CHESTER — In many ways, Indiana Vassilev’s first major soccer move was the most difficult of his young career. That could still prove true whenever his playing days eventually end.
Vassilev was 17 and a standout at the talent factory of IMG Academy when he attracted the attention of English Premier League club Aston Villa. He spent two years in the Birmingham club’s academy, debuting with the first team in 2020, the second-youngest American ever to play in the EPL.
His time in England didn’t work out as hoped: four league appearances for Villa in that first pandemic-affected season; loans to Burton Albion and Cheltenham Town in Leagues One and Two, respectively; a pair of stateside loan returns to Inter Miami.
But as much as anything on the pitch, the English adventure taught Vassilev the value of fitting into a new place. He navigated a master’s degree-level challenge of that while a teen far from home. The MLS version pales in comparison.
From the outside, the transition Vassilev faced when he was acquired by the Union in the spring seems tumultuous. But for the player, it was a chance to brandish skills he’s worked hard to cultivate.
“I remember doing it for the first time in England, when I first went over there,” Vassilev said last week. “It definitely was uncomfortable, and there was a little bit of fear. It’s scary. But then once you do things over and over and over again, you kind of realize that there’s not really anything to be scared about.”
The uncertainty of the Union midfield into which Vassilev was dropped seems a distant memory. It was one trophy ago, Vassilev going from humble expectations to a regular starter on the Supporters’ Shield winners.
Coupled with a knee injury to Quinn Sullivan, whom Vassilev had outperformed for large stretches of the summer, he’s grown even more indispensable as the Union approach Sunday’s Eastern Conference semifinal against New York City FC (7:30 p.m., FS1).
The team Vassilev joined in February roiled with uncertainty. The Union were coming off their first playoff miss since 2017, under a new coach in Bradley Carnell. Jack McGlynn was shipped to Houston on Feb. 3. Vassilev was acquired Feb. 21, five days after his 24th birthday. Less than six weeks into the season, Daniel Gazdag was shipped to Columbus.
In one fell swoop, the Union had traded their all-time leading scoring and one of their principal chance creators in 2024 for a pile of cash that brought no immediate return other than Vassilev, on his third MLS club and sixth team overall at a relatively young age. The perceptions of a frustrated fanbase were none too kind, vibes that even a 4-1 start to the season did little to assuage.
None of those aspersions were Vassilev’s responsibility. Time has made them look unkind.
Vassilev understood them, he’d grown close with McGlynn at U.S. training camp in January, and he’d trained alongside Gazdag before the deal. But they were just outside noise, the kind he was blocking out to focus on his acclimation.
“It definitely is part of the game,” he said. “But it’s not something that I had control over or knew about. So it was just more of, I have to try and get settled in the team and get settled with the people that are here and try to make a positive impact.”
Vassilev came to Philadelphia looking for a new start.
Things had soured in St. Louis, where training camp was overseen by his third coach in two-plus years. After 2023’s expansion-season run to the top of the Western Conference, 2024 curdled. Three wins in 20 games led to Carnell’s firing. The turnover of a second head coach and the sporting apparatus that hired both indicated dysfunction behind the scenes.
So when Vassilev was dealt to the Union, he saw the positives: A team that scored a lot of goals last year, pedigrees of players that on paper were much better than what they looked like on the field in 2024, and a chance to be part of a redemption arc, personally and collectively.
His familiarity with Carnell’s principles of direct, counterattacking soccer eased the tactical transition.
In a weird way, being labeled as “Bradley’s guy” in the locker room supplied an entry point to the culture. Vassilev had an existing bond with Nathan Harriel, a Florida native whom the Savannah-born Vassilev had played against in his IMG days. Being close to Carnell gave teammates an easy opening to banter with him, to give him a little crap.
Vassilev, with his ebullient personality, was eager to take the barbs in stride.
“I think me and my personality, it almost made it a little bit easier, because the guys find it easier to not make fun of it, but just give me stick about it,” he said. “And because of the way that I am, I enjoy it. I love the camaraderie. I love the banter.”
Vassilev’s first impact was as a glue guy, someone who could do a job without demands or disruptions. He’s turned into much more. He scored five goals and four assists in 31 games (21 starts). He’s up to seven goals and five assists in all competitions. He had accounted for 10 goals and six assists in his first 109 MLS games split between Miami and St. Louis.
He scored twice in the demolition of D.C. United that got the Union back on track after a 7-0 loss in Vancouver, the game in which Sullivan tore his ACL. Vassilev’s opener got the Union going in Game 1 of their playoff series with Chicago, and his industriousness has opened up space or created set pieces that have led to a number of goals this season.
In a way, he’s come to personify the Union’s countering ethos as much as anyone. He’s not the flashy No. 10 who’s going to run the game when afforded 60 percent of possession. He’s not a scorer like Gazdag or an elite crosser like Sullivan.
But he’s a demon to play against, wreaking havoc on opponents with his doggedness. He’s an ideal fit for the Union’s system, and he’s looked it.
“It’s high energy, high-pressing. I like that,” he said. “I like winning the ball up high and having a direct opportunity to score. And it’s fun. It’s worked a lot this season when you put pressure on teams, and it might not work out for 60 minutes, but when you continue to just press teams and put them under pressure, the majority of the time, I feel like teams will crack.
“And to be honest, putting teams in a game that they don’t want to play in, it sounds brutal, but it’s fun seeing teams not have fun play against us. It only almost gives us some more motivation. And so putting teams in that kind of game where they kind of lose like the passion and the love for that particular game that they’re playing in is fun.”
He’s also mirrored the Union’s 2025 season. He arrived with modest expectations of what his role would be. The Union similarly aimed to become a top-four team in the East, until a torrid late spring raised the bar.
Vassilev’s fit into groove has played a part in both coming to fruition.
“I was never going to come in here with a big macho attitude and expecting stuff,” he said. “That’s just not how I am.”
Source: Berkshire mont