KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Former Manchester United legend Denis Irwin made the rounds this past week ahead of the legendary club’s summer tour of the US. Now an ambassador for the club, Irwin dropped by Kansas City to discuss the club’s upcoming tour.
The Red Devils stop in Philadelphia to take on the Union on July 21, meet the Wizards at Arrowhead Stadium on July 25, then wrap up with the MLS All-Star Game in Houston on July 28.
MLSsoccer.com: The Midwest hasn't exactly drawn top teams in the past. Why are Manchester United coming now?
Irwin: I think it’s just the fact that they wanted to go out and play in places where you don't normally get to. It’s a great opportunity to come here to the Midwest, and not just show up for Manchester United fans and Kansas City fans, but other fans as well to come and enjoy the game.
All the top players at United are coming over. There's going to be a few missing from the World Cup, obviously, but they'll have a squad that includes the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Edwin van der Sar, the da Silva twins [Fábio and Rafael], Darren Fletcher, Darron Gibson, John O'Shea, Jonny Evans, Antonio Valencia, Michael Owen, Dimitar Berbatov, Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck and I can go on.
So there is going to be a hell of a strong squad, along with the lad [Javier "Chicharito"] Hernández, the new signing. It's an good opportunity to come and play.
MLSsoccer.com: Previously, United have played other European super clubs on their trips through the States. Why did that change this time?
Irwin: The last time they came here, I think six years ago, they played Barcalona and Milan. First game off, they play Celtic, but they play Philadelphia Union prior to this game and the MLS All-Stars in Houston after.
First of all, they come across and they want to play teams that of good quality. I think you can see now that because they're playing MLS teams, it tells you that they are getting better and better. The quality is getting better.
You can see that the US has qualified for the last six World Cups. The more they improve, the better it is because young kids will start playing and that will only make league teams here get better.
MLSsoccer.com: What do you expect to see from the Wizards and the other teams United will go up against?
Irwin: A good level of fitness, because they'll be just over halfway in the league. They'll know that the teams that they're playing against will be fitter than they are and sharper than they are at the time. What United have, of course, is experience playing in big, big games and that should help them. I think when you combine the fact that the Wizards will be sharper and fitter will even it up a lot.
Plus the five o'clock kickoff will help as well. It will be hot, but it's all part of preseason training and it's the time of year that a footballer takes very seriously.
You want to get through preseason training without any injuries with as much fitness and game time under your belt as possible. It's the time of the year that they'll be hungry and want to get up and at it as soon as possible.
MLSsoccer.com: How have you seen soccer in America change over the last 20 years?
Irwin: It's improved. I played here in 1994 in the World Cup with Ireland, and MLS wasn't up and running then. I think it started up two years later. In 15 years, you've got set-ups like this, and the Union have joined this year and another two teams joining next year.
You can see it's growing and growing. It's not easy because you've got other sports to compete with. In England, people growing up want to be a footballer. Over here you obviously have the basketball, football, baseball and ice hockey.
Soccer has improved an awful lot. The facilities here are second to none. Some teams in England haven’t got these facilities. So you can see it takes awhile. You need the grassroots working well for it to progress to get even better. It takes time, but you can see it's getting better every year.
