He is 19 years of age and plays for NYC. He is English and trained with Man U academy from ages 7-14 whereupon he moved to the US. He attended a prep boarding school in Massachusetts where he played and was named 2015 Gatorade National Boys' Player of the Year and won the US Youth Soccer Golden Ball. He attended Wake Forest as a freshman where he was named a consensus All-American, ACC Freshman of the Year, ACC Offensive Player of the Year, and Gatorade National Player of the Year. He then opted for the MLS draft where he was the first player taken overall.

His debut was delayed due to a lengthy injury where a ligament or tendon pressed against his pelvis with such force that it caused a hairline fracture. He has been playing for NYC for about a month, seeing his first action on May 21. When he was rehabbing his injury, he was assigned Lampard as his mentor and credits him with a lot of assistance. He has the fortune of watching, training, and playing with Villa and Pirlo on a daily basis and being managed by Vieira.

He is a natural left winger but has the capability to play both sides of the pitch and is seeing action on the right side because McNamara is somehow good at soccer. Vieira had the following to say about Harrison:

quote:
“He’s a good player,” Vieira told MLSSoccer.com. “Technically he’s really good, he understands the game, he can come and link with our No. 9, he can run behind their back four, his football brain is fantastic. He’s a really young talented player. We just have to build him up."

quote:
“What’s happening to him now never happened to him before,” said Vieira. “When young players are doing well, they can be put where they are not yet by you guys (the media). There is a big difference between playing one game, two games, three games really well or having a career that lasts 15 years. He can handle it. His head is on his shoulder, and he has a really good family,” said Vieira. “But we don’t know how he is going to react. It is our job with the experience I have and Claudio (Reyna) as the sporting director to protect him.”

quote:
"He's a modern winger," NYCFC coach Patrick Vieira said. "He can come inside, he can go on the line, he can score goals, and he's really good in the 1-v-1 situations. He's the type of modern winger than you like to have in the team."

Regarding the USMNT, here is what Harrison had to offer:

quote:
“It would be great to represent this country. But again, we would have to see later on down the line.”

Here are some quality highlights with a little slow motion. You can skip to 6:15 to see the beginning of a very quality play that shows some of his capabilities very well. You can continue from that point to see a few more of his touches. Harrison wears #11.

Highlights

It will be interesting to see how he develops and where he ends up.

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Posted by pvilleguru

Member since Jun 2009

60453 posts

Posted on 6/29/16 at 6:24 am to John Keating

Not much to discuss until he gets his citizenship.

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Posted by EastNastySwag

Member since Dec 2014

5978 posts

Posted on 6/29/16 at 6:36 am to John Keating

Awesome vid. Nb4 SCH declares NYCFC a fraud.

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Posted by 225bred

COYS

Member since Jun 2011

20969 posts

Posted on 6/29/16 at 2:25 pm to John Keating

Did not know he was eligible for USA citizenship.

He's extremely technical and gifted on the ball. Would love to get him in a USA camp.

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Posted by Moleman

Houston

Member since Aug 2004

852 posts

Posted on 6/29/16 at 4:43 pm to 225bred

quote:
Did not know he was eligible for USA citizenship.

He's several years away from getting it

quote:
Harrison, who has never represented England on a youth level, wouldn’t be eligible to represent the US until he receives American citizenship, a process that would take years. Harrison would first have to receive a green card, then reside in the US for five years continuously before being eligible to apply for full citizenship.

LINK

This post was edited on 6/29/16 at 4:44 pm

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Posted by John Keating

College Green, Ireland

Member since Jan 2015

2593 posts

Posted on 6/29/16 at 5:11 pm to Moleman

He needs to get a green card because I am not aware of any way of getting around the five year green card holding requirement for naturalization.

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Posted by cwil177

Baton Rouge

Member since Jun 2011

29571 posts

Posted on 6/29/16 at 5:19 pm to John Keating

If he gets good enough to get an England call up, there is no way the US has a chance, mainly because of the time it would take for him to get his citizenship. If he's as good as people think he is, I can't see him staying in MLS for the time that would be required of him to be a citizen here.

Also:

quote:
has the capability to play both sides of the pitch and is seeing action on the right side because McNamara is somehow good at soccer.

Could not be more true

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Posted by John Keating

College Green, Ireland

Member since Jan 2015

2593 posts

Posted on 6/29/16 at 5:26 pm to cwil177

I agree. If he continues to develop his talent and grow as a player I could see him heading to the Premier in three years or so at the age of 22. He can then play for England with Klinsmann as his manager.

The quote from him sounds like he really likes the US and would be honored to represent the country but he is still English in his heart and is keeping his options open.

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