As a quick follow-up to my column last week about the possibility of Kansas City's new signing Ryan Smith playing for the US, I talked to the London-born striker about his reasons for coming to MLS, and the possibility of playing for the Yanks.

He talked about his disillusionment with the style of play common in the English lower leagues, especially the "long-ball" football played under former manager Billy Davies at Derby County, who he claims mislead him about the approach Derby would take. He believes that he can find that type of attacking, "on the floor" soccer that he learned at Arsenal with Peter Vermes's Kansas City Wizards side. Smith's performance on Saturday, involving himself in all of Kansas City's four goals against DC, scoring a goal and tallying an assist, suggests that he has found a club he is comfortable with. His emphatic start in MLS looks even more impressive considering his revelation that he had just two days to prepare for the game. Back in London last week to complete paperwork related to his move, he arrived in Kansas City in the early hours of Thursday ahead of his debut on Saturday.

Smith revealed to me that he's currently in the process of establishing dual citizenship, through his American father, and said that growing up with parents from the U.K. and the U.S., he understands the history of both countries. Although he said that the prospect of playing for the U.S. wasn't a factor in his move to Kansas City, when I asked if he would consider playing for the USMNT, his response was an unqualified and unhesitant yes, "100 percent." He talked about the difficulty in breaking into the England squad, with "so many great players, so many experienced players" vying for positions. When I asked about potentially playing against England at some point, he was unequivocal, stating that if he were to play for the U.S., that is where his allegiance would lie. While it's very unlikely he'll make the World Cup team, Smith is a young player, and if he continues his MLS career like he has begun it, he should have no problem catching Bob Bradley's eye.

When I asked how many goals he expected to score, Smith was modest, and declined to make a prediction. "Anything can happen. I'm taking it one game at a time, right now."

There's a big market for former Arsenal youth players. Players like Seb Larsson, Fabrice Muamba, Steve Sidwell, and Matthew Upson have all managed to carve out Premiership careers after leaving the Gunners, and others like John Spicer, Anthony Stokes, and the USA's own Frank Simek have settled nicely at lower levels. And the money's not bad, either. An average League One player in his early-to-mid twenties earns in excess of $100,000 a year, and one with the cachet of a big-name youth system on his resume will squeeze even more out of a prospective club.


So why would an Arsenal youth product, one made his first-team debut at just 16, and who Arsene Wenger himself was confident of being a "big success," move over four thousand miles away, away from his friends, family, and most of the footballing world he's been apart of since he was a child, for what is likely going to be a pay cut, in an early stage of his career? It seems absurd at best, career suicide at worst.


This is the case of Ryan Smith. Last seen with Crystal Palace, the former Derby County, Millwall, and Southampton man is just 23, and a well-known youngish player of upper League One/lower Championship quality. Although beset by unlucky injuries at early stages in his career, he should be setting himself up for a career similar to that of Nottingham Forest's Nathan Tyson or Scunthorpe's Ben May. Instead, he's just signed for Kansas City. With no disrespect to either of KC's fans, Kansas might as well be Siberia, as far as mainstream English Football is concerned. It could turn out to be a smart deal for the Wizards, but one wonders what Smith is getting out of it.


An interesting thought creeps into the mind when one fact is taken into account. Ryan Smith's father is American. This means Ryan Smith can easily get American citizenship, if he doesn't have it already. This means that Ryan Smith could theoretically play for the USMNT.


Suddenly, this murky, confusing situation becomes a bit clearer. Championship and League One players don't play for England. MLS players, bar Davey Becks, aren't likely to get considered for the Three Lions either, no matter how well they perform in the US. But you know what country DOES tend to fill out its roster with MLS-based players? The US. And, by this lucky coincidence, Ryan Smith just happens to be an "American," who finds himself at an MLS club two and a half months before the World Cup.


It's an interesting proposition for the US. The US player pool, especially in attack, isn't so strong that we can afford to turn our noses up at someone for being a johnny-come-lately mercenary foreigner, especially one with a rock-solid pedigree and buckets of upside. Now, unless he's an amazing revelation in MLS, or there are an unimaginably huge number of injuries, he's probably out of the running for South Africa (although seeing Fleet Street explode over an Englishman playing for the Yanks against England would be absolutely priceless), but he'll only be 27 by the time Brazil 2014 rolls around. Any young American striker playing well in MLS is likely to get a look or two with the National team (see: Rolfe, Chris; Jaqua, Nate; Findley, Robbie), and come the next round of World Cup qualifying, don't be surprised if Smith is mentioned as a potential option.