Mikael Uhre is back with his teammates at long last; he first arrived at the team’s facility in Chester late last week after sorting his international travel, and now he’s in Florida for preseason, readying for what’s to come.
Concacaf Champions Cup begins on February 20th and Major League Soccer play begins four days late, leaving Uhre a brief window of training with the team before their 2024 schedule is in full swing. Despite his early preseason absence, the 29-year-old forward is certain he's well-prepared and on-track for the season’s start.
“It's been great to be back with the boys and to come into some warmer weather than there was back home in Denmark,” Uhre said.
“I’ve kept in good shape over the winter break, I think that I’ve shown that today and the last couple of days that I've been doing my training back home. Yeah, it's a short time until games start, but I'm ready to go.”
Uhre spent most of his offseason in Denmark, seeing family and friends before returning to the states for another long season. During that time, Uhre, his daughter Ingrid, and his wife, Amalie, visited their vacation apartment in Arhaus, where he had an ideal set-up for training. The space, outfitted with a gym in the basement, backed up to a forest where Uhre says he spent hours taking long runs on its trails.
With his fitness maintained, Uhre is focused on fine-tuning details and rebuilding chemistry with the team, which will likely come much easier as he enters his third season with the Union.
“Obviously it takes a little while to get back into the adjustments, the final touches with the ball. But then again, we know each other. Most of the guys here I’ve played with for a long time now, so we just have to get into the patterns again,” Uhre said.
“It already showed again in the first real training on Monday, and that was really good to see.”
Last season, Uhre finished with 10 goals and four assists through the entire regular season and playoffs. The year before, which was his first in Philly, he totaled an impressive 13 goals and six assists during the Union’s run to the 2022 Audi MLS Cup. He has some personal aspirations close to the vest for the season to come, but the most pressing one, he says, is one that the entire roster shares.
“I have a lot of goals, but the best would be winning a trophy with the team. That will be the major one,” Uhre said.
