Farewell to soccer hero Brian McBride

There have surely been more skillful U.S. Soccer performers than big, brave Brian McBride.

But which U.S. man has personified the ideal of what we would like our leagues and our national programs to resemble? What player has better comported himself off the field and shown greater dedication between the lines?

McBride played his final home game in his hometown, Chicago, over the weekend. They did it up right at Toyota Park, removing McBride with two minutes to go to ensure a proper recognition. I wrote a little more about it on the Round 29 wrapup at SI.com.

Last Friday the Chicago Fire arranged a conference for a few local and national reporters to speak to McBride. I was on it, along with the New York Times’ Jack Bell and a few others. (Gratuitous mention apropos of nothing: Jack Bell is one good dude.)

The following is the most interesting little nugget that came out of the short teleconference. And I think it tells us a little something about where McBride’s mind is as he ponders the next chapter. He wants his next step to involve instruction or bigger-picture development at some level, although he doesn’t have it mapped out just so.

(One of McBride's suggested tweaks in training, after the break:)

Here’s what he said about training for strikers in the United States versus a little different methodology overseas. 

He said 90 percent of the finishing outside the United States happen inside the penalty area whereas “90 percent of the finishing drills here are outside the box, because the ‘keepers are freaking out saying ‘You’re too close!’ ” McBride said with a little chuckle at the end. “But that’s not realistic.”

This is one of the “gaps,” as he puts it, in training here that he hopes to help put right. He wants to help arrange training into better situational context. He wants the critical repetition in training to better simulate what really happens over 90 minutes on the field.

He also said that 90 percent time a striker’s job is about setting up the people around him, and he sounded like someone who believes not enough attention has been placed on that aspect of a frontrunner’s job.

McBride’s playing days will end this weekend in a match at Chivas USA – but I’m pretty sure we’ll hear more from this guy one way or another.