Sunday 12 April 2015 22:06, UK
Seb Hines has traded Middlesbrough for Orlando and the MLS experience. Adam Bate caught up with him to discuss life in Florida and an exciting new phase in his career...
“It’s not every day you get to play against world-class players like David Villa in front of 62,000 alongside Kaka.”
It only takes one sentence for Seb Hines to explain his decision to walk away from English football and embark on a new adventure in MLS. The 26-year-old defender is now playing for Orlando City having joined on loan from Middlesbrough and is palpably revelling in the experience. “It’s very similar to Middlesbrough,” he jokes. “It’s good. It’s really nice and warm. It’s Orlando.”
Such is the excitement surrounding MLS that the unassuming Hines finds himself at the eye of the storm with one of the country’s high-profile expansion teams. It has captured the imagination in Florida and the hype has only been exacerbated by the curious gossip incongruously linking Hines’ team-mate Sean St Ledger, the former Peterborough defender, with global pop star Taylor Swift.
Hines is a family man so laughs at suggestions of a rock-and-roll lifestyle - “I’m a married man with four kids!” – but there’s no doubt he’s enjoying his MLS adventure. “There’s a massive buzz here,” he says. “You walk around the city and it’s just a sea of purple everywhere. It’s really taken off here and they love their football club.
“Everyone is so excited and 62,000 people at the first game was incredible. It will live long in my memory. The place is just buzzing. It’s a building project and the aim is to get as many fans on side as we can. Everyone has been very welcoming to the football club and long may it continue.”
In his prime
Hines doesn’t fit the stereotype of the ageing professional seeking one last payday as his talent fades. He’s in his prime and actually started Middlesbrough’s first four wins of the season, but for the former England Under-19 international, a home defeat against Reading in August was his final appearance for the club he had been with since he was a boy.
A brief loan spell at Coventry followed, debuting in the club’s return to the Ricoh Arena in front of 27,000 fans, but the crowds were less than a third of that number by the time he made what could prove to be his last appearance in English football in a 3-2 win over Peterborough in October. It’s easy to see why marking David Villa in a packed Citrus Bowl would appeal, and that was no one-off.
“Even at the next game there were well over 30,000, which was just about the next biggest crowd I had played in front of, so week in week out it’s proving an incredible experience,” he adds. “It’s a massive opportunity for me. I felt it was the right time for me to show everyone what I could do. It’s an opportunity that I have grabbed with two hands.
“It’s something that I have always wanted to do. I asked quite a few players who have been out here what it’s like playing MLS. I spoke to Giles Barnes, who is at Houston. He’s a close friend of mine as I played for England with him. I also talked to Kei Kamara, who I know from Middlesbrough. They influenced my decision as they were both very positive about it.”
On the pitch things haven’t been quite so positive, with Orlando making a slow start in winning just one of their first five games. That is perhaps to be expected given that the team is new to MLS with a number of players to assimilate under long-time coach Adrian Heath. Hines is certainly confident it’s just a matter of time before things gel.
New team
“The results will come," he adds. "We’re a very new team and we’ve still got to learn everyone’s play. I think come the end of the season we’ll certainly be up there in the playoff places. The last few home games it’s been disappointing because the result has gone against us in the last few minutes, but you can’t fault our work rate and our desire in trying to get that win.
“We’re a good side. We like to play attractive football and to get the ball down and play. If we need to dig in and go direct then we do, too. Every team plays a different style of football, it’s the same everywhere. Some teams like to get the ball down and some like to go more direct. Every game is different, but we just try to play our game.”
Kaka’s game is about as celebrated as they come. The Brazilian World Cup winner is the first Ballon d’Or recipient to play in the United States since a declining Hristo Stoichkov over a decade ago and he’s at an age – 32 – where he can still make the difference. “We all know what he’s capable of doing,” says Hines. “He can grab the game from nothing so we try to get the ball to him.
“But we have also got other players capable of producing a lot of quality. He has won the highest individual award you can get as a player. You can still see his talent. He is a great leader around the camp and everyone looks up to him. He is a good guy to have in the building and a good guy to have on the pitch.”
Future plans
So with Hines’ contract at Orlando lasting only until the end of the season, is the intention to stay in MLS? “That’s the plan," he says. "My family are coming out to visit at the end of the month so that should be good. I’m loving it out here and at the moment it’s just about getting my head down and playing football to a high level. I will just take it as it comes and hopefully get my reward at the end of it.
“I have only been here for a short space of time but it’s definitely going to take off and I’m sure a lot of players will have it in their mind to come out here and play. You get to play with world-class players and when Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard come over, it’s just going to get more exciting for everyone.”
Watch Portland Timbers v Orlando City live on Sky Sports 5 HD from 10pm on Sunday
