On a journey with Daryl Dike
Notes from my interview with Daryl Dike. We discuss life in England, playing in the English Championship, USMNT, the 2022 and 2026 World Cups, overcoming injury, and more.
The road to 2026 began the moment Tyler Adams sank to the ground in Doha, fallen at the feet of the Dutch.
It began in the raw moments before full sense had been made of defeat. It began as players filed out of the locker room: Tim Ream glassy eyed, Antonee Robinson in tears, Gio Reyna defiant-faced and walking too fast to be stopped. It began in the slow shuffle of Christian Pulisic, last or near last to emerge, so overcome with emotion he could barely speak. He whispered his disappointment to the crowd of mics, an apparent weight keeping volume from his voice, saying: “This is going to hurt for awhile.”
We’re still at the beginning -the beginning of the road to the next one- though it’s been more than a month. And that month has been a lifetime, rife with intrigue we didn’t want.
Investigations, resignations, interim managers, strange decisions, friendlies defined by chaos more than anything else. This beginning- it must be said- is a mess.
But hear me out, dear reader. It’s also fun!
We’ve got a brand new era of stories to track. We’ve got a Weston McKennie in Yorkshire. We’ve got El Tren from El Paso scoring goals among the Dutch. Taylor Booth, my word. If you didn’t watch AZ Alkmaar draw Utrecht 5-5 with Americans on either side this Saturday, friend, you missed out.
And high on the list of exciting paths to track, is that of a young man named Daryl from Oklahoma, who’s scored two goals for West Brom this month. Alongside a colleague, I caught up with him this morning over Zoom.
Through some combination of injury and timing (and perhaps managerial assessment) Daryl Dike was not a part of World Cup Qualifying, and he was not a part of the World Cup in Qatar.
The 22-year-old has clocked 439 minutes with the national team, all with Berhalter. That includes three 2021 friendlies and five matches in the 2021 Gold Cup. He scored 3 goals in those 8 appearances. The first came against Costa Rica, the first match that he saw more than 27 minutes of play.
Despite the promising start, Dike’s last call up was 17 months back. Three separate injuries sidelined him from 36 non-consecutive club games in that timespan. With injuries likely the biggest cause for his absence, though with periods of fitness in between, Dike admits its been difficult:
“Not even being able to put myself in a position to be on the roster and play in the World Cup is obviously something that's a little bit upsetting. But you know for me I think that just kind of gives me more motivation.”
He continues to say that it’s his goal to be the “undeniable” choice, and if the choice isn’t undeniable, then he should be doing more. Returning to USMNT as the undeniable choice of striker, is what drives much of what he does.
“With work, with a lot of time I can continue to you know, be in more camps, be on that team and not even just be a player. I want to be the guy that people look at and think okay, he's gonna be on the team sheet, he's gonna score us a goal, he's gonna help us win the game. And I think that's something that's very, very important for me.”
You can never say for certain, but he hopes the injuries woes are past. He’s had support from the national team there, as well as from people across England, across Europe, advising him on how to take care of his body and avoid injury. He’s incorporated exercises in the gym that are focused more on control than say, getting bigger, and has gathered advice on things like lifestyle and diet that could help keep him available on the pitch.
At the moment, Dike is fit and scoring goals again. With a wide-ranging fan base hoping the best for him, Dike’s been a part of most conversations surrounding who that striker could be next. And given interim manager Anthony Hudson’s recent comments, one wonders if we’ll see him as soon as March.
Americans Abroad, Together
There’s a sense of friendship among the growing number of “yanks” in England, stitched together by history, a common experience, and of course, the national team. Dike says it’s odd to call himself a “fan”- since he’s a part of the national team- but he does try to watch everyone’s games. He’s always loved the Premier League, and as a Chelsea fan, he says he texted Brenden Aaronson “Bro what are you doing” after he scored on Chelsea:
“I watch everyone. I'm a big fan, honestly. It's kind of weird to think, because obviously I play with the team sometimes, so it's weird to think of myself as being a fan. Even though I play alongside them, but I'm still... I see Brenden, I'm still messaging like "yo, sick".
Dike scored on fellow American and Luton Town keeper, Ethan Horvath, earlier this month. “I’m not sorry at all”, he says, laughing. When you’re a striker, and your friend is the opposing keeper, friendship goes out the window. Well, kind of:
“Yeah, obviously like you're sitting there thinking, because you want him to succeed, you want him to do well. But in the grand scheme of things, you know, when you're playing against him, I think that kind of - I wouldn't say the friendship goes out the window, because obviously we're still friends... People couldn't see but during the game, you know, we're still joking around. But yeah, I'm still going to want to win. And obviously he wants to win.”
As a striker, he’s also had the chance to play against Zack Steffen, who he lists as a good friend.
“With Zack I mean, it's the same thing you know, when we were on the pitch, it was like my first game here. I think it was the first match of the season, we played Boro. And now they're doing really well, and he's a big part of that. So it's good to see everybody kind of succeeding and being able to compete with them on the pitch.”
I was actually at the game, way back in August, and wrote about my visit to Middlesbrough here.
Developing in MLS
Like many US teammates overseas, Dike played and developed in MLS. When I asked, he gushed about the trajectory of the league:
“The league is great. I mean, some people may look at it and say it's behind a lot of these other leagues. But if you look at the players that are now making the transition, and how they're able to compete immediately, I think that's a big product of the MLS. Now, you're even seeing tons of players getting big money moves to the MLS, people wanting to go play for the you know, the American teams. And on top of that, you can see that through the national team, you can see how much better our players are now just because of the development in the states, developing in the MLS and everything. So I think that's the main thing and for me personally, it was the tactics, it's the mentality, it's learning to be a professional from a young age. It's, you know, it's the training, everything, and I think the facilities are incredible. I think there's just so many obvious positives about the MLS and looking at it from the outside of course, having been there last year, a year and a half ago... you can see how close it is. You can see how it compares to a lot of the places here, and that with time, I think it'll be here. It'll maybe even surpass some of the places around here, with all the tools that American soccer has.”
Dike moved from Orlando City to West Brom one year ago. I asked if there were shifts in perception among his teammates, noting the impact of players coming out of MLS:
“I think coming from the MLS, before as I said, people would talk about it thinking oh, it's more of a retirement, the people go over there after retirement. Now the talk is just seeing players come out of the league and succeed in the high leagues. You're seeing obviously players at Leeds, you're seeing Brenden, you're seeing Tyler, you're seeing people at Juventus...”
He went on to state the impact evident in the national team from players that were developed in MLS, before achieving at higher levels, coalescing in a national team that has higher standards of expectation that any come before:
“You're seeing all these people go through these big stages from the MLS. And now you're seeing, you know, more young players going out and succeeding at a higher level, and this translates to the national team. You look at the World Cup, we go into those matches, we get out of the group and even as a player, as a fan base, people are still, they still want more. Because they realize that potential. They realize the quality that our teams have. I think a few years ago, we go lose to Netherlands, and people would be like okay, we probably should would have lost to Netherlands, it makes sense. But now we lose to the Netherlands and we look at ourselves saying: we could do better. I think that's kind of now the standard that we hold each other to, we have like a certain accountability to each other. Because we've seen how well we can do. We've seen the players, we see the staff, and see how good the MLS players are doing. So, now getting to the end of the 16, getting out of the group, losing competing to Netherlands isn't enough for us. I think that's kind of the progression you can see with it with the MLS that brings, you know translates to a national team.”
A Footballer
Thinking about how he’s grown in England, Dike says he’s been blessed with good coaching. He’s worked under quite a few. Each shifting tactical style and approach of management has helped his game, he says. He also credits himself with the ability to work hard, adapt, and succeed under a wide array of managers:
“I think having that coaching staff and you know, my eagerness to learn to, you know, play every single game with you know, walking off the pitch knowing that I learned a new lesson, I did this, I improved in every single trading system, like that. I think it's, you know, something that keeps driving me, keeps getting me to improve as a player, become better and better.”
Of his current coach, Carlos Corberan, Dike says he’s learning to be “more of a footballer”:
“I think he's kind of taught me more how to be a footballer. Whether it be you know, coming shorter, maybe not everything into my chest, and you know runs in the box. He wants me to become you know become more of a footballer, get involved with the link-up play, hold up the ball a little bit more. Defensively, the work, work, work, work mentality that he loves to emphasize so much. So whether it be pressing, be holding…”
Dike added that every time he comes off the pitch, Corberan has a new piece of advice or feedback to work on in the next training session game. He’s clearly dedicated to incorporating that feedback, with a determination to improve and a will to achieve self-evident throughout our conversation.
When I asked if there was anything in particular he’s working on to improve, he tells me link-up play:
“For me personally, one of the things I really really want to get better at is, you know, my link-up. I want to get out and get more involved in the play. Whether it be you know, not everything going long, not everything in behind. I want to be able to come and get the ball to my feet and link-up more. And I think that's something that I've gotten better at but I'd love to get so much more so much more better at.”
And in regard to his strongest attributes as a striker, Dike says:
“I think getting into the box. I love to get on the end of crosses. When you have someone like Jed Wallace whipping in tons of crosses in a game, you're always gonna get your chances. And running in behind is something that I've always loved doing. I love to run behind, it's… I love to run, you know, sprint, take on defenders.”
Dike is a competitor with high potential, willing to put in the work to capitalize on what he’s good at and round out his game. He’s also exceedingly likable— humble but driven, sharing his vision with a smile, and wearing a Spongebob hoodie.
I think there’s a lot of people rooting for him as he works toward his goals: promotion from the Championship, playing in the Premier League, getting called back into the national team. He doesn’t just want to be a striker, but be the striker— the one we can all rely on.
Four years from now, if he is the starting striker for the USMNT, Dike says he’d want US fans to know he’s right for that role because he worked harder than anyone else to arrive.
It will be a winding journey toward that moment, should it come. His mentality is to do what’s necessary every day to get there, and trust the chance will come. For those of us watching him progress, it will be a journey that’s fascinating to track.