle that comes around. I had opportunities to bury coaches at times. The papers in England, you know what they’re like: ‘Five thousand pounds, John, for a story on Trevor Francis [Atkinson’s successor at Sheffield Wednesday]. What’s really happening behind the scenes.’ That’s not my style. But that’s not to say Trevor was the worst coach I’ve ever had. He’s had his hard times at each club he’s been with. He was fired by QPR, at Sheffield Wednesday he was fired. He’s at Birmingham now … SA: The criticism of him was that he was too nice. JH: He’s a very nice man. A very nice man. The one thing I didn’t agree with ù and the reason that I left Sheffield Wednesday ù was that he downplayed the American international. He thought the U.S. international player should be down here [low gesture] but an England international should be up there [high one]. Not only in terms of salary and monetary value, but in terms of respect as well. For me, that was a point I had to make. It wasn’t about just salary or anything. I left there to go to Division I [with Derby] just because the manager, Arthur Cox, wanted me to play for him. Whether or not that makes Trevor Francis the worst coach I’ve ever had, I don’t know. SA: The last time you and I did an interview was just before the 1994 World Cup after a match against Grimsby. How far have you come in those three years, and where do you see yourself in three years’ time? JH: I’ve come a long way. I’ve learned a lot in terms of settling down and when to release my temper at times. I guess I grew up really passionate and just played with my heart. Now I’m starting to use my head a bit more. As far as the English League goes, I’d never second-guess myself over what I’d done in six years over there. Sometimes I think I could have spent 10 years there, other times I think I could have finished my career over there because I enjoyed the life there. Where I see myself three years from now, I don’t know. Hopefully, it’s in the MLS. I like to think we’re getting better and better each year, the competition is getting better. But one of the things that is frustrating is playing in a country where the NBA and the NFL and Major League Baseball own the market and the players are the heroes. In England, I was a hero. I’d buy a loaf of bread and the shopkeeper would say, ‘Please, keep your money and take the bread.’ The money was good, the salary was good … Here, you turn on the TV and baseball’s all over ESPN. I miss that part of it. You have to be patient. Because it’ll happen. It may take time, but it’ll happen. Whether or not we’re earning the same amount of money that they are, it’s yet to be foreseen [sidelong glance at MLS Commissioner Doug Logan]. SA: If you had an 18-year-old kid come to you and ask you whether he should play in MLS or go to Europe, what would your advice be? JH: I’d have to know everything about that player: What he’s like off the field, how mentally strong he is, his skill level … For me, I wish I’d gone over [to Europe] at 16. Not only to just play in a strong competitive environment but to learn what it’s like to be a professional at an early age. For me, It was different. I went to college to play soccer … SA: Did you ever finish your degree? JH: No, I haven’t finished yet. I’ve got 26 credits left, but it’s something I’d like to do. Maybe I was a different breed. I just wanted to play professional soccer from Day 1. SA: Assuming you qualify, in one year’s time you play in the World Cup. What would the team’s goal be? JH: Realistically, the quarterfinals. SA: To show progress? JH: Yeah. I think so. Anything’s possible. I mean I could say anything I want to you right now. I could say the semifinals, I could say getting there would be fine. But for us to play well and with this team growing, the depth we have and the younger players coming through, I think we’ll do very well once we get to ’98. I don’t have a doubt about that. I’ve seen all the other countries as well, and we’re catching up with them. We’re making progress as well, gaining on them. SA: Even Brazil? JH: Yeah, I’ve seen them. They’re not a bad team. They’ll do all right. They’ve got a few guys that have good touches [laughter]. by Soccer America Senior Editor Duncan Irving