Anders Dreyer has quickly settled into the newly formed MLS team San Diego, which has surprised all experts.

Things have gone far beyond expectations for the Danish-dominated MLS team San Diego FC, which is currently in its first season in the strongest US soccer league.

Before the season, the newly formed franchise was predicted by a large number of American media and soccer experts to be the worst of the 30 teams in Major League Soccer, but that has not been the case.

With Danes Jeppe Tverskov, Marcus Ingvartsen and national team player Anders Dreyer on the team card, the team has picked up the third most points of all at about the halfway point of the regular season.

– “Afterwards, we could just laugh that the media saw us as the worst team, because fortunately it has gone in a completely different direction,” says Anders Dreyer from the national team camp in Helsingør.

It has been five months since he brought his wife and son across the Atlantic when he swapped Belgian Anderlecht for the warm San Diego in Southern California.

Here he became one of the few professional footballers who himself helps to create a culture from scratch, because the team did not exist in practice a year ago.

– Normally you join an established team with some fixed ways of doing things, where in San Diego we have assembled a completely new team, and you have to get used to the fact that we are the first to represent the team and the city in football. It has been special, but also a great experience.

– That’s why it also feels like time has gone by really fast, says Anders Dreyer.

He himself has made an important contribution to the team’s good results. The 27-year-old from West Jutland has scored six goals and assisted seven goals in 17 league matches.

According to Dreyer, the team’s good start is based on a clear game concept. San Diego FC is part of the Right to Dream group, which also has FC Nordsjælland in its fold. The teams play in roughly the same way.

– Our Right to Dream way of playing has worked well, and it is an offensive style that also suits me well. I know it from FC Nordsjælland, and they were not always fun to play against, because they liked to have the ball and control the games.

– It has been an advantage that I know the style a little, and that Jeppe Tverskov and Marcus Ingvartsen know it very well. They are good at learning from each other, says Anders Dreyer.

He also says that the three Danes and their families hang out a lot in their free time.

Back in March, national coach Brian Riemer stated that there is no advantage to playing in the MLS if you want to play for the national team. The level of the league is fine, but the travel distance and time difference can be an inhibiting factor.

There may be cases where a Dane in the MLS plays a match on Monday night Danish time and at the earliest can be in the national team camp during Tuesday after having crossed several time zones. And perhaps the national team will already be playing on Thursday at the national team meeting in question.

Anders Dreyer acknowledges the problem, but does not feel affected himself after a flight across nine time zones.

– I have agreed with Brian that I will be completely honest about how I feel about having to deal with the time difference. It does not work if you are not 100 percent when you meet with the national team.

– But I am not worried myself, and this time it has also gone well. In the world of football we have so many aids to recover and calm down, so I am not afraid of not feeling fresh enough, says Anders Dreyer.

He also believes that the level in the MLS should not be an obstacle to being able to make it to the national team, even if the playing style is different than what you see in Western Europe.

– I think MLS is on a par with the Belgian league, which I came from. Compared to the Superliga, the matches in MLS are more open, because the teams in MLS want to go forward more, while in Denmark it is often more tactical and defensive.

– My playing style suits MLS well, and it is not a disadvantage for me that the defenders think forward and in that way will give me a little better space, says Anders Dreyer.

He could get his fourth international cap if he comes on the field in Saturday’s test against Northern Ireland in Parken.

/ritzau/

Anders Dreyer has quickly settled into the newly formed MLS team San Diego, which has surprised all experts.

Things have gone far beyond expectations for the Danish-dominated MLS team San Diego FC, which is currently in its first season in the strongest US soccer league.

Before the season, the newly-started franchise was predicted by a large number of American media and football experts to be the worst of the 30 teams in Major League Soccer, but that has not been the case.

With Danes Jeppe Tverskov, Marcus Ingvartsen and national team player Anders Dreyer on the team card, the team has picked up the third most points of all, about halfway through the regular season.

– Afterwards, we could just laugh that the media saw us as the worst team, because fortunately things went in a completely different direction, says Anders Dreyer from the national team camp in Helsingør.

It’s been five months since he brought his wife and son across the Atlantic when he swapped Belgian Anderlecht for the warm climate of San Diego in Southern California.

Here he became one of the few professional football players who himself helped create a culture from scratch, because the team did not exist in practice a year ago.

– Normally you come into an established team with some fixed ways of doing things, where in San Diego we have assembled a completely new team, and you have to get used to the fact that we are the first to represent the team and the city in football. It has been special, but also a great experience.

– That’s why it also feels like time has passed really quickly, says Anders Dreyer.

He himself has made an important contribution to the team’s good results. The 27-year-old from West Jutland has scored six goals and assisted seven in 17 league matches.

According to Dreyer, the team’s good start is based on a clear game concept. San Diego FC is part of the Right to Dream group, which also has FC Nordsjælland in its fold. The teams play in roughly the same way.

– Our Right to Dream way of playing has worked well, and it’s an offensive style that also suits me well. I know it from FC Nordsjælland, and they weren’t always fun to play against, because they liked to have the ball and control the games.

– It has been an advantage that I know the style a little, and that Jeppe Tverskov and Marcus Ingvartsen know it very well. They are good at learning from each other, says Anders Dreyer.

He also says that the three Danes and their families hang out a lot in their free time.

Back in March, national coach Brian Riemer stated that there is no advantage to playing in MLS if you want to play for the national team. The league’s level is fine, but the travel distance and time difference can be a limiting factor.

There may be cases where a Dane in MLS plays a match on Monday night Danish time and at the earliest can be in the national team camp during Tuesday after having crossed several time zones. And perhaps the national team will already be playing on Thursday at the national team meeting in question.

Anders Dreyer acknowledges the problem, but does not feel affected himself after a flight across nine time zones.

– I have agreed with Brian that I will be completely honest about how I feel about having to deal with the time difference. It doesn’t work if you are not 100 percent when you show up with the national team.

– But I’m not worried myself, and this time it has also gone well. In the football world we have so many aids to recover and calm down, so I’m not afraid of not feeling fresh enough, says Anders Dreyer.

He also believes that the level in MLS should not be an obstacle to being able to make the national team, even if the playing style is different than what you see in Western Europe.

– I think MLS is fully on par with the Belgian league, which I came from. Compared to the Superliga, the matches in MLS are more open, because the teams in MLS want to move forward more, while in Denmark it is often more tactical and defensive.

– My playing style suits MLS well, and it is not a disadvantage for me that the defenders think ahead and in that way will give me a little better space, says Anders Dreyer.

He could get his fourth international cap if he plays in Saturday’s test against Northern Ireland at the Park.

/ritzau/