UPPER MERION, Pa. – As the top overall pick in the NWSL Draft and a potential member of the US women’s national team at this summer’s World Cup, Morgan Brian is poised for a big year in 2015.
Her boyfriend, Philadelphia Union draftee Eric Bird, is hoping to have one too.
Bird – who met Brian at the University of Virginia, where he led the Cavaliers to the 2014 national championship – is vying for a spot on the Union roster and then a place in the club’s midfield rotation as a rookie.
“My focus right now is to make the team first,” Bird said after a recent practice. “I would play any role that [head coach Jim Curtin] wants me to play. I think at this next level the best suited role for me is a 6 or an 8 – a more defensive role than I played at UVA. I think that I’m a player that has a good engine and I can string together passes efficiently and can be that rock or foundation in the middle of the field.”
Curtin was thrilled that the Union were able to snag Bird late in the second round of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft as the UVA midfielder slipped in part because he missed the MLS Combine with an injury.
And the Union coach was even more thrilled after watching Bird on the training field during the first week of the Union’s preseason.
“Bird has done very well,” Curtin said. “He’s able to get himself out of trouble, he’s good in tight spots and he can really pass the ball. I was joking with him the first day – he played one like 40-yard ball, and I kind of didn’t know if he quite meant it, and then did it two or three more times, and I said, ‘OK, this kid can play.’”
Bird certainly proved he could play at the college level, serving as the captain of one of the best college programs in the country as a junior and a senior.
Bird will likely be a reserve midfielder for the start of his professional career – Curtin has said he likes him as a backup to Vincent Nogueira in the No. 8 spot – but he still hopes his leadership qualities transfer to the next level.
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“It’s a role I think I really thrive in,” he said. “I like to be the guy that people look to and lean on. Being a part of [the national championship] and playing the role I did was a really cool experience.”
Bird, who had 12 goals and seven assists in 43 games over his final two collegiate seasons, also believes that being a part of such a successful college program will help make his transition to MLS an easier one.
“It’s a program that’s filled with a tremendous amount of tradition and [UVA head coach George Gelnovatch] preaches to the guys that you have to live it,” Bird said. “It’s not something you can be on and off any given day. It’s something that has to become who you are. Any little thing – whether it’s little sprints, fitness, small-sided games, big games – you have to want it every single day. It’s kind of a lifestyle you have to accept.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
