For every starting 11 in an MLS club, there are 17 others working towards that first team every game day. Of course, some of the obstacles in the way of that goal include the success of one's teammates.
But when a success is made, it is enjoyed, sometimes reveled in. Yura Movsisyan and Ryan Raybould of the Kansas City Wizards are reaping the rewards of their hard work at the moment, yet they are also aware it is just another step.
Last weekend, with leading scorer Eddie Johnson away on U.S. national team duty at the CONCACAF Gold Cup and his team needing an offensive boost in New York against the conference-leading Red Bulls, Wizards boss Curt Onalfo turned to 19-year-old Movsisyan. All the Armenian did was score two goals in 24 minutes to put the Wizards in the driver's seat, ahead 3-2. Never mind that he wasn't even in the game day 18 two weeks earlier against the Red Bulls at home, or that he hadn't seen first team action for nearly a month.
"I thought he responded extremely well to adversity and not being in the 18 and trained extremely hard, and that's the way to do it - try to prove to the coaching staff that you belong," Onalfo said.
The player who served the ball for Movsisyan's first tally was Raybould; the 24-year-old was making only his fourth first-team appearance of the season.
"When you get your opportunities, you have to take them by the throat. We have a very good team, so we have a lot of guys who are performing well, especially our starting 11. The three or four guys who get their opportunities to come in, like you saw Yura, [need] to make a difference," said Raybould. "That's what it's about - anyway you can help the team. I know I'm young, and I'm still trying to prove myself. So any chance I get, I'll take it."
Both Movsisyan and Raybould's journeys to the Wizards are out of the ordinary. Movsisyan never played on an organized team until he came to the United States in 2000. After shattering the single-season scoring record in high school his senior year, he played one season at Pasadena City College and then made the step to the pros, drafted by the Wizards as the fourth overall pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft. Raybould, a standout at Rockhurst H.S. in Kansas City and at Yale, wasn't drafted. Instead he signed as a developmental player two years ago.
Both players have come a long way in their development and their journeys toward being full-time starters. For Movsisyan, his return to the lineup, coming after an extended absence that was preceded by three consecutive starts in May, was a result of his focus in training.
"You always have to work hard. You always have a bad week, good week. With our coaching staff, whoever is on that week, the whole week of practice, that's the person who is going to play," he said. "That's the beauty of this organization and our coaching staff, so I'm very happy about that. I thought I had a pretty decent week, coach gave me another chance, and I made the most of it."
Frustration is an ever-present danger for a player who is not on the first-team or for one who fails to impress when given a chance. Movsisyan knows frustration.
"Definitely, I was frustrated last year, but I had to accept the fact that I had world-class forwards ahead of me in [Josh Wolff] and Eddie. So, I was expecting too much from myself," he said. "But it's a learning experience. You get time and you learn from it. ... That's one of my goals this year: never get frustrated, always bounce back as hard as possible."
Raybould agrees that it is "a constant battle" to focus mentally on performing well each day, but he has taken a logical perspective at his progress.
"For a guy like me, it's just about developing trust from the coach so he can trust you when he's in a bind," Raybould said, referring to absent players. "When you come in and perform, he is going to give you more opportunities; he's going to trust you more and more."
Already, Raybould has seen signs of his coach trusting him.
"I've played a lot more this year at the beginning of the year than I did last year, so that to me is an improvement," he said. "I've been in the traveling roster every time. I take those kinds of things and look at them as positives."
Movsisyan has already played more minutes than all of last season, and because of the training techniques Onalfo has used, players like those two are getting to play more and thus be more likely to be ready when called to the first team.
"Since day one we've created an environment where the competitiveness of each session is closer to a game scenario as I've seen since I've been here. That's one reason why guys can come off the bench and pick up and not miss a beat," said veteran midfielder Kerry Zavagnin. "Also through reserve games and games that we've had through the preseason, guys are getting competitive games on a regular basis, so there's not that drastic dip that we've seen in other seasons."
Being challenged daily and earning minutes with the first team makes players eager for more.
"For sure, [playing with the first team] gives you more confidence - 'maybe I can play with these guys.' ... You want to keep doing that. Success is addictive. You want to help the team out any way possible," Raybould said.
Down 2-0 Wednesday in Columbus against the Crew, Raybould and Movsisyan were called upon once more. Although they didn't find the net or assist on the Wizards' stoppage-time goal in the eventual 2-1 loss, it was another step in their progression.
"We have guys all over who want to prove that they belong either in the starting lineup or in the 18," said Onalfo.
As the season goes on, both Movsisyan and Raybould know they have to prove themselves, and they know they will be better players for it.
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
