The English midfielder is hoping to build off his first year in the NASL in 2016

Photo credit: Minnesota United

Young. Dynamic. Energetic

That’s the type of team Jacksonville Armada FC coach Mark Lowry is hoping to have in 2017, and English midfielder Jack Blake fits right into the mold.

“It’s my sort of football – highly technical and when we don’t have the ball it’s high pressure,” Blake told NASL.com. “I prefer to play on a team that is possession-based where we dominate the game and dictate the tempo. With Mark Lowry’s belief in the players, the club, and the philosophy we can go far this season.”

Blake, 22, spent last season with Minnesota United and he’ll be joined in Jacksonville by several former teammates, Aaron Pitchkolan and J.C. Banks.

“They are huge professionals, so they do everything the right way,” Blake said. “They are good friends of mine on and off the pitch.

“It’s great to have them down because they will be massive assets to the club on and off the field.”

With the Loons, Blake made 11 appearances during league play, while scoring in his debut for the club in a 2-0 win over St. Louis FC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

“At the beginning few games I felt I was thrown in the deep end, which is what I wanted to do – hit me in the face, that sort of thing,” Blake said. “That’s what happened in my debut in the U.S. Open Cup against St. Louis. I started the game, we won, 2-0, and I couldn’t have asked for a better debut.

“The NASL is a high technical league and it appealed to my abilities straight away and it helped me settle in much quicker. This year can only be a positive one.”

For the upcoming season, though, Blake is looking to take another step forward, much like several other young Armada players, including midfielder Danny Barrow and forward Charles Eloundou, who tied for a team-high six goals.

“I feel as though it’s a big year for me and the club,” Blake said. “Right from the very start when Jacksonville was talking to me with Nathan [Walter, the club’s technical director] and Mark Lowry, I noticed how professional and ambitious they were. Going forward it was something that really appealed to me. I think it’s my time this season to really get some game time in the United States and really stake my claim.”

In particular, Blake should have plenty of opportunity to form a partnership with Barrow, who also was born in England.

“I feel he’s a young exciting player,” Blake said. “He’s got a bright future ahead of him and I think he’ll see it as a big year for him and we can both thrive off that.”

Like Barrow, who was a member of Premier League side West Bromwich Albion’s academy, Blake learned the trade with Nottingham Forest, which currently plays in the English Championship.

“It holds me in good stead having that culture and background as my foundation growing up,” he said. “I was taught, in my opinion, to play the right way – on the ground, possession-based.”

While Blake will be able to line up anywhere in the center of the Armada’s midfield, he prefers playing in a more advanced position on the field.

“I like to get further forward and allowed the freedom to go and score goals,” he said. “Along with the strategy of the team and the tactical nous of the team, given attacking freedom, and with exciting young players, I think we can create a real attacking threat going forward. We can become a team that others are very scared and wary of.”

Now, Blake will aim to settle in with his new teammates and push the Armada to new heights in 2017.

“It’s important, first of all, to jell,” he said. “We have a great group of players backed with the close relationship with the staff. What will also help is the coach is highly technical, tactical, and professional – that alone makes it good for the whole team. When he took over at the end of last season, he showed what a team under him could do.

“There’s a philosophy and ambition behind the club that any player that comes in will hold that to.”