USL Feature
Friday, March 30, 2012
For some, making the jump from the PDL to USL PRO can take a period of acclimation. But Los Angeles Blues coach Charlie Naimo believes one of his new signings, Bryan Burke, is ready to make an impact immediately when the season starts.
“I think he’s already made the jump,” Naimo said by phone. “Just watching him play against Chivas, when we played the Chivas reserves, you can’t beat him. We like to play attacking, possession soccer and we want all of our players to be able to play, so that’s why we tend to convert players, like last year we converted Josh Suggs from a forward to a back and now he’s playing for San Jose, so you take these big, athletic forwards like a Burkie, like a Suggs and the next thing you know they’re coming out of the back with ease, and that’s what he does.”
Burke certainly gained a lot from his summer with the Kitsap Pumas, helping the club win its first PDL title while taking MVP honors in the PDL Championship Game after assisting on the only goal of the game and playingwith remarkable energy throughout the contest. He wasn’t the only Pumas player to move on from the club this offseason, with goalkeeper Bryan Meredith now with the Seattle Sounders in MLS.
A native of Corona Del Mar, Calif, working out with the Blues after he returned home from his summer in the Pacific Northwest was a natural fit for the 23-year-old. But instead of playing forward, where he had scored four goals for Kitsap that summer, the Blues had something else in mind for him after he joined their early training sessions after the end of last season. In a similar move to the one the club made with Suggs a year before, Associate Head Coach Shayon Jalayer moved Burke to right back, where he has fit in very well so far.
“I’ve definitely been learning it, it’s a lot different than forward, but I see the runs, I know the runs forwards like to make and I like to get up the line and get forward sometimes, so it’s good,” Burke said. “I’m really enjoying it, actually, it’s a really good position, I like it.”
Naimo is certainly full of praise for the way Burke has adapted and grown into his new position.
“He’s got this huge engine, he can go up and down all day long, he’s got very good service when he’s in the attacking third, and he’s a very good defender in his own right, so he’s got all the tools to handle this easily, and I think there’s even another level for this kid,” Naimo said. “We’ve been more than pleased with his performance thus far.”
While he’s certainly pleased to hear that from his new coach, Burke said he’s also using it as motivation to continue to improve throughout the year. With his ultimate goal to follow Suggs’ path from the Blues to Major League Soccer, the youngster is showing a strong level of maturity that was nurtured in part last summer.
“Kitsap was really professional, it was an awesome team and I had a lot of fun up there,” Burke said. “All of the guys up there, Nik Besagno had played pro or are playing pro, so it was kind of like they knew what to do, how to get stuff done.”
Now, after helping the Pumas win their first PDL championship last summer, the goal for Burke is to help his new team as they pursue their first championship in USL PRO.
“That’s obviously the goal, but we know we have to take it one step at a time,” Burke said. “It’s going to take a while to get to the championship, but it would be awesome to win it, we’ve got to take baby-steps, though, but it would be a good experience.”