John O'Brien

[Kowalczyk]

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, our friend John still has his own thread. Because he's an Ajacied and an American, which makes him the ultimate Ajax USA hero. He's also an extremely nice guy and a good friend of ours. That's why.

Anyway, he's about to leave Holland, probably for good. This news report is on the official ADO Den Haag website:

John O'Brien's contract dissolved

ADO Den Haag and John O'Brien have agreed to part ways. The contract between the two parties has been dissolved with immediate effect.

Technical director Rob Baan says: "John O'Brien left for the United States in mid-December, to recover from his persistent injury over there. We have asked him several times to return to The Hague. However, O'Brien lacked the intention to return to our squad. That's why we decided, by mutual consent, to dissolve his contract immediately."

Since his move from Ajax to ADO Den Haag John O'Brien only played three league games for ADO Den Haag, due to injuries.

This doesn't surprise me (see my posts above, which I posted quite long ago...). It's a strange story, though. I would like to hear the story from O'Brien's perspective. In this report it sounds like he ran away, more or less... Not sure what his deal with ADO was, but this sounds a bit odd: "John, we want you to return to The Hague." "Nah, don't feel like it."

Whatever happens: John, good luck!

K.

[ajaxusa]

Anybody who watched the GER USA game yesterday would agree that US team could really benefit from a healthy and motivated JOB in the WC Finals. So I'm going to cross my fingers for an O'Brien in the line-up in the final run of friendlies.

[ajaxusa]

It's official: JOB is now in MLS. O'Brien has signed with "Chivas USA" of Los Angeles and could see action as early as this weekend. He is also on the roster in the USA friendly v Jamaica next Tuesday, which means his participation in WC'06 is entirely possible again.

Story on ESPN Soccernet

Congratulations John! I'm excited to see you play again. :cheer:

[BPBlueSox]

Congratulations John! I'm excited to see you play again. :cheer:

Yeah! This means I'll be able to see him a few times in person a year as well! :xyxthumbs:

[aveslacker]

Good luck John. You're a class act and a great player. I hope you stay healthy, have a good MLS season, a great World Cup, and come back to Ajax! :xyxthumbs:

[Kowalczyk]

Great O'Brien story on ESPN Soccernet:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/st ... ls&cc=5739

He's got long hair! :yes:

K.

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Just a great guy and a great player :worshippy: i really hope he gets back to form and starts kicking some ass in USA and the world Cup.

[ajaxusa]

Two nice articles about O'Brien:

O'Brien Making a Run at the World Cup
U.S. National Soccer Players
http://ussoccerplayers.com/latest_socce ... 13233.html

O'Brien's return worth celebrating
Los Angeles Daily News
http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_3696210

One of these predicts JOB will see 15-20 minutes of action in USA-Jamaica game this evening...

[aveslacker]

I watched the US-Jamaica game. John came at about 70 minutes. You could tell that he was rusty, but the team looked much better when he came in (the addition of RM Clint Dempsey also helped).

I hope he stays healthy. He is a pivotal player for the US.

[ajaxusa]

O'Brien named to US team for the World Cup:

MLSNET.com story

"... O'Brien, who did not play in Chivas USA's league game on Saturday because of a strained calf ... "

Achingly familiar sound to that. :nooo:

[ajaxusa]

A picture of O'Brien from the US men's training camp, in pain and being tended to by medical staff... but it's not what you think...

Squeamish!

[AsgAarD_xxx]

Hehe are you sure that he won't be Juventus player next season? ;) .

[ajaxusa]

There is a remarkable video on Ajax.nl now:
Ajax TV: Hoe is het met John O'Brien?

It looks like he's living in Amsterdam and enjoying life. He looks great. Beyond that, I can't tell you since I don't speak Dutch. Maybe one of the natives can enlighten us?

[bryan]

He said he wants to be Ajax manager some day.

[ajaxusa]

Why not?

Can anybody provide a more thorough summary of what he says in the interview? I've been very curious what he's been up to...

[Philippe]

He said he wants to be Ajax manager some day.

[ajaxusa]

Here's a summary of O'Brien's comments in the video:

First of all his Dutch is flawless; he even has the South-Amsterdam
upperclass accent down. As he welcomes the reporter he jokes that he's wired so come on in! He explains that he's lived in this house for 4.5 years ("we enjoyed it very much") but is now selling it.

Later on he mentions how he will be improving on his surfing skills before joing Ajax as headcoach. (I guess this means he's moving back to southern California.)

He quit playing football because of the knee, couldn't bring himself to rehabilitate himself.

As he's admiring the wallpaper (picture of tropical island) he explains that he's been to Indonesia on vacation. The picture of himself in the trophy room is of when he was injured; all the notes are instructions of what (not) to do in terms of diet and exercise.

Being the modest guy that he is, he says that usually he doesn't think back for example to that wonderful Vitesse goal, but a friend of his made a compilation video and that does bring back good memories.

He says he will be the first American headcoach at Ajax-1, after of course he
has all the right diplomas and has become a master surfer! :-)

The bike he's showing is actually rental but he explains that now he's no longer a highly paid footballer the flashy car is gone. He closes off by saying that his experience at Ajax was wonderful and taught him what it's like to play at the highest level (he's being very kind here of course!).

Thanks to Michiel and Pepijn for their notes.