Jack Harrison made his New York City FC debut against the New York Red Bulls, showing glimpses of his potential in a loss in May.
A little more than a month later, the 19-year-old midfielder was in the starting XI, earning Man of the Match honors, helping lift NYCFC to a 2-0 win over their rivals in the New York Derby Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
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Harrison scored his second MLS goal and played a brilliant ball to David Villa for his league-leading 12th tally of the season.
“For me, an assist is just as good as a goal,” Harrison said in the locker room after the game, surrounded by a horde of media. “Just to see his face when he scored was great as well. It’s always a happy moment. It’s not every day you get to assist David Villa.”
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Villa isn’t surprised by Harrison’s fast start with NYCFC, but he is quite impressed with the rookie’s ability to quickly adapt to coach Patrick Vieira’s system after missing four months due to a pelvis injury.
“Jack is very good news for NYCFC, not only for now, but also for history,” Villa said. “He’s a very good guy, he’s a young guy, he has a very good career [ahead of him] because not only is he a very good player, but he’s smart, which is most important in soccer. He’s only 19 years old and he stayed out four months for his pelvis. In one month, he got it, all of Patrick’s system. This is very difficult.”
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Rehabbing alongside Harrison for most of those four months was Frank Lampard, who said he took the fellow Englishman under his wings.
“He’s got great ability, natural ability on the ball,” Lampard said. “Some players just know when to pass, when to dribble and they have the ability to skip past people. On top of that he has a lot of humility and he’s a really good kid.”
“I’ve seen a lot of good players with ability and Jack is the latest one,” Lampard added. “He’s up there with as good an ability as I’ve seen at that age. He’s showing it on the pitch now in games and I think he’ll continue to show it.”
As for all the attention, Harrison said he’s taking it in stride.
“Stay humble, that’s the main thing,” Harrison said. “I learned that from my mom.”
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Vieira is a bit more cautious with his praise of Harrison.
“He’s still young, and he’s going to make mistakes," Vieira said. "Today he went well, yesterday he went well, but even he will go through a difficult period, and we will give him the support that he needs. We have a young, really talented player in our football club.”
And perhaps the best news for NYCFC fans, and the worst for opponents also comes from Vieira.
“I still believe the best is yet to come,” Vieira said.
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