By BRIAN SCIARETTA
After signing with Liverpool last fall and enjoying strong performances within the club’s youth levels, Marc Pelosi is on the road to recovery after sustaining a knee injury last weekend
(EDIT - THIS STORY WAS WRITTEN IN FEBRUARY).Pelosi, 17, is widely regarded as one of the top teenage American prospects after he was the captain of the United States U-17 World Cup team last year. In November, Pelosi followed his fellow American prospect Villyan Bijev and signed with Liverpool and began playing with the club’s under-18 and reserve teams.
Last weekend, however, Pelosi’s rise with the Reds suffered a setback in training when his foot was planted during a scrimmage and a defender slid and hit his knee from the side. Pelosi’s knee buckled and at first a serious injury was suspected.
Scans would later reveal a Grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament, which does not require surgery but will keep Pelosi out for two months. Despite the injury, Pelosi remains upbeat and thankful that the injury was not worse.
“It’s probably the worst injury of my career but it could have been worse,” he said in a telephone interview. “Obviously it’s horrible to get injured but that’s just part of football. There’s no player that never gets injured. I just look forward from here. Obviously I’m down but I just have to stay positive and work hard in therapy and in the gym to get stronger.”
Before the injury, however, the left-footed Pelosi had been playing well at both left back and in the midfield — two positions he says he likes equally. He was a regular in training with Liverpool’s reserve team but had also played with the U-18 team to get games before his work permit was secured. Next year he is expecting to be with the reserve team full-time.
The American midfielder Marc Pelosi at Anfield after recently signing with Liverpool of England's Premier League.Deanzaforce.orgTh
e American midfielder Marc Pelosi at Anfield after recently signing with Liverpool of England’s Premier League.
While he is off to a strong start at Liverpool, the decision to sign with the five-time European champions as a teenager was not an easy one. As one of the top young American players, he had options ranging from college to Major League Soccer to a wide range of European clubs.
A club like Liverpool also presented the challenge of having a world-class first team that is difficult to break into for young players. In the end, however, Liverpool was able to sign Pelosi in large part because of its storied history and its willingness to sign him without a trial.
“I was going to go to U.C.L.A.,” Pelosi said. “I had offers from M.L.S and a few other teams in Europe. It was a tough decision but with Liverpool being one of the top teams in the world with an incredible history, I heard a lot of good things about their youth teams so I thought it’d be a good place to develop.
“Obviously their first team is really good and everyone wants to break through to that level. I’m going to try my best for that but it’s always good to start at a team at the top because there is always somewhere else to go after that.”
Once Pelosi recovers from his injury, Liverpool will not be the only team happy to have him back. He is also expected to be a big part of the United States U-20 team as it moves toward next year’s World Cup in Turkey.
Pelosi was invited by U-20 Coach Tab Ramos for the first camp of 2012 last month but Liverpool did not want to release him because he was still adjusting to the club.
“The next step for me is probably the U-20s with Tab Ramos as the new coach,” Pelosi said. “I’ve met him once before. I think he’s going to be a really good coach. Hopefully in the summer I’ll be with them for a camp soon.“
Pelosi was born in Germany in 1994 but moved to California when he was 3 years old. He also is a distant relative of the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, though he has never met her.
Growing up, Pelosi returned to Germany every summer to visit family. While he has an affinity for both countries, he acknowledged that he feels more American and is proud to play for the United States.
Before he moved overseas, Pelosi developed his game primarily at U.S. Soccer’s Bradenton Academy, where he played with many of the other top American players his age. While the program is in the process of undergoing changes, Pelosi has fond memories of the program and his former U-17 coach, Wilmer Cabrera.
“I really miss Bradenton now that I look back on it,” he said. “I saw that as a really good opportunity to grow as a player. If I had just stayed home in California, I would have just trained three or four times a week. At Bradenton I got to train with some of the best players in the U.S. and trained six times a week. That really helped with my development along with living with top soccer players.”
If all goes according to plan with his recovery, Pelosi should be back on the field in April. He will then try to continue his goal of breaking through at Liverpool. The first year has seen its ups and downs, but Pelosi said he was confident that the decision to move to Liverpool has been worth it, and that it will allow him to realize his potential.
“It’s hard in the beginning being on a new team,” he said. “I’ve never been on a new team like this because for my whole life I’ve always been part of U.S. youth teams with the same people. Now I come to Liverpool and everyone is new. But once I got used to it, I thought I was doing well. I was getting better as a player — my passes were quicker. You just learn a lot quicker here and become a better a player.”
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/yanks-abroad-for-pelosi-progress-at-liverpool-takes-a-knock-in-the-knee/