“Last week was boring!”
Fafa Picault is coming off a one game suspension for yellow card accumulation. He practiced with the rest of his Philadelphia Union teammates last week — his hard work recreating pressing situations apparent in training — and then watched as they defeated New York City FC on Saturday night. He was thrilled with the result (“I hate losing,” he tells me), but for the 27-year old winger, the bright, unfiltered joy of soccer cuts through the world most cleanly on game day.
“I was probably the happiest person to come into training on Tuesday, just because I knew that we had a game on Saturday,” Picault says this week. “And I was happy we got the good result, so everybody was still in a good mood.”
A traveler that knows his way home
Still squarely in his peak years, the thin, powerful, and you-gotta-see-it-in-person-quick winger — he often punctuates tweets with #gazelle — has spent time at clubs all over the world. Picault was with St. Pauli in Germany before coming to the Union, and he spent time with Sparta Prague (where he knew Borek Dockal), NASL sides Tampa Bay Rowdies and Fort Lauderdale Strikers, and Serie A’s Cagliari before that. Fafa — his given name is Fabrice-Jean, but he has gone by the nickname his whole life — left home in Miami at age 16 to join Cagliari’s academy, and he has pursued the dream of professional soccer no matter how difficult or arduous the journey became.
That intense desire to play the game he loves initially drove Picault to accept opportunities to get on the field wherever he could find them. But now he looks for situations that provide a chance to compete while retaining a certain quality of life.
“Soccer is a job, it’s a profession,” Picault says, “But it’s still a game, and people have to remember that. If it doesn’t feel like a game, and there’s no fun to it, it’s the worst thing. You’re going to practice angry. The ball doesn’t look the same anymore.”
To that end, Philadelphia Union has checked boxes both on and off the field. “I’m a big family guy, big on the people I grew up with, my close friends. But the thing is, I left [home] at 16, and I would see my parents once a year, twice a year if I’m lucky. And I did that for years.”
Now Picault drives up to NYC on his days off to see his grandfather, who finally saw Fafa play live last June when the Union traveled to face NYCFC.
“My grandpa is turning 91 but he’s like 30,” Picault laughs. “He dodged a car the other day in traffic, ran off so he didn’t get hit and I’m standing there like I’m the old guy on the other side of the street.”
He forgoes New York and zips down to Florida to see his parents if the team has multiple days off. “When I go back to Miami, people think I’m going to go party hard,” he says. “Honestly, out of five days I’m home, four and a half are just chilling. My friends come hang out or I’ll go to friends’ houses. I’m not a big partier.
“I don’t drink, so if I do go out I want to dance a bit. Usually Latino music or something like that.”
“With the pace, I’m confident”
On the pitch, Picault has impressed Union head coach Jim Curtin with his two-way game, often emptying his tank to help the team defend as a unit. But for the lightning-fast winger, all that defensive work is about getting more opportunities to terrorize defenders with his speed. “That’s probably one of my favorite things to do,” he says with a smile. “With the pace, I’m confident. So I know [the defender’s] biggest fear is: Don’t let him go all the way. The moment I stop, they have to stop with me, because I can cut in. So then I just go again.
“I study the general video with the team, to know what our game plan is, what we’re going to focus on more that day. But when it comes to individuals? They have to deal with me at the end of the day, I’m not trying to deal with them. I just go out and do what I do and let them handle it.”
Picault takes the same approach to penalty kicks, and his success appears to have turned him into the club’s primary kick taker in recent weeks. “I’m comfortable with it, and I’m not scared of the pressure of it,” he shrugs. “I’m calm, but I’m going to try to strike it into a spot with authority. I know some guys that can roll it in and be comfortable with it. But at the end of the day, if the goalie does, somehow, get back to the side… I can’t sleep at night with that one. If he stops it, he had to break his hand at least! Made a save, you know? If it’s a roller and he can just grab it? I’m becoming a meme after that. No chance!”
Control what you can
The penalties have helped Picault collect five goals this season, though American Soccer Analysis’ model has his Expected Goals at over seven. The winger had seven with an xG of under five last year, and he has added three assists this season, the same number he had a year ago but in 500 fewer minutes. And, notably, this production comes with the Union adopting a heavily right-sided attack that rarely sees play run through their left winger.
Looking at these numbers, Picault is left to wonder where the recognition is at the international level. He has one cap, and it came over two years ago under Jurgen Klinsmann in a friendly with Puerto Rico. “Last year I had the most goals as an American winger [in MLS] and I got no looks, not one. And I'm like, 'Do they still remember that I'm American?'
“And then I come into this year and still nothing. So it's hard to watch because you know the difference you can make with your attributes. But you just keep doing your thing. I've had a lot of good older leaders and role models that were big, big players — and the key is just speak with your feet.”
Over the past two seasons, those feet have spoken often, and loudly. And with that pesky one match suspension is over, they are likely to speak again soon.
“I love playing,” Picault says emphatically, “So on Saturdays as long as the right back and the center backs leave pissed off or tired, or they have something to come tell me after every game, I know I did my job.
“I can't control getting called up, but I can control giving that defender hell. And that's where I gain the respect. At some point, it has to come, where you get what you deserve.
“And until then, I just keep doing what I do.”
