View From The Shires: In Praise of Brian Ching
Over the past decade, Houston Dynamo striker Brian Ching has firmly established himself as a stalwart of MLS, during a career which has boasted three MLS Cup wins, six All-Star appearances, a golden boot title and 11 goals in 45 caps for the US national team.
His body gradually breaking down over the years however, after overcoming various injuries throughout his career, Ching announced last week that 2013 would be his final season as a professional, with the Dynamo’s all-time leading scorer set to hang up his boots and transition to a position in the club’s front office.
With 82 regular season goals to his name (tied for 11th on the all-time goals chart), Ching’s name should surely go down as one of the most celebrated in league history yet, for some reason, it feels like the 35-year-old hasn’t received the plaudits his illustrious MLS playing career deserves.
That is not to say that his accomplishments have been entirely ignored by the US soccersphere. Ching has received his fair share of headlines over the years but, for a player who has enjoyed a career which many domestic players would be proud to replicate, it often appears that his name is lost in the conversation of all-time greats. When fans are asked to cite some of the greatest players to have graced MLS, it’s the likes of Landon Donovan, Jaime Moreno, Carlos Valderrama and Marco Etcheverry which usually come up – rarely Brian Ching.
One could argue that that problem lies in the fact that Ching’s failure to ever truly establish himself with the US team prevented him from vaulting into the national consciousness. Despite his 45 caps, in the eyes of Bruce Arena and later Bob Bradley, Ching was simply never more than a fill-in part for the national team setup – always on the edges of the squad, keeping the seat warm until more dynamic and intriguing players like Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies Edson Buddle, Herculez Gomez and even Robbie Findley could be given opportunities to step up and produce.
It’s highly debateable that those latter three examples were ever really better options for the US than Ching, whose dedicated, no-nonsense style always seemed to go unappreciated. For games against CONCACAF opposition, Ching was viewed as a suitably effective option, who could exploit the defences of Panama or El Salvador for example but, when it came to the bigger stage, he was often found on the outside looking in. Ching went to the 2006 World Cup as a member of Bruce Arena’s squad but ultimately failed to earn any playing time, while Bob Bradley’s decision to take Robbie Findley to South Africa ahead of the Dynamo striker was met even at the time with a large amount of scepticism. In hindsight, it was arguably one of the poorest decisions of Bradley’s five-year reign, as, while experimenting with a more expansive style of play, the US clearly missed a physical presence upfront. Arena and Bradley seemingly thought they already knew what they had in Ching – an option which wasn’t terribly exciting – but what they failed to realise was that the alternatives weren’t always worth exploring.
That seems to be the crux of the matter when it comes to the Ching’s lack of wider recognition – he simply wasn’t a flashy player or one who tried to steal the limelight. Hard-core MLS fans could appreciate what the first Hawaiian-native to play in the league brought to the field but, outside of a few moments of sheer brilliance,
Ching’s valuable contributions to his team rarely made highlight reels. For ten years with the Dynamo (and their previous incarnation in San Jose as the Earthquakes), Ching grafted away on the forward line, doing the dirty work while not only creating opportunities for teammates but also exploiting defences himself, through his physicality and intelligence. As stated, Ching was by no means flashy but he got results and, what’s more, he did it all without fanfare from the press or displaying any hints of narcissism. More flamboyant or aesthetically pleasing teammates, such as Dwayne DeRosario and Brad Davis, may have been viewed as a the catalysts of those past MLS Cup-winning sides but it’s surely no coincidence that, in Houston at least, the one soccer player everyone can name is Ching.
While his celebrity regrettably failed to translate to the national-level, there’s no question that Ching is the face of his franchise, much in the same way that Mike Petke is in New York or Ben Olsen in DC, and that is surely something which will continue to be the case even into retirement. An undoubted local legend, whose charity initiates further endeared him to the Houston area, Ching’s soft-spoken, humble views were really a perfect balance to the gritty, hard-nosed attitude he displayed on the field. Even over the past few years, as his playing time slowly diminished to a bit-part role, Ching applied himself in a highly professional manner, acting as a mentor to young fellow striker Will Bruin and dealing with the furore which came with Montreal selecting him in the 2011 Expansion Draft in the most reasoned way possible under the circumstances.
There are inevitably those who will argue that Ching should have retired a few seasons back, while his legacy was at its height and before his body decided to give up on him, but surely no one would have begrudged a player with such loyal ties to the Dynamo the chance to lead them out in their long-awaited new stadium in 2012 or to try for one more shot at an in-reach MLS Cup.
Brian Ching quite simply IS the Houston Dynamo and not to see him taking to the field with that team in 2014 will certainly take some getting used to. The outpouring of praise from fellow professionals across the league upon announcement of his impending retirement and responses to his planned testimonial next year merely demonstrate what a respected figure he is within the US game and why he should undoubtedly be lauded as sure-fire Hall-of-Famer. LA Galaxy fans taunted him with chants of “US Reject” after his 2010 World Cup omission but really such slurs couldn’t be further from the truth.
As his long-time head coach Dominic Kinnear stated, Brian Ching is a “winner, competitor and fighter” and, in my own view, an undisputed starter on any all-time MLS XI.
