Saturday 20 June 2015 00:04, UK
Seattle Sounders' Tyrone Mears says he is loving life in the MLS as his side get set to face San Jose Earthquakes, live on Sky Sports 1 on Saturday.
The former Bolton and Burnley defender moved Stateside to join up with former Tottenham and Fulham striker Clint Dempsey in late December last year.
Things seem to be going well for the 32-year-old, with his side sitting top of the Western Conference while also boasting one of the best defensive records in the league.
And he said he loves having the support of the famously loud Sounders fans.
He told Sky Sports News HQ: “It is fantastic; it’s why I wanted to come to the MLS, purely to play for Seattle Sounders. The fans are like the English in terms of the support - the fan base is unbelievable. I think we average 40-45,000 a game. It is a really big club and well supported.
“I think the difference within England is there can be a lot of negativity if you are losing or things aren’t going right in the game. Here, certainly in Seattle, the fans are so positive, they are always behind you.
“The social media side, I’ve got involved in now because the fans are so good and they just want to support you and they want to see you do well. But on the flip side of it if you are not performing they get behind you.
“I didn’t know too much about the league. There is a feeling in England that it is more for players going to retire, to see out the end of their career, but I think it is really the opposite.
“I think a few little things need to change with the league but it is certainly growing, it is becoming really competitive. It is a good standard, there are a lot of good technical players in the league and in terms of coming and playing in the games, I have really enjoyed it so much.”
The Sounders will be without star man Dempsey for three games after he was banned following his red card in a cup match against rivals Portland.
However, Mears says they have put that game behind them and are now focussing on getting back to league matters.
He said: “The cup game we rested a lot of players; the MLS Cup is our target this season, that’s the one we need to win.
“There was a lot of emotion in the game, it is a derby game for us. There were a few dodgy decisions and we went three players down and then Obafemi Martins got injured as well so we only had seven players on the pitch, so it was really difficult. It was more emotions flying all over the place.
“We let it go and we are looking forward to getting back to the league games.
“We expected there was going to be a punishment from the game. We are going to miss Clint for three games. It is important we have him on the field, he’s a fantastic player.”
Watch Seattle Sounders v San Jose Earthquakes live on Sky Sports 1 on Saturday, June 20 from 9pm.
