After missing World Cup and struggling for form, Matthew Hoppe’s focusing on what he can control

After missing World Cup and struggling for form, Matthew Hoppe's focusing on what he can control

“I had a good season at Schalke and a good Gold Cup. I had high hopes for the season [with Mallorca],” he said. “I think it was a big learning curve. It was a big change moving from a different country. There were so many different aspects to it. It was a lot of being in the right place at the right time.”

With playing time at Middlesbrough proving just as hard to come by, Hoppe opted to join up with the U.S. at the annual January camp. The optics of leaving his club in the middle of the season may not have been great, but he had to try something. And he found a coach in U.S. interim manager Anthony Hudson who not only was willing to help him break out of his funk, but who knew him and valued his game.

“What I like about Matthew is firstly, his personality on the field,” Hudson told ESPN prior to the Colombia match. “He’s an aggressive player, he’s fearless, he’s very direct. For me, he never seems afraid of the opposition. He has, like, a healthy disrespect. He doesn’t care who we’re playing. He’s a confident kid.”

Hoppe first caught Hudson’s eye when the Englishman was managing the U.S. U20 national team. When Hudson became Gregg Berhalter’s assistant with the full team, that relationship with Hoppe was cemented further at the Gold Cup. In terms of the just-concluded camp, Hudson also felt a change of scenery could help break the rhythm of Hoppe not playing and add a dose of positivity. The fact that Hudson was once roommates with Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick, when the two were youngsters at West Ham United, made for an open line of communication.

Hudson feels that Hoppe’s self-belief hasn’t wavered despite his struggles — that much was evident against Colombia. By no means was Hoppe hiding during the match, but Hudson does feel the attacker can add more elements to his game. It can’t all be about the run in behind, and even that aspect can be refined.

“I think just his positioning in terms of how to set up runs in behind, how to engage a full-back to them running behind, the timing of doing that,” he said. “He’s quite a free player. He just likes to go and be free and go find the ball and then go and attack the box. And I think that when a team’s trying to build up and break lines, I think his positioning is something that he can always improve, but his raw and natural qualities are really, really good.”

Now Hoppe has to adjust to a new team and its way of doing things. That can make manufacturing confidence difficult, but Hoppe remains convinced that better times are ahead.

“For me, my confidence doesn’t come from how I’m playing. It comes from God, that’s who I believe in. That’s what I believe,” he said. “So I think I’m just doing the right stuff every day, working hard, and keeping a good attitude, and staying consistent with everything, then I’ll get my chance and I’ll just have to take it.”