Jack Harrison praises positivity of NYCFC and MLS fans relative to England

Former NYCFC winger Jack Harrison was thriving in his second season at Leeds United until the coronavirus brought the 2019-2020 campaign to a halt. Even so, there are some things he misses about MLS — particularly the fans.

In an interview with ESPN published Sunday, Harrison explained why he had found himself deleting his Twitter account during a rough first season at Leeds. In the process, he payed his former supporters in The Bronx a major compliment.

Former NYCFC winger Jack Harrison was thriving in his second season at Leeds United until the coronavirus brought the 2019-2020 campaign to a halt. Even so, there are some things he misses about MLS — particularly the fans.

In an interview with ESPN published Sunday, Harrison explained why he had found himself deleting his Twitter account during a rough first season at Leeds. In the process, he payed his former supporters in The Bronx a major compliment.

"Being in New York, I'd always had positive feedback, even if I played badly," Harrison told ESPN. "I grew up in the U.S. as well, so all my teammates that I'd been with had always been encouraging and that's the U.S. mentality of coping with sports and stuff. But once I came here, I was on social media and some of the things you see, it can be quite ruthless.

"I had to delete Twitter, just too many people coming at me. That was something new for me. I tried to build mental strength to work through that. It was tough, but it only makes you stronger as a player."

Harrison has started all 37 league matches for Leeds, which currently sits a point clear atop the English League Championship table. If the season can be resumed, the top two teams will be automatically promoted to the Premier League next year.

For more from Harrison, who talked about the feeling around a sleeping giant of a club that won the English Premier League as early as the 1990s, his own career aspirations and more, visit ESPN.com.