Photo/Kari Heistad
BOSTON– Regardless of one’s thoughts on the MLS All-Star Game—whether it should be a collection of league-wide players versus an international club, or Eastern Conference against Western Conference, or whether we should have this game at all—there’s no denying that being called to the All-Star squad is a high recognition and a true honor.
With the incessant flow of international stars and U.S. national team players making their way into MLS, making the All-Star team is much more competitive than it used to be.
That, perhaps, is what makes Chris Tierney’s first-ever All-Star selection so special. Tierney, the New England Revolution full back and owner of probably the most underrated left foot in MLS, will have the opportunity to show his chops on Wednesday night in Denver against Tottenham Hotspur.
Tierney has never played at such an elevated level. His All-Star teammates are World Cup and Champions League winners. Their opponent is an English Premier League side that has been a top-eight side in the last five years.
“Obviously the guys that are putting people in seats these days are the international stars and the big-name national team players,” Tierney told reporters. “But there’s an important core of American players who have stuck it out in this league and worked hard, and I think I sort of fit in that category.
“To be kind of representing that level of player, I think, is important and exciting for me.”
That Tierney has reached an All-Star call is a sign of just how well he’s established himself in the league despite beginning his career as a total unknown.
Though he was a mainstay at the University of Virginia, where he made 38 starts in 79 appearances for the Cavaliers, he wasn’t taken until late in the drafting process. Today, Tierney might be taken in the first round. But the Revolution selected him 13th in the Supplemental Draft, five rounds behind the first, and kept him mostly on the bench.
But midway through the 2008 season, injuries depleted the Revolution’s back line. Tierney made his first major impression in a 1-0 win over Mexico’s Pachuca in a Superliga group game, filling in for injured veteran Chris Albright.
Tierney went up and down the left flank in the game, serving dangerous crosses into the box and even testing the goalkeeper with a line drive, 30-yard shot inside the opening 20 minutes. Tierney eventually helped the Revolution reach and win the tournament’s final, converting a penalty kick in a shootout victory over the Houston Dynamo for the Revolution’s second major trophy.
Tierney became more involved and saw increased playing time following the tournament, becoming a trusted, two-way option under head coach Steve Nicol. When Jay Heaps rebuilt the Revolution with General Manager Mike Burns nearly four years ago, Tierney was kept.
Heaps and the Revolution have been rewarded for their faith. Tierney has accumulated 175 appearances with the Revolution and is now in his eighth year in the league. He continues to make his opponents pay for allowing him space on the flank and has even emerged as a specialist on dead-ball situations, always using his golden left foot to wreak havoc.
Last year, he scored the tying goal in the MLS Cup final versus the Los Angeles Galaxy, the coda to a post-season run that included two goals and two assists.
“He has really honed his craft and he has made himself one of the better left backs in the league not just defensively, but also when he attacks, offensively,” said Heaps. “He really is a danger and that started when he first made our team.
“I love that example that is set in that locker room for the young guys,” Heaps added. “You say, hey look, here’s a guy that didn’t make the bench for the first six, eight, nine months of his first year and it didn’t faze him. He came back his second year and didn’t play a ton either then but he continued to work and then the progress started to show and all that work started to be something.”
Tierney said in the lead-up to last year’s MLS Cup that he was a Revolution fan “first and foremost and that New England is the only place he wants to play.
But when Colorado Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni, who will coach the All-Stars, selected Tierney with one of eight coach’s picks, Tierney was forced to accept that for one night he’d have to don a different jersey.
The red, white, and blue MLS All-Star kit has the same colors as that of Tierney’s hometown New England Revolution, but it represents something different: Tierney is a member of MLS’ elite.
Now he’ll have the chance to show why.
If you want to reach Julian email him at julianccardillo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @juliancardillo
