Gravity itself couldn’t stop Jalen Neal from shooting for the stars this season.
Following consecutive sports hernia and adductor injuries over the past year forcing him to miss 321 days of MLS action and undergo multiple surgeries, the 20-year-old LA Galaxy central defender is “feeling 100%” as he aims to make his dreams a reality with selection to the U.S. Olympic Men’s Soccer Team this summer.
“[The Olympics] is one of the biggest stages, probably just under the World Cup in my opinion. So yeah, it would be a dream come true,” Neal shared in an exclusive interview with SBI Soccer. “I definitely have to get the Olympic rings tattooed on me somewhere because it’s that big of a deal. It would be a huge privilege to go to the Olympics.”
The journey back to full fitness has been treacherous but Neal is keen to make up for the lost time by setting lofty yet attainable personal goals this season at the club and international level.
In 2023, Neal secured the 14th spot on Major League Soccer’s official 22 Under-22 list which ranks the twenty-two top talents under 22 years of age in the league each season. Improvement in his placement would be an adequate ambition, especially after recently returning from injury, but the Los Angeles native sets a higher bar for himself and his hometown club.
“Starting off the year missing some games will make it harder but obviously I want to be in the 22 Under-22 list again this year but in a higher spot, like top 10,” Neal began his own list of objectives. “A goal of mine is to get at least candidate for [MLS] Defender of the Year. I’m trying. I’m working towards that. That’s probably my biggest individual club goal.”
Remaining unavailable for the first nine matches of the year (over ¼ of the MLS season) would deter many players from any intentions to be in consideration for the top individual award at his position. For Neal, it’s just one of many logical targets with his insuppressible talent alongside the encyclopedia of soccer knowledge that is 35-year-old Japanese international Maya Yoshida as his center-back partner.
“He helps me out an insane amount every single day. If I have any questions he’s like an open book,” Neal praised Yoshida’s mentoring skills. “Even if I’m not asking anything he’ll come up to me and recall a certain play during a game that we could have dealt with better. He’s a super selfless guy. He likes to be a leader. He likes to give out advice and help people, especially the younger guys.”
It’s teammates like that that will help propel a player like Neal – who has already started games in a major tournament for his senior national team despite not being old enough to legally drink a beer – to reach his career goals with memorable golden nuggets of advice. Together they hope to accomplish great things this season with the Galaxy where Neal’s team-oriented goals unsurprisingly mimic the grand ambition of his individual targets.
“I haven’t experienced playoffs at an MLS level myself yet so obviously trying to get into playoffs first,” he planned his next mission. “Then obviously with the team we have this year I think we can make a well enough run to try for that sixth [MLS Cup] ring.”
The Galaxy homegrown’s natural eagerness to add to his club’s record trophy cabinet is noticeably reflected in the perception that Neal’s injuries have only hardened his drive through the mental (rather than physical) challenge of being an idle athlete. The frustrating inability to aid your teammate’s hard work on the pitch can leave its indelible mark as a recurring motivator long after the physical injury has healed. Besides, athletes just want to compete.
“It was definitely the mental part because playing sports you’re going to feel physical pain. You’re kind of prepared for that and always bracing for that. I guess you expect to feel pain after a game, after training, or something like that but it was definitely the mental part,” Neal recalled as the most onerous aspect of his recovery process. “Just not knowing what’s wrong with me. Like if I wanted to go home and do some treatment on myself; what could I do? I didn’t know if icing my groin was going to be the right thing, or my adductor, or my pubic bone, or what.
“Then going into the stadium, you’re just kind of going in there hopeless just thinking, ‘Okay, I’m just going to do another workout in the gym and some fitness on the bike with no answers again.’ So it’s just like living on autopilot or something, just going day by day, patiently waiting for an answer when it doesn’t really seem like there is one,” he added.
The injuries began with pain around Neal’s pubic bone and pelvis in April of 2023 which escalated quickly while on international duty with the senior USMNT squad at the Gold Cup until it reached a painful breaking point. To reduce the pain, Neal received both a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and cortisone injection which resolved the issue for about two weeks. After a second round of injections was ineffective, doctors finally determined Neal required his first surgery to repair the sports hernia.
Not to worry, he was expected to fully recover in time for the 2024 preseason.
Unfortunately, just as Neal passed the physical benchmarks required to return to action, his pelvic pain flared up again in a Thanksgiving pick-up game, stemming from the sports hernia injury and spreading into his adductors. With the pain getting worse day by day as Neal consulted doctor after doctor, his team finally opted for a bilateral adductor surgery.
Surely that was the problem solved…or so they thought.
Still, the pain continued without a full understanding of why until a second adductor surgery was scheduled in which Dr. Smith conclusively found his solution to end the saga. After months of pain and uncertainty, Neal could set his sights on a return to the pitch, rightly setting ambitious goals for which the ability to pursue would not be taken for granted.
The gratitude for opportunities that pulsated through Neal before his injuries only grew during his time on the sidelines as he was forced to miss the first three pre-Olympic preparation camps in October, November, and March. Ultimately, that would only manufacture any possible extra motivation for Neal to earn a spot on the Olympic roster.
“It would be a huge privilege,” Neal said of potentially being on the flight to Paris. “Just representing my country in general was already a huge privilege in itself. I don’t take the opportunities for granted even when it’s just the camp for some friendlies, maybe against a club team in the area we’re going, or if it’s Olympics.”
Neal understands there are no assurances with regards to his return, especially on a limited 18-man Olympic roster, but appreciates the reassurance from Olympic head coach Marko Mitrović during his recovery and likewise the upcoming opportunity to prove his worth after being called up this morning to the final pre-Olympic preparation camp for.a match on June 11th in Kansas City against a fellow Olympic participant in Japan. Having only worked with Mitrović as a senior team assistant coach due to his long-term absence, Neal is excited for his first opportunity to put his talent on display for a new potential head coach.
“He was just offering me a lot of reassurance,” Neal reflected on his conversations with Mitrović during recovery. “He was telling me, ‘Once you get back healthy and strong I know you’re going to be the player that you were before and once that comes we’ll bring you back into a camp and then see what goes on there.’ Obviously, there can’t be any promises made so he’s not promising me a spot into the Olympic squad but to at least give me – I think we have one more camp and it is this one coming up, like the actual pre-Olympic camp – so at least he’s giving me a chance to showcase my skills in this one. I’m super thankful for that.”
Additionally, Neal knows as well as anybody that there are no assurances from his club when it comes to release. Last season, the Galaxy refused to release Neal for the 2023 U-20 World Cup and the club hasn’t given him any assurances that won’t happen again.
In that youth tournament, the USMNT U-20 squad – which previously won the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championships with Neal at center-back to qualify for this upcoming Olympics – fell to eventual champions Uruguay in the quarterfinals without the LA native in the squad. This time around in Paris, Neal is confident the USMNT U-23 team can go “further than the quarterfinals for sure” in their first Olympic appearance since 2008.
“We have a lot of talent in this team,” Neal described his outlook on the Olympic pool. “I think we have a lot of young leaders in this group, especially people who are taking bigger roles in their clubs that can bring that leadership into our national team. Then once you get all those leaders together it just creates a strong bond and a strong team overall. I think there is a lot of depth too in a lot of positions. We’re energetic and I think one thing with this team – I mean, I haven’t been in a camp in person but I know a lot of the guys – a lot of them are mutuals as well so I’m sure the chemistry is buzzing.”
In all likelihood, the Galaxy homegrown will be one of the keys to fulfilling his prophecy of a top-four finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer. In fact, with all confidence and fitness restored, I’d be surprised if Neal ever puts a finite limit on his team’s potential – or that of himself.
go back and watch the serbia highlights. there’s a play early in the game where he keeps backpedalling deep into his box double teaming a central guy and doesn’t step to the dribbler, who gets a shot off that ricochets around and has to be cleared off the line. he then on the losing goal both pulls way out of slot chasing a 50/50, then can’t bring it down cleanly quickly, then gets stripped in possession for the run to goal.
jamaica, — kid was a one-half sub for the B team in a game we chased most of the day.
nothing about that screams “oh, pencil him in for the world cup.”
my NCAA team scrimmaged USL and i had to guard like three guys who played MLS. what i learned from that was at the higher levels you do more island defending and your mistakes get punished faster. the folks saying well, you don’t know anything, you only played x level, i played high enough a level i know that the responsibility, competence, positioning, skill is only going up and up. it’s ironic you’re acting like i am out of my depth because that’s what neal looked like to me.
he looked like a U20 raised well above where he belonged, getting abused. i was taught far younger than that not to backpedal away from a dribbler that close to goal. normally what happens when one makes schoolboy errors is they are put on a schoolboy’s pace to NT. ie maybe later kid.
So since we played our B team it doesn’t matter he was charged with shutting down a man with over 60 career EPL goals playing for Jamaica’s A team. Yeah that makes sense. Also if we chased the game all day didn’t he have plenty of chances to be undone but wasn’t.
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“ i think it’s more, this coach doesn’t care enough how the games go. he has his paper ideas.” Berhalter has never called in Neal so interesting you throw him under the bus yet again. Imagine if Berhalter had paid more attention to how the games went when Richards didn’t track the Jamaican runner in his 2nd cap or how he was chasing shadows for 65 minutes against Germany last fall. But instead since he watches not just the 10-15 NT games a year but all the matches the guys play he can say “hey Chris had a rough game today but I’ve seen him make the right play in that situation over and over in the Bundesliga or EPL so I’m not going to right him off because he’s a little rusty”
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Your reputation is that your Mr. Negative, everything Berhalter and USSF does is wrong, blah blah blah. 2tones rep is to be Mr. Uber positive, everyone is going to be on the WC roster.
I’ve long stopped even reading IV’s comments. It’s all negative and IV seems to think he is the greatest soccer mind in the US. Get over yourself dude. Ugh.
i call bs you little fake. the question is does the man make the world cup roster. i say no. i want for you to cut the crap and list for me where he ranks among ream CCV richards mckenzie miazga zimmermann trusty EPB sands dietz tomkinson okoh sandler pierie and all the other CBs we could choose.
so, having done that exercise, you likely now agree exactly with what i said. he had a bad game in one of his few caps, and he ranks way low down that list. the rest is noise and an excuse for a personal attack.
basic facts, dude. zero GB caps EVER. under callaghan he botched serbia start B team so by gold cup he is subbed in for the B team in the game you adore which says he was roughly callaghan’s 7th or 8th favorite and had actually slipped. played literally zero minutes in the elimination game with panama. that’s how much callaghan thought of him.
dude quit wasting people’s time. lame little games. in reality my 2 cents you wouldn’t trust him out there in 2026 any more than i would.
and i even forgot robinson. that’s how many options we have,
btw since you’re trading in such utter counter-factual fantasy, i am going to remind you that arena’s critique of his former protege GB was too much into analytics and not enough watching players play ball.
you are selling the opposite of what is true by arguing theoretically USSF is sending out scouts. when in reality the call sheets look like we call whatever buzzy or hot streak player is obvious from online mags.
No I don’t think Neal will be at WC ‘26. But I don’t disagree with 2tones original “If he keeps this upward trajectory …. I won’t be surprised if he is on the World Cup squad in 2026. Especially considering I have a feeling FIFA will stay with the 26 man squads.” There’s a couple qualifiers in there if he keeps improving rapidly as he did between January and July, if the roster stays at 26, and not surprised. So what’s the likelihood he gets to 5 CB?
1. Richards
2t. Robinson and CCV
4t. Trusty and McKenzie
6. Zimmerman
7. Miazga
8. Neal and Dietz
9. EPB
10. Sands (isn’t playing CB, so I don’t see him playing international football as a CB if he isn’t playing it regularly for his club any more)
11. Okoh, Sandler, Pierie: none have committed to US or ever represented US if that changes it changes Neal’s prospects.
Ream will be 38 in 2026, I don’t see that.
I don’t see Miazga being with the group, he struggled at GC and I think Gregg is not fond of his attitude. That puts Jalen in 7th with Dietz who honestly I’ve seen play maybe 180 minutes. If you consider Robinson, CCV and Richards all have injury history issues it’s not far fetched that Neal could make the roster. That’s a lot of ifs, but there are 4 or 5 guys that were on everyone’s list for Qatar that didn’t make it so who knows. He hasn’t made “schoolboy mistakes” in his additional caps or for LAG (by the way he didn’t play GC semi because he was injured, he was taken out against Canada for injury and didn’t play again until April even though he was dressed he wasn’t really available).
added point, you were recently dismissive of several of my proposed players by saying they “are on U23.” you now tout some dude who “is U23.” make up your mind. eg dietz is literally on the same team neal is.
this is about tearing me down personally and nothing to do with reality. and ignoring the recent spate of middling results, nations league finals aside.
IV
So defenders remain at the same level of effectiveness from day1 of their career until the day they retire?
Maybe in high-school or on select teams.
Jalen is a professional. Maybe you missed that. For example, many players lose a little speed as they get older. However, they might make up for that by getting smarter and positioning themselves better.
Point is professional players don’t stay the same. Evolve or die.
I realize that that does fit nicely into your propaganda lexicon but that’s just too bad isn’t it?
you’re pretending he had his nightmare — as bad as i have seen a US defender get exploited in years — a decade ago. he got abused last year. i am hitting this ball back in your court. i want to know when he magically turned it around and became, what, competent? much less worthy of a top 4 slot NT in 2026 at the world cup. WHICH WAS WHAT THE ARGUMENT WAS. my point was it’s laughable to suggest a guy who got abused that bad last year is top 4 for the world cup.
i do believe players develop but dude has like one real full season of first division starting play behind him, for an average defense. nothing about it screams, oh, him, above the many CB options we have.
so, my deal is, he got his chance, he was freaking brutal. it was an embarrassment. make an actual positive case how he’s top 4.
historically if you were that embarrassing you got a nice, long vacation in which to try and grow as a player. i am not suggesting anything new. or do people forget what happened to, say, luis robles.
i mean, you all pretend i want to hand out charity case callups to everyone — when a lot of the people i point to are in demand prestige prospects. but here, the dude got his shot. it was ugly. to me repeat calls is charity.
i think it’s more, this coach doesn’t care enough how the games go. he has his paper ideas. far be it from him to let reality intrude. which is how roldan racks up dozens of caps doing barely anything memorable either end. i assume there was some similar theory based on his being more productive in club for seattle. that isn’t how it worked NT. focus on NT performance. call someone else who didn’t trip over their shoelaces. he is young. he can be tried again later on. don’t waste finite opportunities to play with abstract perseveration.
IV,
So you’re telling us you think Neal’s a shit defender.
So what, everyone thinks they’re a frikin player evaluating genius.
The person whose opinion matters is the manager. And if his abilities are not better than yours then the Olympic team is fucked. If he thinks Neal has improved enough since the Serbia game I’m fine with giving him a chance to explore that. It his goddammed ass on the line, not yours.
Could Neal have gotten better since the Serbia game? Fuck ,yeah. Young players can be remarkably hot and cold. But that’s why there are Under 23 Olympic teams. To give the youngins a chance to wet their feet before getting a shot at a World Cup slot. You should aim to win every tournament you enter.
But I’m more forgiving of using these clearly younger player, more entry level tournaments to give kids a chance even if IV has condemned them to rot in bad defender hell for all eternity.
IV’s difference makers that will push us past Brazil: Gall, Ikoba, Mighten, Michel, Soto, these were all guys you wanted to call last summer. 8g between those 5 this season 2 from Gall in German 4th Div, 6 from Ikoba in South Korean 2nd Division.
V: read the above list of available senior CBs. tell me where you rank neal against all of them. as in the regulars GB has called or has at his disposal, including, for example, palmer brown, who is hurt, but if healthy would be better in his sleep than neal is at full power.
i don’t even rate him above che yet.
quit wasting people’s time with fake fights. can we argue about players who actually deserve a chance?
If he keeps this upward teakectory…. I won’t be surprised if he is on the World Cup squad in 2026. Especially considering I have a feeling FIFA will stay with the 26 man squads.
serbia abused the kid, what are you watching.
Or is he the guy that pocketed Mikhail Antonio? Probably best not to right off or anoint a teenager on one match.
“serbia abused the kid, what are you watching.”
He’s watching Neal’s good games.
You’re watching Neal’s bad games.
Any player, even your fave Julian Green, will have both good and bad games.
For managers considering using Neal, the question is which player are you more likely to get? Has he addressed his flaws? What can he do for us? And will this player work well with the other players you are going to drag in and stick with him?
We’re no talking high school and select team ethos anymore. This is for real.
Players do not stay the same. They either get worse or they get better.
If that was not true, Pulisic would have had a terrible year with Milan, Gio is finished as a fulltime pro player, Adams will never play close to a full season for any top 5 league team ever, Mbappe is finished as a top player, Weah is a part time pro and Ream did not play well in Qatar.
Serbia…… you mean like a year and half ago? When he was barely 19 and had minimal Galaxy first team minutes? C’mon man.
V: this is a defender we are discussing, not a hit and miss attacker posing zero GA/loss risk. in plain english, a defender messes up, we lose the game. re good day vs. bad day, what you’re missing is that for a defender, the amount and extent of bad days defines how good you are. it is the sort of position where you can play well for 89 and lose it the other minute. it is the sort of position where the typical “brooks pattern” — good game bad game good game bad game — means your team is getting screwed and losing half the time. it’s not pulisic disappearing and not scoring, it’s we give up goals and probably lose.
so you’re confusing attackers, where i might weigh good days against bad, overall production, etc., vs. defense, where your bad day batting average itself becomes a problem. but then half the problem with this team is struggling to balance, say, jedi on a good day vs. jedi against holland.
and the failure to acknowledge that doing your job against holland might be the more important time.
2t: what is your positive case for neal making the roster other than he was supposed to be the next thing? because i am looking at a kid with 20-something first division appearances, who in his first cap made a memorably bad impression of basic defense. normally if i am rushing eddie pope to the roster it’s because they actually play precociously well when tried — not because reputationally people though stuff would happen with this prospect. game performance. when did he earn the right to leapfrog veteran adults with actual positive track records.
IV
“V: this is a defender we are discussing, not a hit and miss attacker posing zero GA/loss risk. in plain english, a defender messes up, we lose the game. re good day vs. bad day, what you’re missing is that for a defender, the amount and extent of bad days defines how good you are. it is the sort of position where you can play well for 89 and lose it the other minute. it is the sort of position where the typical “brooks pattern” — good game bad game good game bad game — means your team is getting screwed and losing half the time. it’s not pulisic disappearing and not scoring, it’s we give up goals and probably lose.
so you’re confusing attackers, where i might weigh good days against bad, overall production, etc., vs. defense, where your bad day batting average itself becomes a problem. but then half the problem with this team is struggling to balance, say, jedi on a good day vs. jedi against holland.and the failure to acknowledge that doing your job against holland might be the more important time.”
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You’re trying to change the subject, to deflect again. You do that when your initial point is going down in flames.
Do defenders have a far smaller margin of error than attackers? Absolutely. Attackers can blow 9 out 10 chances but if they hit that one chance, game could be over.
The thing is, maybe in high school, college or your select team, you can do it but at the professional level , it is very, very hard to play a soccer game without defenders.
And you are not going to find a defender who has not had a bad game.
And in your world, a defender who has a bad game can never be trusted until the day he retires.
That does not really work for me.
Players evolve over time. I don’t know how good Neal is or isn’t but , if he is a candidate for the Olympic team, then he deserves to be evaluated for the player he is today not last year or whenever.
V: i am not “trying to change the subject.” someone was saying he should make the world cup team. the kid is currently probably age group quality. probably C team level. which is about when he subbed in against jamaica that some want to talk about. off the bench for the B team in a gold cup game we tie, in a tournament we lose. and when he got more lengthy playing time against serbia, schoolboy errors.
i am saying we have at any of these positions a big ol list of worthy players eager for a shot. i am saying he got his shot and flubbed it. that isn’t “distraction.” if you’re saying he’s world cup material, that’s the whole freaking point. the idea is to try and reward the best possible american players with the world cup roster. the idea is not persist in some sort of paper theory you had that some age group player is already ready.
he has plenty of cycles to mature. i am not saying, he’s done. i am saying there is little signal whatsoever he should be final 4 CB at the end of this cycle. i think that’s working off hype and not adjusting to the reality i saw.
i am chuckling at those bringing up jamaica because our inability to run second tier jamaica off the field should give one pause about pimping the same guys who keep going to OT or ties with them. my whole deal is maybe keep trying people until we start whooping up on teams.
Second tier Jamaica? Neal came on for injured Aaron Long. Jamaica had one shot with Neal on the field which was from outside the box and blocked. The four attackers for Jamaica that night were all regular starters in the EPL Antonio, Gray, Bailey, Decordova Reid. If you want to grumble about drawing Jamaica blame the offense for not scoring more on the defense and midfield made up of Championship, MLS and League 2 players. Neal was on the field for 298 minutes in GC and gave up 0g.
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Neal was the best CB in U20 qualifying. That earned him a camp cupcake call up. LAG made him their starting CB. He wasn’t released for U20 WC. He was brought in for GC with the Euro based CBs unavailable. Didn’t allow a goal in 4 matches before getting injured, shoring up the misplays from his first appearance. Moves back into starting role this season after recovering from injury. Brought into Olympic camp. He’s following a typical path. YTs, B/C team camps, starting in MLS then maybe off the bench for A team. Not I saw some highlights on YouTube let’s send this teenager to Copa America and if he fails cut him out until he’s 25 with mediocre numbers in some European backwater lower division and then hype him like his greater than Landon Donovan.
IV
“V: i am not “trying to change the subject.” someone was saying he should make the world cup team.”
I never said jack shit about Neal being World Cup material.
“i am saying we have at any of these positions a big ol list of worthy players eager for a shot. i am saying he got his shot and flubbed it. ”
Bullshit.
A friendly in January of 2023 was Jalen Neal’s “SHOT” at the 2026 World Cup team? Are you kidding?
The USMNT has played 20 games in two competitions since then. I’m pretty sure Neal played no part in any of them.
He’s 20 today. What makes you think he ever had a shot at the 2026 World Cup team? He’s played 25 games total for LA in MLS since he began his career in 2022. 25 fucking games in three seasons. He’s missed 19 games and 327 days due to abdominal problems and pubalgia ( wow, don’t like the sound of that). He needs to think about keeping his job with LA first.
“i am chuckling at those bringing up jamaica because our inability to run second tier jamaica off the field should give one pause about pimping the same guys who keep going to OT or ties with them. my whole deal is maybe keep trying people until we start whooping up on teams.”
You’re the should be laughing at yourself for giving any meaning to that game. I assume you are talking about the 1-1 draw with Jamaica in June of 2023 in the Gold Cup. That game has no relevance anymore.
1. Gold Cup games are useless garbage usually devoid of any lasting meaning beyond being good practice at subbing out players.
2. We beat Jamaica 3-1 on the way to winning the Nations League so if “revenge” matters, then they got theirs. Either way, the book is closed on that particular mini- cycle CONCACAF competitive games.
We have a new cycle now for the CA Friendlies run up and then CA itself. And there is the Olympic subset. If the Olympic team feels like they want to kick the tires on Jalen for Paris, go for it.
The senior team is now beginning a new cycle and the games in the 2023 Nations League/Gold Cup cycle are irrelevant now. We’re not in your high school, college or the select teams universe anymore. This is professional tournament soccer.
There are a lot of familiar USMNT names floating around but none of them are the same player they were in 2023 anymore. It will be very interesting to see what kind of chicken soup Gregg makes out of this mess.
OMG – IV please just shut up. Good god.