FOXBOROUGH -- We wanted to give new Revolution defender Michael Mancienne a couple of weeks to settle in with his new club before we got the opportunity to talk with him, and from all accounts, the Englishman has settled in nice and proper. So earlier this week, we sat down with him -- as well as teammate Jalil Anibaba, and got comments from gaffer Brad Friedel -- and spoke about his past as well as what he brings to The Boys In Blue.
BSJ: How difficult was it to emerge from the Chelsea Academy and break into the first teams for Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant and Guus Hiddink?
Michael Mancienne: Very difficult, to be honest. Very difficult for any young boy coming through, especially at a top team, where they’re under pressure to win trophies, and it’s hard to trust a young kid who hasn’t got any experience to put him in than someone who has played 200, 300 games.
BSJ: What did you learn in those loans to Wolves and QPR, but also about yourself and how to break into first team football?
MM: I learned real football, especially at Chelsea; you’re in a bubble, you’ve got everything there for you: the facilities are unbelievable. You have 20 chefs or whatever it is, and you have so many staff members, and then you go to a team who doesn’t have all of those things, you’re kind of put in the real world. Obviously at Chelsea, they’re always toward the top of the table; you go to a team that might be struggling, and you go into a real dogfight. You learn how to survive.
BSJ: When it came down to the transfer earlier this month, who approached who first? Was it Brad calling your agent, or vice versa; did your agent call Brad saying, ‘Michael would like an opportunity to play’?
MM: I think it was Brad who reached out to my agent, and I was delighted when he did, to be honest. I heard it was a massive opportunity and a massive challenge for me, and a good challenge. I was real excited for it.
BSJ: So in the week-plus or so you were back in England going through the paperwork process, you were back at Chelsea training. How did that come about?
MM: I’ve still got a lot of contacts at Chelsea. The Academy Director was the one who pretty much there the whole time I had been there. I still have friends who are coaches there; my best friend is a coach there. I messaged him. They loved the fact I came to train with the Academy. It was good to keep me fit.
BSJ: When you were waiting for the visa to go through, what was going through your mind at that point?
MM: I was itching to get out here, to be honest. Every single day I was hoping that it had gone through and I could be on the next plane out of England. I was itching to play and get started, to be honest.
BSJ: So what were you told about this defensive squad in New England before you signed?
MM: I wasn’t told much, to be honest. I didn’t know obviously too much about the team; I started researching a little bit before I came over. I knew it was going through a difficult period; every single team goes through periods like this. It’s just about breaking that period and for us now, picking up as many points as possible.
BSJ: What do you bring to help solidify this team?
MM: Experience, I know what it’s like to play at the top level in Germany and in England. I’ve been in dogfights, so I know how to survive, as well. I know how to pick up points, I know how to close out games.
BSJ: So how do you like the turf so far? Have you gotten out there to train yet?
MM: I haven’t been out there, haven’t trained on there.
BSJ: Do you think that English, Spanish (European) players are afraid of the turf?
MM: I know a lot of people don’t like it; they may have knee problems, it might cause them injuries. I know people find it difficult — to be honest, I don’t know how I’m going to find it like because I haven’t played on turf yet, I don’t know myself — yeah, it should be interested. Looking forward to it.
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