Chester, Pa. - Walking into Philadelphia Union training, there's one player who immediately sticks out due to towering over the rest of the team at center back: Neil Pierre. While a soft-spoken person in life, when you're 6-foot-7 on a soccer field, it's hard to miss him—even down to Chris Richards not believing it until he saw the Union defender in the United States Men's National Team camp. But height may also be the least interesting thing about Pierre's journey as he, like the Union, has taken MLS by storm since he returned from a loan spell in Denmark with Lyngby, where he helped the club gain promotion back to the Danish Superliga while getting a taste of what first-team soccer is like.
For an 19-year-old, just going to a new country is enough of an adjustment, and doing so while needing to break into a squad with ambition is quite a task, and Pierre did it while also learning a new position. Because of the club setup, Pierre actually played right back, and explaining the setup to CBS Sports, one of his co-managers, Andreas Bjelland, wanted to find out how he could get the talented young defender into the squad.
"He had the power, he had the drive, but he still needed the game smartness and the calmness of playing more senior minutes," Bjelland said. "And then he could get some extra minutes playing right back because we also had some really good center backs at that point playing really well. So it was a little bit of a mix of also getting him into play more and more."
Adjusting on the fly
This is a credit not only to Pierre's talent but also to his drive and versatility, as the Union man turned this into an excellent breakout where he scored four goals in 10 appearances while winning promotion and building confidence that he could do it as a soccer player along the way. Both the Union Academy and Pierre's own family helped set him up for success in a year that has become an absolute whirlwind. Following his success at Lyngby, alongside the Union falling to the bottom of the league, it was easy to question why Pierre wasn't with the team to start the season, but his time in Denmark was also formative. While it's easy to say that he should've been in Philadelphia from the start in hindsight, it was an important step for the Pierre that we see before us today.
"In the beginning, it was definitely a little nerve-wracking and definitely nervous," Pierre said, reflecting during Philadelphia Union training. "I think I can give all credit to them; they've kind of taken me in as like a part of the family immediately, so I felt like there was no stress there, and then that translated to on the pitch and they gave me the confidence to play how I was supposed to play. And then also off the field, I think, because we would go to team outings all the time and get dinner together, so it was like a family on and off the field."
Hoop dreams turned to soccer
Fast forward, and not only has Pierre been part of pulling the Union out of the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but he's also earned his first USMNT call-up and cap, and that was quickly followed by a return call for Concacaf Nations League play, where the USMNT will face Haiti twice during this international window, but if not for his family, soccer may not have happened. When Pierre was younger, basketball was the first sport that he connected with, but he credits his brother Nelson Pierre (who is currently on loan from the Vancouver Whitecaps to the HFX Wanderers of the Canadian Premier League) and his father for why he is where he is now.
"If it wasn't for them, I would be playing basketball right now. 100%," Pierre said. "But I think through them it was like I saw the love they had for the sport, and like how much passion they had, so I was like obviously I wanted to follow in my dad and brother's footsteps and be able to have that passion for something. So then I followed them into soccer and it's been since ever since it's been like this."
Considering his play for the Union this season, plenty are happy that Pierre made the decision to stick with soccer, but while his frame and closing speed do come with advantages, they also comes with things that he has to watch out for on the field, especially when defending against smaller players. Not only are they at times more agile than Pierre, but challenges that he makes can look worse too, and these are things that gaining more in-game experience has helped him prepare for, dealing with them and excelling.
He also has the benefit of playing not only for a coach that he knows from the Union youth ranks, but also for one who was a defender during his own professional career. In fact, Pierre has always had a defensive-minded head coach, even with the USMNT in Mauricio Pochettino, and that's something else that has been a benefit while he's getting his feet in the game.
"Obviously, being young, playing with older players [my coaches have] pulled me aside, either showing me film or what they feel like they've seen, and it's obviously different hearing it from a coach that's played in your position and done it at the highest level," Pierre said. "Same with the national team with Poch, I think hearing stuff like that, it's like these guys have done it at a pro level for a long time, so they know what they're talking about."
Add that to his natural skills, and you get a young defender that the Union can anchor the squad around. Before even getting into his goals, his closing speed and positioning are able to anchor a defense that has allowed the third-fewest goals in MLS since the World Cup, with only 21. They may not have risen to first in the Eastern Conference, but when the squad only had seven points prior to the World Cup and has picked up 40 after it so far, the impact that Pierre and the rest of the squad have had to push their way into the playoffs has been quite remarkable. You can also see why Lyngby wanted to keep him for their season in the Danish top flight, but when the Union had a chance at a starting spot, it was hard to allow Pierre to go back on loan when he could help the first team.
"We can be super aggressive because Neil is comfortable in one-on-one situations. If it's a direct ball, he wins; he eats all of these. If it's open space that he has to defend, physically, he can deal with that, and he's also a good defender," Philly's interim coach, Ryan Richter, said about how Pierre's play impacts his squad. "The way he puts out so many fires allows us to be aggressive higher up the field, because we know when they play the ball long that we have someone who cleans this up almost every time."
Defenders usually peak later than attackers in soccer, so it's impressive that Pierre is catching on so quickly, but given his path of getting into first-team soccer and also being with the coach who he came up through the academy with, it's a good spot for Pierre to succeed and grow before his next step likely takes him back to Europe.
"I think as a person, he's much more mature and much more focused than I would say at the point he was at a year ago, when I was coaching him with the second team. I'm really proud of him, the way that he's been able to put focus on the day-to-day and the game-to-game," Richter said. "Because I think of a lot of things, positive and negative, that happened to him this year. Having a great experience in Denmark, but it didn't start out perfect, and he earned his way in. When he came back here, he earned the starting spot. A couple months later called for the national team for his first caps to the national team. Comes back and is able to right away again put his full attention back in with the team and play a couple of good games after that. Um, so overall, his maturity in dealing with the things that are going on around him, I think, has been really impressive."
Pierre credits his family and the team for helping him stay grounded through what has been an absolute whirlwind year. Next up is a trip to USMNT camp before helping anchor the defense for the club as they face the New England Revolution in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs. Plenty for a young player to juggle, but after the year Pierre has had, this will feel more normal than what he has already accomplished.
