BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – Sean Johnson looked the picture of focus and determination as he went through his paces at training last week, running laps and drills on his own as he works his way back to fitness near the end of the most trying year of his professional career.
The sixth-year Chicago Fire goalkeeper’s season was cut short after the 3-2 defeat at the New York Red Bulls on Sept. 11, due to a labral tear to his left shoulder, bringing a premature end to a disappointing 2015 season that saw Johnson appear in only 21 MLS games, 25 competitive games in all. The injuries – of which there were several – were not Johnson’s sole concerns. The Fire have struggled mightily in 2015, enduring a club record 18 defeats and seeing head coach Frank Yallop dismissed last month.
“It was a year of a lot of injuries and a lot of things in adversity to deal with both on and off the field,” Johnson told MLSsoccer.com. “It’s been tough. Results haven’t really gone our way, it feels like every time something could have gone against us, it did, throughout the year. But that’s something you have to deal with as a player, as a person and really press through it and make yourself better and use it to reflect and get better as a player.”
Johnson was sidelined by unusual injuries, suffering an infection on his arm early in the season, and missing time due to eye and finger issues before the shoulder injury finally drew the curtain on a year he would rather forget. As the tear did not require surgery, the Atlanta-area native has been a virtual ever-present at training sessions, working on his own and with strength and conditioning coach Adrian Lamb with a view to returning to full health ahead of next season.
“That’s the most important thing; putting myself in position to do the best for the team and be 100 percent,” he said. “I think if I’m fit and healthy, there’s nothing that holds me back from giving these guys more than everything, every game and helping us to win matches.”
Finding victories has been tough for the Fire this year. Their eight wins are tied for the fewest in the league, and their 0.94 points per game average is the only mark in MLS below 1.0. Interim head coach Bliss, while acknowledging the strength in depth he has with goalkeepers Jon Busch and Alec Kann, lamented the loss of Johnson.
“He’s been one of the keys to our club in terms of the players we call ‘core guys’,” Bliss said via teleconference Tuesday. “He came into the club as a young player, he’s developed over time, got himself into the national team pool and he’s progressing nicely. When you’re missing guys like that it’s never good, but we’ve got Jon Busch and Alec Kann who are very good in the deputy role. But when you’re missing key guys for longer stretches of time, it can be cumbersome.”
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It hasn’t been all negative in 2015 for Johnson, who gained valuable experience with the US national team and relished the chance to learn from experienced pros like Tim Howard and Brad Guzan, most recently as part of the squad for the 4-1 defeat to Brazil last month.
“It was great to be back in with Timmy and Brad: Having veterans to help you along is great, and being in that environment was second to none,” Johnson said. “It was good to get that experience with guys who are willing to help you out, which was great, and I can’t speak more highly of those guys. Being with the national team again was a good spark for me, I had a good chat with [USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann], and it was good to catch up with all the boys, so I’m definitely pleased with that.”
Klinsmann has come under fire for some of his recent squad choices, personnel changes and tactics, but one position where he seems spoiled for choice is between the posts, where he has several quality candidates vying for the No. 1 spot. The US have long enjoyed a great tradition of top quality goalkeeping talent, with Howard, Guzan, Nick Rimando, Johnson, Bill Hamid and several others competing in the current player pool.
“I think the current batch is more than capable,” Johnson said when asked of the quality of the goalkeepers currently available to Klinsmann. “You’ve seen both Tim and Brad do really well in the Premier League, myself, Nick Rimando, the guys with the U-23s have done a fantastic job. So yeah, the goalkeepers have been great, generation to generation, so hopefully, myself included, can continue that legacy and continue to build the core of goalkeepers.”
While he was disappointed not to take his place in the squad for Saturday’s CONCACAF Cup defeat to Mexico or Tuesday’s clash with Costa Rica, Johnson’s immediate focus is on regaining fitness and his place in the Fire starting lineup.
“First and foremost, you want to be healthy,” he said. “It’s disappointing when you’re not playing for your country, but I also can’t play for my club at the moment, so that’s a bit tough to swallow as well. But like I said, getting healthy is the most important thing and putting myself in a position to get back into the US squad and back into the swing of things with the Fire is the aim.”
Shane Murray covers the Chicago Fire for MLSsoccer.com.
