http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=46999&itype=113&iCategoryID=0 I was listening to U.S. Under-20 Men's National Teams' Thanksgiving Greetings and i noticed that Zak Whitbread has a heavy english accent. Hes also was the only one that said i would like to wish my family a merry Christmass insted of thanksgiving--(he sounded like he did not celebrate thanksgiving or something like that) I know he spent his recent years with Liverpool's Acadamey/Reserves but i thought he grew up in the US?? Where was he born UK or US?
As far as I know, he was born in the US to British parents. He lived in the Chicago area & then moved with his family to Liverpool when he was about 12. He's been with Liverpool FC ever since... and his dad coaches in some capacity for the Liverpool reserves.
It was Singapore. I do not know how long he stayed in the USA. I assumed that he spent the majority of his teenage years in Singapore & England.
All I know is that he was born in the U.S. and that in a little less than 48 hours he wants to put his right hand over his chest whilst the Star Bangled Banner is playing and he's wearing a red, white and blue uniform. (And he's tall, left footed and though highly of by Liverpool!)
Just found this fairly recent article on Whitbread. Check it out: Whitbread chasing the American dream
No doubt this is premature, but he could be the answer at LB sooner rather than later. Based on today, I really like his game.
] I must be the only one who saw him every bit as shaky as the rest of the D in the first half...Yes, he gets well into the attack, but as a defender, I do not know yet.....Picked up his play, just like the rest of team, in the second half
I know there has been a lot of optimistic talk on these boards about Zak, but I only saw him play for the first time today and I don't want to make too much out of only one game (and from watching TV at that). FWIW, not a good game for Zak, IMO, though slightly improved in the second half. Unless I'm mistaken on which player, it appears that's Zak's head mishitting a header that leads to the foul by Cronin that leads to the free kick that leads to the PAR goal. Several times, way too many for my liking, Zak just seemed to boot the ball forward rather than playing it out of the back with some semblance of ball possession. Overlapping runs and crosses?? Either not there or belted way over the intended target. Considering all of the recent hype, I admit to being a little disappointed. Let's see how this (he) plays out in subsequent games.
You are not the only one. Maybe I expected more b/c he is with Liverpool's reserves at 19, but I thought he was a bit slow. A few times he let his man get around him. I believe he plays in central defense with Liverpool, so maybe he is more of hte answer to who will partner with Bocanegra in a few years as opposed to the answer to who will play left back in a few years. He did show good ball skills and he can deliver a cross (although he seemed way too eager to deliver a 40 yard cross rather than continue to move the ball upfield on the ground).
I'm going to have to watch my PVR recording of the game with Zack my focus. I was impressed with his ability to deliver the ball upfield from the flank, but at least once saw him ball-watching in the center as a run was coming down the sideline behind him. I'd hope at this level defenders would have learned to keep an eye on the action and on potential runners.
I thought he tackled well and looked generally confident, but he did launch a ton of long balls, some in cases where they were not needed. I remarked that he'd be spending a lot of time on Route 1, as the Brits say. When he connects with those he looks like a genius (shades of the good Eddie Lewis), but a couple of times those balls went either to no one in particular or out of bounds (shades of the all too familiar bad Eddie Lewis). The announcer remarked that he started with Liverpool at age 8, that he spoke as an Englishman, and that he did get one game with the first team in a preseason friendly. I'm glad that they think highly of him and I think he can be a very good player, but he needs to be a bit more selective with the launched 40 yard boots upfield.
I was disappointed with how many times people got behind him..he pinched in too far like he was playing cetral D and they just went over his head a few times. I think he is playing out of position and it showed.
My first impression while watching the game live was that he was the cause of our lack of posession in the first half with his constant long service. Every attack out of the back seemed to start with him, and end moments later as his passes were not controlled properly. He obviously changed his tactics in the second half, and we were able to enjoy good build-up play, much of which took place on the right side. Upon a second viewing of this game, I noticed that his long service was remarkably accurate, but his targets did not corral his passes well, or when they did, did not have the supporting attackers to flick on to or lay off to. This is what happens when players of varying styles come together on short notice. Kudos to the team for making the necessary adjustments.
Here is a recent little write up from U.S. Soccer about him. Sounds like he could play for U.S. or England but is choosing to play for the U.S. http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=47135&itype=113&iCategoryID=0
Yeah, I had also seen that article. He was indeed born in the U.S. to British parents who were in the U.S. temporarily because his father was running soccer coaching schools. He didn't live in the States long at all as his 'rents moved back to England where he started playing soccer. Apparently he lived in Singapore for 5 years as his father took on various coaching positions there including Singapore National Team Manager. Then his family moved back to Liverpool so Zak could persue his own soccer aspirations. He's moved his way up through the Liverpool youth system and is now a regular started on their reserve team. As mentioned by someone already, he travelled with the first team on their preseason tour in Thailand this year and got on the pitch for 30 minutes during their last preseason match. About a year ago Zak actually turned down an offer to play for England’s U-19 National Team because he felt that "the U.S. has improved and I truly believe they will continue to and soon begin to become world class and perform well on the world stage. I want to be a part of that." He sounds more British than anything, but he does hold U.S. citizenship and is delighted to put on the Red, White, and Blue.