At 16 years of age, most of us are still wondering what Mom cooked for dinner. Stress comprises of how high school senior Joey bullied you at recess, or how Ashley criticized your rebellious skater hair for being ‘greasy’ (she just didn’t understand how deep you were, don’t worry). At 18 years of age, some of us move to college and (try to) be independent, however still rely on the trusty meal plans and pizza.
How about Toronto FC midfielder Marky Delgado? At 16-years old, he was signed by MLS side Chivas USA. It was April of 2012, Delgado had just finished playing a game for the reserve team, and was off to meet with the team’s representatives along with his tight knit family to sign his first professional contract. A few months later, the baby-faced midfielder made his debut as a substitute. Things couldn’t have been any better for the Delgado family. The Glendora, California native had signed for a team that called the Home Depot Center its home, just 40 km away from his home.
At a young age, Delgado was an attractive player to a coach due to his technical abilities as well as his versatility. He broke into the league as a fullback and eventually played as an advanced midfielder. Between his 17th and 18th birthday, Delgado made 36 appearances in MLS, including 25 starts. Things were going well, but then it was announced that Chivas USA would be dissolving and its players would be sprinkled over the rest of the continent. Delgado’s career was then littered with uncertainty.
November 19th 2014 was the Chivas USA dispersal draft. Every team had a draft choice and were allowed to select a player from the now defunct team. Players were selected up until the 9th selection, after which every team took a ‘pass’; teams all stepped up to select and chose to select no one. Then at 14, Toronto FC selected the young American.
Delgado may have breathed a deep sigh of relief as he was selected. However, anxiety may have soon set in. Toronto? Canada? Would he even have a chance? Delgado told Last Word SC, “At the beginning it was tough for me, coming in here as a new player and a young player- getting situated and settled down, it was tough for me because before coming here I lived with my parents.”
Head coach Greg Vanney was familiar with the young midfielder having been a coach at Chivas USA and watching the player first hand. At this time, Toronto had just come off an awful season. Star player Jermain Defoe was on his way out after an entire year of promise that came crashing down. Toronto had just missed the playoffs for the 8th consecutive season. In the next couple of months, Toronto signed Jozy Altidore and Italian star Sebastian Giovinco from Juventus, changing the entire make-up of the team. Delgado was a young player facing the stiff task of breaking into the first team of an organization that had no room for failure. After investing millions of dollars into the likes of Defoe, Giovinco, Altidore and Bradley, it was playoffs or bust for Toronto and the room for failure was very small.
It was obvious that a 19-year old prospect would be an afterthought in such a big season for the organization. Delgado was an afterthought, whether he liked it or not. So much so that at the beginning of this great season, he was sent away with the United States U20 team for the World Cup.
After returning from the World Cup, Vanney rewarded the teenager with a place on the bench. Delgado toiled in training and quietly sat on the bench for an entire month until he finally got his chance: a starting line-up spot against the Montreal Impact with some of the designated players injured or on international duty. Delgado took his opportunity with confidence. He had a shot in his first game, and never looked back since. He’s started every game since. Three games after his debut, he scored his first goal and assist of the season. After scoring two goals and three assists in 12 games thus far, I asked Delgado if he envisioned himself being a consistent attacking threat on the team after facing so much uncertainty. I was impressed by his answer.
“Oh yeah, yeah, I mean, it had to eventually come, sooner or later. I had the hunger for it and it’s coming right now, I guess,” he said as he laughed. The confident teenager was strutting his stuff, showing the strong mentality that has helped him break into a team with so much pressure on it.
Watching Delgado weekly, his greatest strength is his ability to never lose the ball. He can pick a simple pass or an accurate pinpoint pass through traffic. Defensively he is rarely a liability, and while he may not be a bright dribbler who takes on players like Jonathan Osorio or Giovinco just yet, he is a smart player who maintains possession for his team. His movement is also smart, as all his goals he has scored have been through incisive movement to get himself into a space. As he has continued to pile up starts for the first team, I asked about how he’s adjusted to the team full of league-wide stars.
“Coming back from the World Cup and really gelling with all the other players like Michael (Bradley), Ben (Cheyrou) and Giovinco- they talk to me off the field and it really helped me. Coming on the field I felt more comfortable. Being around them- I’m more open, they’re more open with me. It’s really helped me.”
It’s evident that his peers view him as a talented player as Bradley has consistently praised the play of the young Toronto winger throughout the season. Consistently solid, Delgado has never looked back after entering the first team, and Toronto fans will be hoping he never looks back at Toronto from afar again.“You know, I love it here, so I wouldn’t mind staying here for years. So I love it here so I look forward to the future.” he concluded.
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