CARSON, Calif. – For years, Jack McBean has been considered one of the prize prospects of the LA Galaxy system, and it’s not surprising to see why.
Signed at the age of 16 as the team’s second-ever Homegrown product, McBean became the youngest player in club history to score for the Galaxy at the tail end of his first season back in 2011. The striker seemed to have limitless potential, but after dealing with a long recovery from a fractured clavicle suffered in 2013 and struggling to find his way into head coach Bruce Arena’s plans for four seasons, McBean was ready to give up.
And in 2015, when the striker was dropped from the Galaxy’s first team and sent full-time to USL affiliate LA Galaxy II, McBean contemplated whether the life of a professional soccer player was really for him.
“My mind was in a lot of different places after getting dropped from the team. I felt like the club had given up on me and I was giving up on myself,” McBean told LA Galaxy Insider. “I signed so young, and after a couple of seasons, I was still in the same spot of not even being on the bench or playing games with the first team, I think I put too much pressure on myself.”
His career in the balance, McBean went back to basics.
Rather than adding pressure on himself for the goals that he wasn’t scoring, McBean sought to refine the other aspects of his game. No longer a wispy 16-year-old, McBean added strength and poise to his repertoire, perfecting his hold up play and sharpening his passing ability so that he could better aid in the attack.
“I just had to take a step back and get back to the basics of trying to get better every day,” McBean recalled. “It’s a long process for a young striker to find that goal scoring touch, but no one except the best players in the world are going to score in every other game. So instead, you can do a lot of other things to help the team.
“To be honest, I told myself during that [2015] offseason to not worry about anything else. I know that I can be a good player. And the mental side of it took a toll on me because I wasn’t doing so well. I came in that preseason with Galaxy II full-time, and I was happy about it and worked hard, and I got my reward.
The 2015 campaign proved to be a turning point for McBean who found his form under Galaxy II head coach Curt Onalfo. Already well-versed in McBean’s ability from his time coaching the Galaxy’s reserve squad, Onalfo offered the striker consistent minutes, and he blossomed from them scoring six goals and adding five assists en route to leading the team to the USL Championship Game and being named Galaxy II Most Valuable Player.
McBean followed up the 2015 season with an even greater showing a year later, scoring 12 goals in just 14 appearances for Los Dos. His performance did not go unnoticed as he was re-signed by the Galaxy’s first team in June 2016.
He had worked his way back from the brink and done it with his hometown club.
"The Galaxy means the world to me. I’ve been here since I was 16 and I’m with this team and this organization more than my family on most nights," McBean says. "I’ve grown up since I’ve been here."
In his first year back with the squad, McBean made two appearances for Arena’s team before heading out on a season-long loan to English side Coventry City in mid-August. The Galaxy striker was a revelation in England, scoring seven times for the Sky Blues’ U-23 team and playing six matches for their senior team.
Once it was time to return to Southern California, McBean had made an important realization: He was ready to take a feature role with the Galaxy in 2017.
“I’m not just some kid anymore. I want to have an impact on the team throughout the season,” McBean said. “I have to take it day by day and not think too much into it and keep working hard.”
The offseason seemed to transpire perfectly for McBean’s aspirations as the Galaxy selected Onalfo as Arena’s successor as head coach and parted ways with veteran target man Alan Gordon, freeing up a spot for the forward.
After years of watching from a distance, McBean believes the time is now to capitalize on his opportunity, and potentially, earn his place in Galaxy lore.
“It’s been my dream since day one to be someone that the club looks back on as a Galaxy legend,” McBean said. “When you think of the big players that have come through the ranks like Landon Donovan or even a guy like Edson Buddle who scored so many goals, that’s always been in the back of my mind.
“You can’t think of that though, you’ve got to take it day by day and year by year if you’re going to achieve success.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atLAGalaxy.com/Insiderand contact him atLAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
