CARSON, Calif. – Jack McBean is entering his seventh year in the LA Galaxy organization, and the promise of the 2017 campaign has filled the 22-year-old full of optimism.
McBean and the rest of the Galaxy squad convened on Monday for the first day of preseason training under new head coach Curt Onalfo. A longtime member of Onalfo’s teams with USL affiliate LA Galaxy II, McBean spent the latter part of last season with English club Coventry City FC.
“I’m taking this training camp day by day. I want to get through preseason healthy and score a couple of goals to take that into the regular season,” McBean told LA Galaxy Insider. “I want to make the most of my opportunities and control what I can control.
“This is my seventh year with this club, and I’ve never been more excited in a preseason. I feel like a lot more of a mature player.”
McBean enjoyed an incredibly productive 2016 campaign that saw him notch 12 goals for the USL side, finishing tied for second in total goals despite making just 17 appearances. In England, he kept up his hot streak, scoring seven goals for the Coventry City U-23s while also making six appearances for the club’s first team.
The 22-year-old heads into Galaxy training camp as one of the team’s top forward options after the offseason exoduses of Robbie Keane and most recently Alan Gordon. The exit of Gordon is of particular importance for McBean who is primed to pick up the slack.
“I learned a lot from Gordo because he’s the same type of player as me,” McBean said. “He made a good living off his skills, but with him leaving, it puts more pressure on players like myself, Ari [Lassiter], and Jose [Villarreal] which I think we’re ready for.”
The presence of Onalfo as the head coach should be a significant boost for the forward who has played under the new LA Galaxy boss since his days leading the club’s reserve team when McBean joined the team in 2011. Under the tutelage of Onalfo, McBean resurrected his career with Galaxy, blossoming from a promising prospect to a potential substantial contributor in the years ahead.
“Curt has faith in us. He realizes that when he was a young player that guys are going to make mistakes and it’s how you respond. You just have to have a good work ethic and focus on getting better every day. If you can do that, then it’s going to be good.”
As for McBean’s goals for the year ahead, his focus is on one thing: finding the back of the net.
“I don’t like to set goals,” McBean said. “I like to score them. Wherever and whenever.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atLAGalaxy.com/Insiderand contact them atLAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
