Philadelphia Union announced Tuesday that they have signed Homegrown Mark McKenzie to a long-term contract as a Designated Player, bringing the Union Academy product back to the club after time in Europe with Genk and Toulouse, plus a World Cup campaign with the U.S. Men's National Team.
After McKenzie put pen to paper, Sporting Director Jon Scheer sat down to share why the move was the right one for Philly and what it means for the club’s long-term ambitions.
Jon, you've made another massive move toward the long-term success of the club. How excited are you to get this one over the line?
“We're so excited. I think this is a really big and significant moment for our club. It's an exciting time currently with what we're doing this season, but we need to be thinking about the future always. Our goal is to reach new heights, and we really are extremely happy and excited about working with Mark again.”
What did it take to make this one come to be?
“It was a process where there were a lot of conversations, and I think for these types of things to happen, a lot has to come together. You think a lot about the fit. I think that was something that made a lot of sense for us, and something that, when we started talking about this with ownership, made a lot of sense for us from a technical and sporting standpoint, but also in terms of our club and our values as an organization.
Mark's a fantastic player, but he's an even better person, and we're excited that he's going to help make a lot of other players in our locker room the best they can be.”
What will Mark add to this team on the field?
“Yeah, he's immediately going to be stepping in and be at an extremely high level for a center back within our club and our style of play. He defends forward. He can pass the ball with both feet. So, from a stylistic perspective, he's going to allow us to attack and certainly be in 1v1 situations where he'll be able to put out fires, and then be really forward-thinking. So, from a style of play and roster composition perspective, it's a really, really good fit.”
Mark is a very experienced player for club and country and for the Union. What are the intangible characteristics that he brings to the table?
“I would say that he's extremely motivated, self-aware, and he wants to be the best he can be. He represents our pathway, and he had so much success here when he started. He's had success at the highest levels of Europe and for our country, but while that makes it special and there's the emotional component to it, Mark is coming back in the prime of his career and, again, is going to be a player that wants to continue to achieve more and be the best version of himself. That's really motivating for us, to have people like this involved in our club.
Yeah, I think for us, our foundation is our organization from back to front. I think in MLS, the way the league is headed with some of the attackers that we're facing on a week-to-week basis, to have not only one of the best center backs in our country, but also around the world, be able to come back, it's going to allow us to be really aggressive on the field and bring out our style of play, we feel like, even more.
We are a club that wants to develop and improve. I think Mark will not only be extremely effective and high-performing as an individual, but he's going to bring the best out of his teammates. That's something that, when we scout, we look and talk a lot about. Yeah, excited to see the others work and play with Mark and get the best versions of themselves as well.”
This club often has a lot of young players on the first team. What is the value of bringing back a player like Mark who has not only lived the club's philosophy already, but has also experienced top-level environments in Europe and on a World Cup stage with the U.S. Men's National Team?
“It can't be understated. I think our locker room, the experience that he had, obviously coming through for our young Homegrowns, is going to be something that the current Homegrowns will be able to get advice and guidance from and see, you know, behavioral kind of leadership that he'll provide. Also, the young players in our academy.
But something that stuck out to me when we were going through this process is he speaks French, he speaks Spanish, he's a very intelligent person. So he's going to be a real leader in our locker room, and then when we step on the field, a big leader as well.”
Mark's been gone for nearly six years now, but he's stayed involved in the Union community. Whether it's watching games, commenting on posts, or interacting with some of those young players, is it fun to see someone who has been tuned in throughout the entire process, even when they weren't quite involved, be so excited to jump in and work with you toward achieving the club's goals?
“It's extremely special, and I think as much as we want to bring our technical and sporting expertise to the decisions that we make, this is about the people. I think if we're going to maximize our goals as a club, it's going to be by having the right people that we bring in, in terms of staff and players.
I think Mark knows what our city is, what we value, what our fans value. He knows what our organization stands for, and, yeah, those things matter to him and the vision of the club, like what we want to achieve together. He helped us as a club get our first trophy in club history, and we're excited to try to help us achieve more.
Yeah, I think we look like a team, again, that is playing on the front foot and brave. As much passion and belief as the boys are playing with right now, I think the fans should also be excited that we know this isn't where we're stopping. We want to compete at the highest levels within MLS and North America, and we need to make sure that the decisions that we're making, the people we bring in, and the people we retain are going to allow us to achieve our goals.”
