No, it’s not that MLS Englishman
John Cunliffe and David Beckham have taken vastly different routes to get to Los Angeles, but the roads will converge later this summer when Chivas USA plays the Galaxy.
Beckham will join the Galaxy in July. Cunliffe, who more or less crossed paths with Beckham a long time ago at Manchester United, already is here.
Today, the 22-year-old from Bolton in the north of England is expected to make his first Major League Soccer start when Chivas plays at D.C. United.
Beckham’s journey to MLS has encompassed a side trip to Real Madrid in Spain. Cunliffe’s trip went through Fort Lewis College, a Division II school in Durango, Colo., after Skyhawks Coach Jeremy Gunn spotted him at a tournament and invited him to come to the U.S.
“I decided I would come over for a year and see how it was,” Cunliffe said.
“I enjoyed it, so I stayed for the full four years.”
At Fort Lewis, Cunliffe scored 75 goals and assisted on 62 others in only 82 games, impressive numbers that definitely caught the league’s attention.
Chivas USA Coach Preki took a shine to Cunliffe after seeing him take part in a couple of player combines -- basically, tryouts -- in Los Angeles and Florida. Preki was so impressed that in January he made Cunliffe a first-round draft pick and the seventh player chosen overall.
“He’s a very clever player,” Preki said. “His movement on the field is very good. He understands the game very well. His soccer IQ is pretty high, and in front of the goal he is one of those guys who is almost clinical” in his finishing.
“I don’t want to jinx the kid, but when he gets in scoring situations, he’s pretty good.”
Cunliffe trained with the starting 11 during the last week, a sure sign that he is likely to start this afternoon against D.C. United. Preki declined to say what position he would play, but midfield seems a good bet given that Amado Guevara has been benched pending a trade and Sacha Kljestan is serving the second game of a two-game suspension.
“He can play up top, he can play in the middle,” Preki said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Cunliffe, accustomed to the English style of play after stints with the youth teams of Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers as a teenager, is learning that the MLS approach is, well, different.
“The big difference is in the attacking style,” he said. “In England, it’s more direct. Everybody knows where you’re supposed to be on the field and what you’re supposed to do with the ball.
“Whereas the way Chivas plays it’s more free and more up to the individuals to read the other players and get yourself in position. That has its benefits, but it also has its downside.”
One upside for Cunliffe, though, is the chance to play against Beckham.
“To play against someone who has played against all the best players in the world is going to be an exciting thing,” Cunliffe said, “But at the same time I won’t really be thinking about it too much. I’ll just be trying to concentrate on my own game.”
“I won’t be walking over asking for his autograph, no, but I’ll definitely be excited to play against him,” he said.
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CHIVAS USA TODAY
at D.C. United, noon, FSN West
Site -- RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Radio -- 1020.
Records -- Chivas USA 2-2; D.C. United 0-3-1.
Record vs D.C. United (2006) -- 0-2.
Update -- Chivas will be without defender Carlos Llamosa (season-ending knee injury) and midfielder Sacha Kljestan (suspended), but midfielder Paulo Nagamura could make his debut. The game matches rookie coaches Preki and United’s Tom Soehn. Chivas is 0-4 all time against D.C. and has scored only once against the four-time MLS champions, who are off to their worst start since 1996.
