All season long, Jared Stroud has been texting back and forth with his buddies 鈥 and former teammates 鈥 with St. 不良研究所导航网址 City SC. Stroud was traded by City SC to D.C. United in December, and a frequent topic of those texts has been the match between the teams Saturday at CityPark.
This week, with the game now days away, there have been fewer texts.
鈥淎 little bit less this week as it tenses up a bit,鈥 Stroud told the Post-Dispatch on Thursday. 鈥淏ut in general, just yeah, I love a lot of those dudes. It would be wrong for me to name any of them because we鈥檙e all super-close, dinners together, hanging out a lot together. .. It鈥檚 just going to be fun. I鈥檓 just happy to see their faces, and for me, it鈥檒l feel like a home game even though it鈥檚 away.鈥
Stroud may have been in St. 不良研究所导航网址 only a year, but what a year it was. From the team鈥檚 very first game, where he scored the club鈥檚 second goal to tie the game, to it winning the regular-season Western Conference title, Stroud was a fan favorite. His on-field 鈥淪cary Jerry鈥 demeanor, running all over the place, scoring goals, committing fouls and generally being the personification of the team鈥檚 high-pressing style made him stand out. He was fifth on the team in goals with five, second on the team in yellow cards with eight.
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Which was one of the things that made his trade, going to D.C. United along with Lucas Bartlett and $300,000 in exchange for midfielder Chris Durkin, a bit of a surprise, including to him.
鈥淵eah, it was unexpected, for sure,鈥 he said. 鈥淐oming off of last year, the season I had, I thought I was going to stay. Told the club that I was OK with committing my future there. But I just think sometimes life takes unexpected turns and things happen the way they did, and ultimately, I wanted to go somewhere where I was valued the most. As a player, you have to look out for yourself in that respect and go somewhere where they see you as long-term future player, and for me, D.C. popped up as that team. Ally Mackay popped up as that GM that was looking.
鈥淎nd yeah, for sure, a little bit unexpected, but once I kind of gathered my bearings and figured out what was the best solution for myself 鈥 and of course, I鈥檒l miss St. 不良研究所导航网址 and had really good times there and thought I was going to go back and have another good year 鈥 but ultimately, this is the sport, this is the job. And I鈥檓 super-, super-excited to be here, and this project is super-exciting for me. But obviously, I have a lot of love for Brad (Carnell) and for the boys.鈥
Stroud and Bartlett have both started all of D.C. United鈥檚 first four games, and Stroud got his first D.C. United goal Saturday, a line shot into the back of the net from about 12 yards out. While it is his third team in three seasons 鈥 and his fourth in five seasons 鈥 this may be the one that sticks. This one also puts him closer to his parents in New Jersey, who have been thrilled by the opportunity to see either Stroud or his younger brother, Peter, who plays for New York Red Bulls, in person each weekend.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e living in a dream world right now,鈥 he said.
It wasn鈥檛 quite a dream world for Stroud when he was traded, just as he was getting settled in St. 不良研究所导航网址. But that disappointment can鈥檛 change one thing: His one season in St. 不良研究所导航网址 breathed life into his career.
鈥淵eah, massive,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 mean, experiences that I will never forget. That first year, you can鈥檛 replicate that again, going 5-0 to start an expansion team, winning the West. The fans were incredible, the people were so kind to me and my girlfriend and my family when they came in. Brad revamped my career, essentially. He gave me the opportunity. He was the one who played me; he picked me up after a season where I didn鈥檛 play much. He called me and said, 鈥榊eah, you鈥檙e going to be great here.鈥 I owe my entire career to Brad for sure. At least a massive portion up until this point.
鈥淎nd I owe a lot to the club as well. So it will be very emotional coming back on Saturday because the club has given me so much and propelled my career forward, and there鈥檚 so much that goes involved with that. I only have positive things to say about St. 不良研究所导航网址 and Brad and the boys. So thankful for the club for giving me that opportunity to be a part of the history for them and to give them so much happiness last year. If I ever have time sometimes, I鈥檒l watch videos of some of those games, and yeah, it gives you chills.鈥
If Stroud got to be part of the foundation in St. 不良研究所导航网址, he鈥檚 getting to do it with D.C. too. New coach Troy Lesesne was, like Carnell, an interim head coach with New York Red Bulls and with a pretty thorough turnover of the team鈥檚 roster has installed a high-pressing style, with which Stroud is all too familiar and has, once again, turned him into an on-field leader.
鈥淗e鈥檚 given us exactly what I would hope for,鈥 said Lesesne, 鈥渨hich is a really intelligent player against the ball. He understands exactly the type of identity we want to put in place, and where I challenged him was trying to continue to create attacking moments for us, chance creation has to be a little bit higher, and this last weekend, we got to see him score a great goal for us and I鈥檓 hoping he gets into those areas and continues to maximize those areas as often as possible.鈥
There have been a few conversations this week between Stroud and his former teammates. Stroud had a text exchange with Joakim Nilsson, who had the MLS goal of the week last week with his bicycle kick against the L.A. Galaxy.
鈥淚 said, 鈥榃hat a goal man,鈥欌 Stroud said, 鈥渁nd then he said the same thing, and he said, 鈥楧on鈥檛 do it again next weekend.鈥 I said, 鈥榊eah, well, we鈥檒l see Joakim.鈥欌