Huckerby assesses MLS for the English press

We haven’t spoken about Darren Huckerby much here in the Solar-Powered Soccer Blog recently, but today we’ve got almost a pure Huckerby program.

We’ll start with a great article on Hucks’ American adventure in the London Times, a publication often cited as the newspaper of record for the U.K. (The publication was founded in 1785 and was the first newspaper anywhere to be called “The Times.”) Headlined “Darren Huckerby relishes life as American idol in the MLS,” writer Simon Veness tells of Huckerby’s great enjoyment of both San Jose and American soccer. “Playing here is a completely different experience and has been a lot better than my expectations,” Huckerby told the paper. In fact, Hucks is having such a good time here that the story practically reads like a recruiting piece for MLS.

For example, here’s his assessment of the quality of our young league:

“The style of play is very pass-orientated and a lot more attack-minded, which suits me down to the ground. I am really enjoying my football and I think it’s showing in what I’ve achieved so far. The standard is probably on a par with the Championship, but there isn’t the strength in depth to compare it directly. The top 25 [players] in the league could easily hold their own in the Premiership, though.”

That’s high praise, but it sounds like a pretty accurate assessment to us. A number of players who’ve starred in MLS have gone on to succeed in the Premiership (Brian McBride, Clint Dempsey, and Tim Howard, for example), which lends credence to his assertion about the potential of the league’s top players. And if anyone is qualified to gauge the level of competition in the Championship, it’s Huckerby, who spent several years there with Norwich and won the, uh, championship of the Championship twice.

All in all, he’s having a great time with the Quakes:

“It’s also a beautiful area to live in and much more laid-back than England. After training, we can sit around the pool, go swimming and use the gym. We train at the university and the facilities are probably on a par with Premiership clubs. The style is not as strict, either. When we travel we are not locked up in a hotel room for days at a time, so we can actually see some of the cities we visit.

“It is a completely different environment after games, too, more to do with going out for a meal and socialising, not just going out drinking. There is no one going on all-day benders. Recently, our game with Houston was called off so we had a pool party, got the barbecue going and had a good American evening of it. The lads still have a few beers, but that’s where it ends.”

The article ends with Huckerby’s recommendation of MLS to other players in England, once they’ve set themselves up financially. “I would definitely recommend the experience to other players – but make as much money as you can in England first… But this is definitely the place to be. It is so much more enjoyable.”

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Huckerby may be having a good time in California, but he hasn’t forgotten Norwich, either. An Earthquakes shirt that he autographed and donated is being auctioned off on eBay to benefit Friends of Norwich City Youth, or “F.O.N.C.Y.” The current high bid is £151 (about $250) and shipping to the U.S. is free.

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In other news:

- Our own Embele Awipi, writing for the Salinas Californian, takes a look at Huckerby and San Jose’s growing network of connections to England in this week’s column.

- The Houston Chronicle reports that Brian Ching, who played in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Cuba, has been released by U.S. men’s national team coach Bob Bradley and will be available to play against San Jose on Wednesday. Kei Kamara will also be available after playing for Sierra Leone on Saturday. Dwayne De Rosario may also be available since Canada was eliminated from qualifying after losing 3-1 on Saturday to Honduras.