In the exceedingly short Major League Soccer offseason, ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC midfielder Tomas Ostrak headed home to the Czech Republic.
While there, he went hiking with friends in the Tatra Mountains, part of the Carpathians, which create the border between Slovakia and Poland in what, considering the time of year, were not surprisingly sub-freezing temperatures.
“I like it,†he said, “because I grew up around the mountains, so I like to see the mountains, I like hiking.â€
But even as Ostrak communed with nature, his mind would wander.
“I was like, yeah, America is missing me. So I miss America,†he said. “It’s always nice to have some days off with the family in my hometown. But I was really looking forward to come to America.â€
Ostrak returned to America for his third season here, and this is the season where his game has blossomed. His playing time has jumped — he didn’t play in either of the two playoff games last season — and while injuries to players like Eduard Lowen have boosted that, even before the season began, coach Bradley Carnell expected this to be a breakout season for Ostrak.
People are also reading…
And it has been. It’s taken a season, but Ostrak has found his game, which has been a variety of roles in the midfield, including defensive midfield — in soccer shorthand, the “6.â€
“I feel very comfortable wherever coach needs me,†he said, “and I am flexible in this position. Even on the 6, I can step up, I can press higher, it can be tough against me to play because I can step higher and press them. I think I can bring both aspects of this to our games which is good for our playing style.â€
“We’re using him more in the role as the 6, he’s really comfortable in the build-up phase,†Carnell said. “He’s really calm. He has a sense of the ability to be in control at all times on the ball, which really helps our buildup play, so he shows his quality in many moments, and then he shows it against the ball as well, being on the jump and stepping through from the 6 position. So we’re really happy for him to finally reward himself.â€
“He’s been given more of a little bit of free role to kind of just put out fires and run around,†said Chris Durkin, who has been playing alongside Ostrak as a defensive mid in recent games. “He’s obviously really good on the ball.â€
Ostrak’s success is an example of the value of patience. Ostrak came to ºüÀêÊÓƵ when he was 22 and is still just 24 and living on a different continent, far from home and family. (Asked Thursday what he would like to bring most from home if he could, he said his mother.)
“You have to nurture,†Carnell said. “We get guys from the Bundesliga, but were they Bundesliga veterans or were they Bundesliga young guns coming through the ranks? He was still a Bundesliga rookie, and now how can we nurture him into maybe realizing his dream of going back to the Bundesliga one day as he’s still a youngster? So first of all, you have to go through all those base layers and then start with what are his core values and where’s he lacking? Where’s he really strong? And how can we progress him through there at this young age and expose him at the right levels and throw him in at the right time? So I think for the most part, players need to acclimate, players need a while to integrate and then you get them with a development, and I think you’re seeing a good curve with Tomas.â€
Ostrak was among the first crop of international players for City SC who came over in the summer of 2022 and played and trained with City2, using that time to get acclimated to life and soccer in America. But he was still learning in the 2023 season, when he had three goals and two assists. This season, he has a goal and an assist in eight games and a team-best passing percentage among midfielders of 87.1.
“Last year was a good year for us like a team,†he said, “for me personally, it was like, was decent. I mean like I had some goals, some assists, so I mean could be better, could be worse, but I felt like it was OK, was good year to build up something.â€
Just what Ostrak can do was visible Sunday against Austin. While Tomas Totland and Rasmus Alm got the assists on the goal by Klauss that gave City SC a 1-0 win, it was Ostrak’s cross-field pass to Totland that got the play started.
“I don’t know if people know how tough that pass is,†Totland said, “because kicking it that low and in that space means that I can just attack it with full speed instead of the ball being high where I have to stop to take it on my chest. I just keep that speed up, and that’s basically what made that attack.â€
“Incredible,†said Carnell. “Incredible.â€
For Ostrak, it was just an example of what a player can do when he is confident.
“I saw one guy who was a little bit in front of Tots,†he said, “so it could be that he could head it and they can have a transition, but you don’t think about that in this situation. You just think what can go well, not just what can go wrong. I just played the ball confidently and hoped for the best.â€
This good for Ostrak and, by extension, City SC.
“I’m more confident than last year,†Ostrak said. “I’m playing more with the ball. I feel fitter. So I think these are the things that will bring me like, one step ahead.â€