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Report: Klinsmann to call up Bayern Munich youngster Green for November USMNT friendlies

JulianGreenBayernMunich1 (DFB)

By DAN KARELL

If the latest report is true, U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann isn’t yet finished looking for the best dual-national talent in Germany.

According to a report in German publication BILD, Klinsmann plans to call in 18-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder Julian Green for the U.S.’s friendly matches on Nov. 15 and 19 against Scotland and Austria. Green would have to file a one-time switch to play in either of those matches as he is provisionally tied to Germany after having played for that nation in Euro U-19 qualifying earlier this year.

Though he’s lived in Germany since he was two, Green was born in Tampa, Fla. to an American serviceman and a German mother and carries both nation’s passports.

U.S. Soccer has yet to officially comment on the report.

Despite his young age, Green has been playing with the Bayern Munich reserve team this season and has scored an impressive 13 goals in 14 games for the Regionalliga side in the fourth tier of soccer in Germany. The report states that Green, who is currently in the Germany youth setup and was with the Under-19s during the October FIFA dates, has accepted the call up, according to BILD’s sources.

If the report is true, Green would join a number of other German-Americans on the U.S. roster such as Jermaine Jones, Terrence Boyd, Fabian Johnson, and John Brooks. The report doesn’t state whether Green would play in the matches or just come to train with the team (something which he would not have to file a one-time switch for) and give the U.S. coaching staff an opportunity to watch him and speak with him in person.

Back in September 2012, Green accepted a call up to the U.S. U-18 side for a game against the Netherlands and scored in a 4-2 victory. The Bayern youngster also was included on Tab Ramos’ 35-man provisional roster for the Under-20 World Cup this summer.

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What do you think of this report? Do you see Klinsmann calling up an 18-year-old? Do you believe Green is on the radar for next summer’s World Cup? Do you see Green accepting the call-up?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. This would be terrific! Back when Jurgen started courting a lot of these German/USA dual nationals, the players at the top of my wish list included Fabian Johnson (check) John Brooks (check), Julian Green (check? fingers crossed), Shawn Parker and Fabian Hurzeler. Some are already in the fold and some, unfortunately, may end outside of the US fold…but overall I have been impressed with Jurgen’s job of “recruiting” these players (including Johannson and some of the dual Mex/US players as well). It reminds me a little of college recruiting: Find the players who show interest/are eligible and then work on getting them to commit.

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  2. Man, el tri would have a decent center back if those rules applied xD.

    And no one could question Rossi or Subotic “sorry, the rules, you know.”

    And we’d have Shaun Parker.

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  3. This is fantastic. I am 100% ok with this. Here’s the thing about soccer in America, though its growing, it still gets the table scraps in terms of athletes from other sports. Can you imagine what it would be like if the States could field a team of players at the athletic caliber of Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Adrian Peterson, Reggie Bush, Calvin Johnson, and LeBron James? That could potentially make us bigger, stronger, and faster at every single position on the pitch. How do you lure them away from basketball and football? Winning. He we need Americans who were raised in other countries to help the USMNT make loud international noise then so be it. To win on that level you need world class talent. The pieces are falling together, and I believe that Klinsmann is doing a fantastic job of not only being competitive now, but building American soccer for the future.

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    • I’m tired of this comparisons/statements. These are different sports which require different skill sets that do not necessarily translate. You have to realize that Americans are good athletes, but it is there tactical awareness and individual on the ball skills. Bigger and faster IS NOT BETTER.

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      • Still these are professional athletes who have spent their whole lives playing one specific sport. In the case of Rose and Westbrook they are both NBA point guards, i.e. playmakers. The movement and passing comparison to soccer and basketball is very similar, and some soccer players have stated that basketball helped them get better at soccer (see Diskerud, Mikkel). And yes just being athletic doesn’t make you good, but if we could get these athletes to focus on soccer the way they do their sports I guarantee we would see results. I am willing to bet $100 that all 3, LeBron James, Rose, and Calvin Johnson are all faster than CR7 and Theo Walcott. Can you imagine LeBron and Megatron playing the CB positions together?! And imagine someone with the size and explosion of Westbrook holding the ball up front. You can’t tell me that wouldn’t be nice to have.

      • Americans generally have the misconception that bigger athletes are better athletes. This is because American Sports are engineered such that this is true. Soccer favors Creativity, Quickness, Technical Ability. American Football Favors Brute Strength, and top end speed.

        I think some of the NBA point guards would make great Soccer players, but for Abnormally large athletes such as Lebron, or NFL Linebackers their size would be more of a detriment on the soccer field than an asset.

        This is an incredibly hard concept for Americans to grasp because our televisions continually tell us that we are the biggest and best at everything.

      • Take Kobe Bryant as an example. He was an avid soccer player and basket player when his father was playing in Italy. However, he was still a much better basketball player even though he was still a soccer player ( by his admission).

        Although, I have generally thought point guards would translate very well to # 10s in soccer

      • Not that hard to grasp. I get that you don’t see any 6’8″ 260lbs soccer players. Using Lebron as an example is easy cause everybody knows him and recognizes him as a great athlete. Do we need a clone of him in a soccer uniform? No. But we do need elite athletes playing this sport from a young age.

      • I’m sorry, but I once saw CR7 race, and defeat, a car. I don’t think any of those American players are faster than him

      • your both missing the point, our players are athletic enough. What they are missing is the hours of practice that you have to put in as a kid. Take basketball, for example, kids will play hours on end into the night developing the skills necessary to be successful at the pro level. Whens the last time you saw an American kid practicing day in and day out. Not saying it doesn’t happen, but, just not in the numbers needed to develop a large number of quality players at the pro level.

      • Why are the kick returners in the NFL not the size of defensive lineman????

        Because little guys really are quicker and better at change of direction than big guys, no matter how many steroids are involved.

        Strange concept I know, but true.

      • Watch the NCAA hoops tournament this year and imagine that every point guard,off guard and shooting fwd, in the tournament played soccer from age 2 and that was our U20 pool. It isn’t hard to imagine the possibilities.
        Those kids are agile, skilled and fast.
        And that’s just basketball. The fastest and strongest athletes play RB or QB.

    • Sorry, but this is the argument you hear all the time and I cannot disagree more. The US is not as good at soccer as other nations much more because of youth development than anything else. A guy like DRose could have easily picked soccer, and then easily become, say, Brandon McDonald. Physically intimidating, zero technical ability. And what determines “athletic caliber”? Are Rose and Westbrook that much faster than EJ or Davies? Is Megatron that much bigger than Onyewu and Cameron? Look at the last World Cup final, how many players on that field looked like or had the “athletic caliber” of AD?

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      • I agree with both comments, big and fast does not a good soccer player make. But, let’s not discount athleticism entirely. Imagine if D Rose and Graham Zusi were developed in identical environments and both played soccer, who are you going to pick for your team at the end of the day? Pointing out one athletic soccer player who isn’t skilled (B McDonald) is not a good basis for this argument. There are tons and tons of athletic football and basketball players who aren’t skilled either, they don’t play professional ball. The ones that break through are athletic and skilled. When the US gets to the point where the Graham Zusi’s of the world are replaced by players with just as much skill coupled with athleticism, then we’ll start to see more “world class” players. That will then in turn require the players who aren’t athletically gifted to be even that much more skilled in order to compete. It can only improve our players in the long run.

      • That’s what I’m trying to say, the US needs to do something to get these athletes the States have to put the time in to soccer. Not saying that athleticism beats skill, but the best players in the world have both. Where Zusi is fantastic, just imagine if he were one of the fastest players on the field, as opposed to one of the slowest.

      • Want that to happen? It’s easy. Simply get MLS a $10b tv deal. Raise the salary cap to $100m. Want to know why the next Derrick rose is shooting hoops instead of free kicks? $17.6m/year. And that’s not even in the top 15 salaries in the league. There are 59 nba players making more than ten million this year. More than a hundred make more than Clint Dempsey. You can’t tell that kid to play soccer instead, it would be financial malpractice.

      • Yes, Yes and faster, and Spain, Brazil, Argentina, and the Netherlands definitely aren’t known as “slow” teams by any means.

  4. I’m glad that we’re getting him and he is as American as anyone else on the team, but isn’t it a bit low that we are poaching teenagers playing in the fourth division? Doesn’t that seem a bit desperate?

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      • I know what it means for the future but will this lead to bringing in 16 year olds in stoppage time of qualifiers to get them cap tied? It seems low to bring him in solely for the sake of cap tying him if he isn’t in our current plans.

  5. Is no one else excited by the fact that we seem to have a growing contingent of players using the German youth ranks to get noticed by the American senior setup? I bet a country like England would love to have some youth players with experience in the German system to call into their pool.

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  6. JK is a great recruiter and has the team playing well in CONCACAF. Obviously his legacy will be marked by how he does in Brazil and what he did to set a standard for developing players in the US, which was a big part of why he was paid $2.5 million per year.
    He has not done shite to start a system for developing players in the US. I know because I coach in the Developmental Academy and some close freinds are very closely connected with the National scene. Everyone knows he spends 98% of his time with the full team and that is fine but he is here for the quick result in 14 and that is fine also.
    To deserve that kind of cash he better get out of the group stage and win another game after that.
    Otherwise, we overspent.

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    • What do you expect Klinsmann to do as far as player development?
      His job is not to develop players. His job is to manage the NT.
      If anything, people like you are to blame for the lack of player development in this country and the parents of those kids you train are the ones overspending.

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    • Interesting, as a fan i love what he is doing for the current group but if i may ask;

      What was the development academy ppl expecting?
      How does his involvement compare with Bob?

      I imagine his job is very demanding and nation team managers that are in qualification/wc mode dont have time for youth levels but i do remember a lot talk about that years ago

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    • This is hilarious and so misguided. It’s not Klinsmann’s job to help set up a development system for USSF. It’s Sunil, Dan Flynn and Claudio Reyna’s job. Klinsmann’s job is to coach the full national team and that’s it. You think Roy Hodgson or Big Phil are overseeing the youth development in England and Brazil? No. If you are a coach in the DA, it’s YOUR job to help develop players. What do you want Klinsmann to do, spend a good chunk of his time touring the country and giving tips to youth teams? He’s not even that type of coach, he’s never had to develop talent anywhere. Him going young with the German team in 06 was a philosophy change more than anything and the DFB and the German club teams all took proactive measures to develop more skilled technical players… which is has been a publicly stated goal by the USSF, DA and MLS academies. Sounds like you just have an illogical axe to grind with Jurgen.

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      • I don’t think Ricardo is that far off for expecting something from JKas to development. Wasn’t that the reason he turned down the offer the first time? Didn’t he say he wanted to overhaul development in this country from the top down?

        That said, he is probably somewhat involved at the organizational level. He has probably talked to Reyna about the curriculum, and probably had input as far as developing a national playing philosophy. However, based on what Ricardo is saying, implementation of the philosophy is a bust. But that’s not going to happen unless the whole youth system changes to something that incentivises development more and winning less. Meh.

  7. A lot of hype for an 18 year-old who hasn’t started for the first team yet. There is no chance Green makes the World Cup roster if he switches allegiances to the USA. The coaching staff wants to see him up close alongside USA players. Pretty simple. If he eventually plays for us, great, if he sticks with Germany, then we have other Americans ready to step up.

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    • It may also be like Brooks in the sense of wanting to commit him to the US regardless of ultimate quality. A hedged bet, beating Germany to the punch. If he flourishes, you reap the rewards. If he turns out half baked at least you made the effort.

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    • It’s worth noting that the first team we’re talking about here is Bayern Munich, arguably the best team in the world right now. So let’s not act like the US is being desperate calling in an 18 yr old who hasn’t broke through that squad yet.

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    • And adding to the last comment. Let’s not forget his current club where he has scored 13 goals is likely better than most of the MLS and Mexican teams that we are drawing MNT players from.

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  8. I don’t understand when people say we need to develop players here. Obviously we do, but who’s to say we can’t do both?? Calling in Green has nothing to do with development in the US. Green is playing at one of (if not) the premier clubs in the world! Look at Argentineans, they don’t say no to Messi because he went through Barça’s youth system! Players can choose to go where ever they want to develop, and we can’t prevent those who choose to leave the US from being part of the NT setup. Also he was born in Tampa.

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    • Messi already had some develop by Newell’s (where Balbo and Batigol came from), and Messi sounds “Rosarino” and still drinks his “mate”. Argentineans were very angry at Messi not knowing word by word the Argentina’s national anthem.

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    • I take your point, but the problem I see is that as the player pool has professionalized, the development effort and playing time locus has switched from Bradenton and college — where the youth were the focus – to pro teams, where the first team is the focus, first team playing time may be hard to come by, and youth/reserve quality varies by country. Germany has a good system with the separate lower division sides where kids can play; but the US has an awful MLS setup. They are trying to remedy that with the USL linkups but the basic issue is if I turn over development from college and youth teams to pro teams, the pro teams have to carry their water.

      My impression from the Dynamo is the homegrowns rarely stick. We cut one recently, have cut several before that, and Salazar for all his talent hasn’t played a MLS minute. We have one or two GK homegrowns but they tend to carry clipboards most nights given our approach to the position. This is in part due to our veteran focus on the first team. You do not play here unless Kinnear thinks you are absolutely ready. But IMO what young players need is game PT. Catch 22.

      On a certain level I don’t care where we get the players from, but I did point out earlier this year that if you dropped the dual nationals out you’d see an arguable weakness in domestic development. I do think there are some U23s and U20s in the pipeline with talent but there was a notable imbalance between offense and defense. In particular I have a concern about our development of defenders. Just look at the senior team, that’s the one spot where they have, rather than an abundance of people playing so well they shove each other aside (forward, midfield), a sprinkling of mediocrities to the point where Evans and Parkhurst and others can sneak in and get time in official games, and Goodson still gets PT even though he gives up goals every time he puts on the shirt…..

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      • I don’t care where development happends, but I do care if the dual national players affection towards U.S., and see U.S. as “home”. It’s hard to explain the last part.

        I am native Uruguayan, I had to denial dual nationality and only be American citizen for Security Clearance, for my past military career and very proud of my choice. In Uruguay, people tell in me “you walk like an American” or “talk like an American” while I still speak with Uruguayan accent in Spanish, but my swagger, sitting, facial expressing and etc…are very American.

      • I one hundred percent agree with you. We need to improve the system in anyway possible, and I know it is in bad shape right now. My point is, even if we did have a top 5 developmental system in the world, would we really pass up on Green? This has nothing to do with our system and everything to do with strengthening our national team, and to make the national team more desirable for other potential dual-nationals. Anyone who identifies as an American is American, and they are welcome to join the team in my group. We have a chance to snag a premier player, and in the end it only makes us better. For me, it’s a win. I apologize, this is not very well written but I am really tired and don’t feel like proofreading lol

  9. Well this is from BILD so take it with a grain of salt. BILD is where the “Jones to have surgery” story came from after all.

    One-time switch means he’s ours.

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  10. Who cares if they live in Germany? Their fathers served in the armed forces protecting your freedoms to have an opportunity to complain about it on the internet. He has EVERY right to play for the United States. Military families sacrifice a lot. I understand the argument of developing our players, but if the kid betters our team, than so be it.

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    • His name is Julian Green. That’s about as American as it gets. It would be weirder to see that on a Germany lineup card than a USA lineup card.

      Now if his name was Jan Gietl it would be different.

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      • Man, el tri would have a decent center back if those rules applied xD.

        And no one could question Rossi or Subotic “sorry, the rules, you know.”

      • Julian is probably named Green,because that was the name of the guy who owned one of his ancestors. You basically argue that African-Americans should only play for the US because their real African names were destroyed during slavery.

  11. from: http://americansoccernow.com/articles/julian-green-a-talented-teen-with-ties-to-the-u-s

    “There are hardly any words to describe how I felt when he played in that game” for the U.S., Jerry Green recalled. “To put emphasis on it, the first game he played for the American team was actually on September 11th. You could not find a prouder father in America that day. I was so proud he was representing the United States. If it were solely up to me, by all means I would love to see him play for the U.S. U-20 team. I would love to see him play for the American national team.”
    As for his future of playing with the United States, it is unclear at the moment. He was scheduled to play with the U-18s again earlier in 2013 but was forced to withdraw because of an ankle injury. Green was also named to the U.S. U-20 provisional 35-player roster for the U-20 World Cup but was not selected for the World Cup team.
    None of his appearances for Germany or the United States have been binding since all have come in friendlies. Green is still eligible to play for either country.

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  12. Question: The article hints that he would have to file a one-time switch to compete in these friendlies. If so, does that mean he would be cap-tied if he plays, thus ineligible to compete for Germany?

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    • A dual-national cannot be cap-tied by any nation via a Friendly. Only in an official FIFA competition, like World Cup Qualifying, World Cup, Gold Cup, and Confederations Cup. Him playing these friendlies doesn’t make him ineligible to play for Germany.

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      • because he is already provisional capped, he would need to file, thus, he would be with us for ever. same with Johannsson’s case.

      • Not necessarily. If he’s not representing in any non official then he won’t be cap-tied. Aside from that, if he does get cap-tied, he can still switch nations as long as he is a citizen of the other nation. For Example, Stephan Schrock of Eintracht Frankfurt, He represented Germany’s U-18,U-19 &U-20 with 16 overall caps,but ever since FIFA removed the age limit on players switching their represented nations which was in 2009 he was able to represent the Philippines to which he was a citizen of. Take note that he’s already 27.

      • That doesn’t matter. If his one-time switch is approved, he can no longer play for any other national team at any level.

      • @Sebastian It’s a one time switch. If he files his one time switch it would not mattered if the US played a friendly against the Virgin Islands, Green would be cap tied to us forever.

    • That’s my theory on the callup. If he has to file the switch to accept the call then it’s a de facto cap tie even though you usually need the official game to do it. In doing so he commits and you can then assess. I think unless he was amazing he’d be ticketed for future cycles. But you can use the switch to extract the commitment, in the way that a cap tie used to work before the rules changed. Teams used to call up multi-nationals early for this very purpose back in the day.

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  13. I have seen Green play. He’s great. My take on the whole thing is that Klinsmann has to develop players here, though, rather than scour the world for foreign talent. This country needs to see our youth here be developed so that our fans here can say it’s a U.S. team. Soccer is a game that really depends on its fans. Getting too many foreigners makes locals feel that they won’t get a chance. I strongly believe that their is plenty of U.S. talent. Klinsmann seems to believe that the grass is always “Green”er, pardon the pun, on the other side of the fence.

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      • That’s not the point. They don’t have to be 18 years old to play well. It just happens that player development is much better in European or Latin American countries. But my point is that in order for player development to happen here the players need to see that they can succeed by being developed here rather than having to go to Barcelona to learn soccer. That takes lots of money and doesn’t necessarily ferret out the best players.

      • I agree, we need to develop better talent at home, that is one of the bullet points that JK mentioned early on but is the system ready? I don’t think so, I think that is going to take time.

      • So, Klinsmann thinks he needs to skip the part of developing a youth program. I think with him it’s his ego that makes it necessary to win at all costs and leave behind what took other countries a century to build up. This country has good players. Scouts just have an easier time finding players abroad because those players have already been discovered by others. It’s the cheap way to find a good team, and it brings lots of press.

      • I dont think he is skipping the process of youth development. Like was stated above, ittakes time to change and develop players. To me this step is one of “in the meantime we will see what else is available to us.”

        In the end, we need to do both. Because just as important as people feeling “they have a chance”, is competition. The age of the best players not having to worry about playing time is over. This is a good thing! Even dempsey and donovan are being pushed. Just as Altidore was pushed. Roll on JK! I love what you are doing

      • I agree with @Coke. You make no sense. These dual nationals are American citizens. Every American citizen is eligible in the player pool and it is JK’s job to make the best team out of the ingredients he has at his disposal.

        Sure it’d be great for America develop its own players right here in MLS, BUT TO DO THAT, we would need the world’s best coaches and the world’s best infrastructure and the world’s best financial support for such programs. We don’t have anything close to any of that, ESPECIALLY the coaching.

        Goodness, my head just spun trying to comprehend the incomprehensible gap in quality between most American coaches and those found at European clubs not in England. (Anyone who gets their panties in a wad over that statement needs to take a long hard look in the mirror and figure out why they’re lying to themselves).

      • The USofA loves a winner. If we do well in the World Cup, more of the youth of our country will play the sport. The more that play, the better our team will become. You don’t think Klinsmann knows this do you? This is good for the team’s short range and long range goals.

      • Diego Fagundez? Player developed here. Still not US citizen. Will probably play for Uruguay. Citizenship rules/laws are complex. Bottom line is Green is a US citizen and eligible to play for the US. Fagundez is not. Neither player wrote the rules, but needs to follow them.

    • Yes. Yes. However, his job is to win in 2014. And.. it can be argued the best way to inspire the next generation is to create a winner in this generation. If you are 10 and an amazing athlete who plays soccer and baseball and basketball.. if the USMNT team inspires you.. you might just choose soccer over being a point guard in 2015.

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      • Yes, and go to Barcelona to its academy because there I no place here to develop. I just read about this 11-year-old Los Altos kid who has been accepted there. His parents have enough money to accompany him and stay with him there while he is improving his soccer skills.

      • Just because Barca has a better development system that is available in the US doesn’t mean the US system can’t develop players. Hell, Messi also joined Barca at 11.

        The elite foreign clubs have been honing this process for years. Relative to them, we just started last week. Give it time. Football is about patience, American fans don’t have enough.

    • So you would turn down an American who developed most of his skill in a foreign system? You do know that world class players are often scouted by professional developmental academies before they play highly organized soccer, right?

      I think some people are blinded by the long-view of things. The quality of American development will not improve because we only give chances to players who played their youth, intermediate, and professional ball in the states. That’s silly. That’s not how you improve. You improve by taking the best players in your pool and figuring out how to make them play together.

      What then about foreign clubs that have US based training clubs and then export players overseas? Ben Lederman was scouted by La Masia (Barcelona youth academy) and taken there at like age 9 or 10. In the states he probably learned the basics, but his development is being done in Spain. Are you going to leave him off your call up sheet because he didn’t play through high school in America?

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    • One could argue that the best way to develop domestic American talent is to surround them with the best quality–coaches, performance opportunities, and peers. I don’t care is one of his parents is from MARS, if he pushes his teammates and those gunning for his spot to a higher level of play that is a win.

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  14. I like the call up! He’s not going to make the World Cup squad, but he will be part of the future that klinsmann is building. It’s something Arena and Bradley never really looked at. Klinsmann has a great ability to make players want to play for him, something managers need to have to succeed as a national team coach!!! USA USA USA

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      • Bradley didn’t have one of the best teams in the world as a second option.
        We all know how this is going to work out, if he’s good enough he’ll play for Germany. If he’s not he’ll play for the US.

      • I would not necessarily say that. I practiced international law in Germany for little bit. I have to say a lot of kids who are of mixed-race, Turkish or Southern European background are not accepted by huge parts of society. There is a lot a tension there and I only left s couple years ago.

      • Or maybe he read the interview with our “Germericans” where pretty much all of them revealed that they never felt fully accepted by either their American or German countrymen.

      • or maybe I actually lived in Germany and witnessed it. Watched and read Angela Merkel talk about about how “multiculturalism is a failed experiment in Germany”, worked in region that is very international/diverse (Nordrhein-Westfalen) and was immersed in the culture long enough to know that those who are there is a significant enough sentiment that those people do not feel completely accepted.

        Listen, I love Germany (especially Berlin), but these tensions exist. However, it is not unique to Germany.

      • ***corrected****
        ….or maybe I actually lived in Germany and witnessed it. I watched and read Angela Merkel talk about about how “multiculturalism is a failed experiment in Germany”. I worked in a region that is very international/diverse (Nordrhein-Westfalen), and I was immersed in the culture long enough to know that those there is a significant enough sentiment that those “multicultural people” do not feel completely accepted.

        Listen, I love Germany (especially Berlin), but these tensions exist. However, it is not unique to Germany.

      • I have worked and lived in San Francisco and now live in Düsseldorf (NRW) and in my opinion there are less tensions over here in Germany than in SF.

      • well..then I guess it’s subjective. I lived and worked in Bonn and Cologne/Koln. While people are accepting, there is definitely a notion that among some people that those people are not really considered German in some parts of Germany. Since you live there, you have to know that Angela Merkel made the failed test a few years ago.

        BTW, do you check out any Fortuna Dusseldorf games? I used to love to go to the FC Koln games. Dusseldorf is nice/beautiful, but I felt there was always more going on Cologne/Koln. Have you checked out Summer Festival/Fair? Around this time of year, I start longing for the Weihnachtsmarkt.

      • That was a mistake by Arena.

        These players aren’t ready at 17 to be playing at that level. A very, very rare number of players are mature enough to play with the big boys–think a Ronaldo or a Messi or a Giggs or Beckham kind of player.

        Klinsmann is putting together teams at multiple levels and keeping the players together. It’s how the big teams have so much cohesion.

      • Arena also wanted to cap Rossi at 16. If only he’d been successful, we might be looking at a team that could be in the conversation regarding potential Cup winners.

      • I think many of us like Rossi and would have loved for him to play on the USMNT. But you are way off to think that he, or any one player, would turn the US team from average to WC title contender.

      • I agree with your sentiment, but Rossi isn’t that good. Not even Portugal with CR7 are in the conversation as potential Cup winners.

      • I think it is fair to say.. that if the Italian version of Klinsman (Paolo Rossi) had been the US coach instead of Arena.. He would have been able to cap tie him to the US.

      • If Rossi had been capped at 16 by the US, he’d have been out of Parma and back in the NCAA system within a year, and would have a few years of slogging in MLS to look forward to before maybe, MAYBE being sold to a European club to fill the MLS coffers.

    • Klinsmann is doing a fine job, but it would be easier to appreciate him if there wasn’t an annoying group of posters who were all over his die mannschaft about how much more awesome he is when, actually, when it comes to results and tactics he’s been about the same as Arena and Bradley (a good thing). Both of them brought in young players and capped dual nationals; including some of the current Germericans.

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  15. Julian greens dad has always been vocal on his twitter about his son playing for the US

    Hopefully this story is true….

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    • +1

      Lichaj is a guy who declared unconditionally for the US. If he had chosen Poland, he likely would be a full-time starter. Boenisch has been awful at LB, and no respectable backup is available. Piszczek, the obvious RB, and his heir apparent (Bereszyński) both have been injured for much of the past year. Have to feel bad for Lichaj. What else does the guy need to do to get even an Alfredo Morales-style taste of the national team?

      Reply
    • I don’t care if this post has logic. I like it.
      Lichaj deserves to be the guy the new comment watch is on.
      Lichaj comment on all boards. Give the kid a call up Klinsman. Dooo it.
      He’s earned it.

      Reply
  16. I’m hoping Arriola, Corona, Morales, Lichaj, Yedlin, Wood, Yarborough, agudelo, and Jide Ogunbiyi. Are either called up in November or January!

    Reply
  17. Great, more Germericans. What’s Klinsmann’s plan to actually develop players here? I guess in the meantime we’ll find some more foreigners with tenuous connections to the US. I know other countries do it too but that doesn’t make it right. I’m not saying someone has to be born and live their whole life in the US, but at least some time spent living in the US would be nice. I’m very happy that Diego Fagundez is looking to represent the US. Let’s develop some more players like that instead of this cynical nonsense.

    Reply
    • Why I agree Diego Fagundez is more of a reflection on the devolpment of the game in the US. The push seems to be for FIFA rules to be changed to where you are born or where your parents were born only and stop nationalized players.

      Reply
    • I was an American serviceman. If you tried to tell me that my son was not an American or only had tenuous ties to our country I might punch you in the face. Of course a child is going to live with his mother if you are roaming around the world in service. When your done with the service do you uproot your child from his friends and school and force him back to the States? I had several friends who chose to stay in Germany when their tours were up. Are they not Americans? Don’t be such a douche, who cares where he developed! If he wants to play for US then that’s ok. If he wants to play for Germany then I understand that too. When did America become the land of the intolerant?

      Reply
      • Exactly. Never understood the consternation about this. How anyone could complain about someone wanting to represent us… I mean do you think that just because someone born and raised her represents us they are Captain America? These are soccer players living a dream. Lighten up frances.

      • john I, DaM: Look, I disagree with slowlefty on a lot of this, but here is one good reason to be concerned about excessive* overseas recruiting: it implies (or proves) that player development in the USA is inadequate. It screams to players living here that they are in a substandard situation.

        Now, that may be true: development in the US may stink. If so, calling up US-trained players (who are less skilled than foreign-trained) isn’t the fix for the problem—that would be ignoring the problem.
        ____
        * “excessive” is of course subjective

      • Nobody cared about this when France when to the Semi’s in 82 and won it in 98′.

        People want winners. And if the guys are US born. That’s all that matters.. That’s more than being born in some protectorate.

      • Both the 82 team and the 98 were mostly French-born. There were only 4 guys on the US team in ’98 that were not born in France (Desailly, Viera, Thuram, Karembeu). However, they were all raised in France. 82

        The ’82 team had more Foreign born players (Janvion, Lopez, Trésor, Larios, Tigana , Soler). However, some of those now independent countries were French colonies when the were born.

        I used to live in France and lived there during the ’98 World Cup, and I remember discussions about this. The French team has always been very accepting of sons of immigrants. Platini and Zidane (2 best French players) are sons of Italian and Algerian immigrants, respectively. The World Cup semi-final or final teams of ’82, ’86, ’98 and ’06 (and Euro winning team of ’84) had a lot sons of immigrants. There was a saying that the ’98 team was “black, white, and berber”.

      • RP: apparently I didn’t make my point clearly enough. My concern has absolutely NOTHING to do with race, citizenship, or place of birth. The concern is about where a player gained his training: in the US or somewhere else?

        This would be a concern even if our entire team were direct descendants of Martha Washington and Abraham Lincoln, born in Gary, Indiana, and raised on a diet of McDonald’s, Wheaties, and Apple Pie. If they had to leave the US (at a young age!) in order to learn soccer, then the US has a problem—not least of which is that many talented kids won’t have the means to move overseas to receive the training they need.

        As for France’s 1998 team: true many were born outside of France or were immigrants’ children, but that is not my point. My point is that nearly every member of the ’98 squad was DEVELOPED in France, even those born elsewhere (Vieira, DeSailly). The only exceptions I know of are Lama (French Guiana), Karembeu (moved to France at age 17), and Trezeguet (born in France, trained in Argentina).

        So yeah, accepting foreign-trained players wasn’t an issue for the French ’98 team because it was practically non-existent.

      • Fair enough.. but echo’ing the subsequent points.. Its a longer process. And arguably, the best way to raise the bar at home is to have a strong MNT. Our worst problem at the moment isn’t domestic development.. only a few countries in the world are world class at this. Our problem is that our world class athletes aren’t choosing the sport. Build a winner and the talent comes and programs develop.

      • Well King, you’re right. Our development is sub-standard right now. There’s no shame in recognizing that we haven’t properly dveloped youth players because as a country we were never trained how to do that. We’re learning now and it will take time to see the results.

      • OPMG, “There’s no shame in recognizing….” Exactly! As long as that is what we are doing: recognizing that when our most exciting prospects are trained overseas, it shows that our domestic development needs work.

        The shame would be to get all excited about Green, Brooks, Johannsson, et al and continue to ignore our problem.

        (On the other hand, the positive spin to all this is that good talent—i.e., talent that other countries want—is choosing to play for the US, which indicates that we are improving overall.)

      • THIS! I am a current service member in the US Air Force. My father is retired US Air Force, my mother is German. I graduated high school in Germany (at the American high school on the military base). I have seen many of these situations. THOUSANDS of service members have married overseas locals and raised dual national children. We are no less American, whether we were raised in the US or not. I only lived in the US for maybe 6 years until I was twenty. We moved to Panama, England, Germany, Hawaii while my dad was serving, lucky guy. I learned to play soccer in Panama, England, and Germany. Who cares where I developed. Bottom line is, I love my country, the US. If I were a professional, I’d want to play for the US. Nothing wrong with any of the “Germericans” playing in my book. Truth is, a lot of these guys aren’t completely accepted in Germany. And don’t ask me why so many German women married African American men, haha! You’ll have to ask my parents.

      • I completely agree. I have many friends whose parent(s) had jobs that had them traveling the world (military, diplomats and multi-national corporations). As I wrote weeks ago, I had a friend born to American parents who never spent more than 2 years in the states before 18. Should he not have played for the US had he been good enough to play past college? Some people, like myself, are dual- or tri-nationals.

        It is pretty naive to make deny someone a place because one parent is not a citizen (we are not the mafia/cosa nostra). If you want to argue about the plight of the US development system, that’s a different course. We have improved, but we are not as good as we should be, but it is getting there.

      • Well said, and thanks for the reply. Yeah, I had a lot of friens like that too. One of my friends had an American father that taught at the American high school on base. He taught in the DoD school system for a long time. He married a german woman. His son, my friend, went to German school for elementary school. He later went to the American school on base where his dad taught. he played soccer for the local German league and our high school. he spoke both languages, had dual citezenship, went to different school systems. he never lived in America. But he was American to me…and German. I relly appreciated his help off base because my German sucks. Who is to say who he should have played for had he made it to the national team level. I have a feeling he felt more American, even though he never lived in America. He did go to college in the States after high school. Point is, it is just a really case by case situation and I am tired of people chiming in and saying who is and isn’t American when they have no idea of what life is like for people like us.

      • Agreed, K-Town! Well said! I think some people really need to broaden their horizons. I too have lived abroad and have a bunch of friends who are dual nationals. Sometimes, I get really offended by people saying someone is not this or that WHEN THEIR COUNTRY RECOGNIZES them as this or that.

      • Well said, no matter where you come from, you are what you are.
        Anyway the US lost a few dual nationals that could have helped, perhaps even more than Rossi, Subotic,”starting defender for Borussia Dortmund”, and less so Ibisevic. etc…

      • “If you tried to tell me that my son was not an American or only had tenuous ties to our country I might punch you in the face.”

        Same here. Amazing that people not only buy into such knee-jerk, black-or-white type thinking, but then also go right on to completely miss how offensive it is (even when it’s their fellow Americans they’re talking about)..

      • “If you tried to tell me that my son was not an American or only had tenuous ties to our country I might punch you in the face.”

        Same here. Amazing that people not only buy into such overly simplistic, reactionary-type thinking, but then also go right on to completely miss how offensive it is (even when it’s their fellow Americans they’re talking about)..

      • I appreciate your service but if your kid lives 90% of his life in a foreign country his ties here are pretty tenuous. Having read up more on Green, his situation is less egergious than some others (such as Chandler visiting the US for the first time only when he was called up).

        Not sure why people get so upset about my comments. All I’m saying is that someone representing the US ought to have at least lived in the US for some meaningful amount of time. Don’t think that’s asking too much really.

      • “I appreciate your service but if your kid lives 90% of his life in a foreign country his ties here are pretty tenuous…”

        Bad assumption, but charge ahead with your wrong-headed assumptions, by all means…

        “All I’m saying is that someone representing the US ought to have at least lived in the US for some meaningful amount of time.”

        Please point out the relevant sections of FIFA’s rules that detail how long some citizen needs to live in his country to play for that country, or how “tenuous” some citizen’s connections can be with that country before they’re ineligible to play for their country. Thanks in advance.

        If as I suspect they don’t exist, and you thus have no argument, please do everyone a favor and stop paying attention to international football. Again, thanks in advance.

      • Well, yeah, other than his parent being a US citizen.

        As far as having to live in the US, that’s the reality of the world now. It is far more globalized with our citizens spending more time abroad.

      • Over a dozen comments thoroughly proving that slowlefty’s assumptions and ethnocentrism are misplaced – still forges ahead with the belief that everybody else is wrong not to conform to what he thinks because “that’s not too much to ask”. Nobody is asking you, international soccer isn’t around solely to please and entertain just you. Get over yourself. There’s no shame in being wrong once in a while.

      • I largely agree though I don’t know if I’d call it “wrong” as much as ultimately just an opinion thing, or a case of clear and basic incompatibility between him and international soccer.

        I mean it would be equally nonsensical after a while if a fan who just loved the European game to death and found what’s played in America to be disgusting nevertheless continued to come on and say how bad the American game is. Or if, say, an NFL fan who thought soccer in general was entirely boring or poorly designed and basically just a bad sport to watch nevertheless continued to come on here and criticize or belittle it with such comments. What’s the point of that (at least beyond some initial declaration that you don’t like it)? Just don’t watch it, then, and move along, if you dislike its very nature so much.

        So in that sense, yes, I’d agree with the statement that “international soccer isn’t around solely to please and entertain just you”.

    • Klinsmann’s job isn’t to develop talent. You don’t really develop talent with a few Fifa dates a year…that is done by leagues, development academies, federations, clubs, etc over several years. His job is to FIND talent, coach it, motivate it, and develop a team. He can do basically 2 things on the improvement of our player pool 1- He find find guys who need international exposure and get them on a bigger scouting radar (this guy is already in the German system and for a huge club so thats not so much needed as it is for some of the MLS guys like Zuzi and Evans, etc) and then send them back to their clubs fired up to work hard and take their game to the next level and 2- Make sure players already in camps and who might feel they are ahead of the 2 and 3 in their position know that they need to always elevate their game and continue to go back to their clubs motivated to improve because at any min some Icelandic kid or kid from Norway or some other kid with a US-German/Brazilian/Mexican/etc background might just get invited to step on the field.

      Once again…this kid is American (and German)….a military parent and even born in the US. What is the cut off? Live until 6 or 16 in the US? He has more then earned an invite…if he feels like he can get some chills when the national anthem plays and loves his band of brothers like Boyd he stays…if he is just doing it for exposure and personal reasons only….I think the rest of the team is smart enough to know if that’s the case and even Klinns wants the team to be a TEAM and he won’t be coming back.

      Compare the pay they get at a club to the risk of some career ending injury with national camp pay….when the rest of their club folks are hanging out with super models on a Fifa date and they are flying to central america to run around in the heat…anyone willing to show up in camp is American enough for me. They will stick around if they are American enough for the rest of the USMNT.

      And Klinns already has shown he has no bias against MLS….he has played MLS players in more key roles then most people expect. He wants players to always play for bigger clubs and bigger teams and be on the biggest stage possible….but if an MLS player is playing better then some guy in Sweden or a Champ League Club in the UK he has shown he can pick the talent and knows while MLS is not top 4 we might still have top 3 talent in our mists.

      MLS and US Soccer need to find ways to spend the next 16 years making sure strong talent is getting found and getting better. Klinns needs to spend the next 16 weeks and getting people positioned for the next 16 months to make sure we have the best team on the pitch.

      MLS > German 3rd…but given his age and his club patch…getting a talent to lock in for the US and get locked out of playing against us is good on its own…and more talent just makes existing talent better. (I am not a fan of locking people in too young if they are not 100% behind the USMNT option…but a camp invite and some exposure to the program..and pushing the others is always good.)

      Reply
    • Cynical nonsense is closing any door to where talet is grown. The area of the world has nothing to do with it.. Let ther ceam rise to the top. Also, look at how players in Europe and South America develope young players. A lot different. Ever been out of the country and seen how teams practice in Europe?

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      • No… they arent. What’s old is that people need to remind other people to stop being ethnocentric morons. The response to said moronicism isn’t rather natural. For most people.

      • It’s my second language…and I read it fluently…and I don’t really know what you just wrote.

        But I will reiterate that the self-righteousness and the nativism are equally annoying and arrogant.

      • +11111. I’m glad that servicemen and their sons are chiming in this time. This whole process the usmnt is going through right now is the way you get over the top as a football nation. Quality and results attract more quality. That isn’t just at the top level but at the coaching and development level as well. If we wanted to remain 3rd tier we could have kept bunker Bob or gone back to Arena.

      • Spain. Brazil.

        Boys, you’ve got your rifle, here’s some protective gear and a bottle of viagra. Leave your guns and kevlar vests here, you won’t need them.

  18. Wasn’t there a kid at Bayern a few years ago who was Captain of their youth team and was eligible for the USA? I think he was born in the US to two German parents. He flirted with the USA U-20s?

    Anyone?

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  19. This would be a huuuge pick up. I want to cap tie him Brooks and Shawn parker. We need to keep building depth. Green and Brooks have potential to be stars in Europe.

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    • Of what, a foreigner who wasn’t born here? Get over yourself. He’s as much an American as me or you. My grandparents emigrated from Germany to America, please show respect for Americans from other countries, jeez.

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      • Dude guys, he’s born in the usa. Dad’s an american sevice man and mother is german. Sadly, they split appart.

      • Stop following the international game, then, if you dislike it that much. No need to follow it in that case — plenty to see on the club side.

      • You are entitled to your opinion. However, I don’t understand why people wouldn’t want a kid who (1) dad is American (2) was born in Florida and lived there until 2 (3) visits relatives in the US routinely when he comes back to visit his extended family in Florida and (4) has a father who is actively campaigning for him to be part of the USMNT.

        This kid has played for both the US and Germany teams at youth levels:

        “Green has played for Germany’s youth national teams at the U-15, U-16, and U-17 levels in non-binding friendly competitions. He even scored for the U-16 team.

        Last September, however, Green was selected by Javier Perez to play for the U.S U-18 team during a series of games in Holland. His debut performance for the United States was against Holland’s U-18 team. Green scored in the 4-2 win.”

        http://americansoccernow.com/articles/julian-green-a-talented-teen-with-ties-to-the-u-s

    • Just so everyone doesn’t go crazy he is playing for Bayern II that plays in the 3rd division of Germany. Boyd played for Dortmund II a couple years ago. A great prospect no doubt but lets not go over board.

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      • I played against Bayern II several times and they are normally comprised of 7-8 U23s all who would dominate in MLS and the rest of the squad was 1st teamers who didn’t play that weekend. OH and Regionalliga is equivalent to MLS. Plenty of World Cup players this next summer will come out of the Regionalliga. In 2006 players from Trinidad, Ghana, Switzerland, and Nigeria came out of Regionalliga.

      • how many other 18-19 year old kids that have American passports are playing for the reserve team of one of the 5 biggest clubs in Europe? I will never understand why people are always so quick to tell others to not be excited about a young up and coming talent.

      • I said he was a great prospect but when you have some who go so over the top saying he is a lock to start in Brazil. All I’m saying is lets wait and see.

      • Is Bayrrn II basically players 24-46 on Bayerbs books who aren’t loaned out?
        Does anyone think this team would crash out of the MLS playoffs if dropped in right now?
        How many goals has this kid scored?

  20. I could see Green accepting the call, but there is NO WAY he actually sees game time and makes the one time switch. He wouldn’t want to cut off all chances with the Germans when he’s firmly entrenched in their future plans

    Reply
    • Ha, if Jurgen says he can have Brek’s place in Brazil he’s ours. (I’m aware Shea is by no means guaranteed a spot but we all know JK would like to find a way to get him on the squad if he can find any sort of playing time before June.

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    • It’s not impossible. He could make full squad as a left winger. Fabian is the only option there that has looked good. If he looks good, who knows?

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    • He would have to file the switch in order to accept the invitation. So he would be cap-tied to the US if he were to join the squad regardless if he plays in either of the two friendlies.

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      • It is the same situation as Johannson. He would have to file the switch to see the field in the friendly. He would be tied to the US if he were to play. He would be permanently ‘tied’ to the US because of the one-time switch paperwork.

      • I son understand why he would need to file the one time switch and why players I the past didn’t need to. Anyone?

      • Each situation is a little different. But Julian played for the German’s U19 team in UEFA qualifying just a couple of weeks ago. That is a “competition” by FIFA rules and that means he is provisionally cap-tied to Germany. He can only switch to another country if he files a “one time switch.”

        I’m not sure what other players you are considering, but most, like say Brooks, Boyd or Mix, never played for their other country in a youth competition — only friendlies. If you never play in a “real” tournament, then you don’t have to file a switch and can play friendlies for any team you are eligible for.

  21. Love it, increases competition and when u mix all these crazy skills in camp, you will have a lot of competition.
    For instance, Mexico will go after mexican americans iin a matter of time. Mexico loves argentine soccer players, look at their recent call ups from 6 to 8 years ago.
    Also, Jurgen will push the national team to a new level and if the dempseys and Donovan keep sucking, them why not bring real soccer players to help and fight for championships.

    Reply
    • Why would you mention Donovan as far as sucking? One so so match after an incredible return to the National team and you’re already trying to write him off…smh

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      • That incredible return is completely overstated by the Gold Cup, and the fact they were playing against scrubs and he was played in Dempsey’s role instead of on the wing. He played well against Mexico but eh against Costa Rica and Jamaica.

      • …say whatever you want about the competition, HE WAS our best player in the Gold Cup, it’s not even close. Donovan can’t help that some of the teams were weak. And nice, you completely ignore a whole regional tournament because you don’t approve of the competition, he comes up big in our biggest game in qualifying and then you describe his last two games as “eh”(I agree he could have been better, but the whole team looked uninspired after we qualified) and your saying that in defense of another post saying Donovan has “sucked”. Bottom line, if Donovan has sucked, that means a lot more players have done more than suck.

      • I didn’t say he sucks or sucked. I said the Gold Cup is an overstatement. The level of competition matters. The position he plays matters. While 2002-2010 are cool and there was no argument that he was our best player. Outside of the Gold Cup which was basically a JV tournament, he has played 10 games in 3 years under Klinsmann due to injuries and sabbaticals. His last 3 games included a good one against the the 4th best team in CONCACAF, a so-so game that we lost 3-1 to the 2nd best tea m in CONCACAF and a game he was so poor in that he had to be subbed off at half against the 6th best team in CONCACAF.

        There is nothing incredible about his return outside of the Gold Cup. I don’t think he sucks, but I do think the gap between Fabian, Bedoya, and Donovan is small if there is one at all.

      • Hmm, Fabian perhaps on his best day, but Bedoya?! Absolutely not, makes me question your judgement if you think there’s even a comparison there.

        If you’re looking for another front man that can create real offense you’re going to be hard pressed on the squad to find someone that can bring close to what Donavan brings. Eventually Bacon has a shot, but he’s our best right now, don’t kid yourself. And Bedoyas one weak-a$$ move (sprint the sideline, cut into the middle far too early, get lost and lose the ball) ain’t it.

      • Bedoya’s work-rate and defensive marking is far superior to Donovan and Zusi. I’ll agree that both are better offensive players, but as long as Evans is right back, Bedoya is needed. If you don’t believe me, re-watch the Costa Rica game.

      • I think you are only looking at it from an offensive point of view. Bedoya is the best RM when it comes to defend and continue possession. There is a reason why JK is going with Bedoya at RM.

      • Bingo!!! +1000000000000

        He plays as a VERY GOOD support striker for Galaxy and at the Gold Cup, but as a wide midfielder he has been a little suspect. I think if the World Cup started today and everyone was healthy the midfield would be Fabian Dempsey Bedoya and I don’t see him taking Fabian or Bedoya’s spot unless he goes on loan and plays well as a winger or JK moves Fabian to LB or RB.

  22. I think what Klinsman is doing is trying to push American MLSers as much as anyone (his insistence that MLS players go on loan/stay active). Bayern Munich he could be playing on the first team in Champions League in the next few years (if he keeps developing).

    MLS is still improving every year so eventually it may become a smaller separation the two continents.

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  23. I hope this comment section doesnt plunge down the same path as the JAB ones did. Hope this kid makes whatever decision is right for him

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  24. Wooten-Boyd-Green
    FJ- JJ- Chandler
    Brooks-Williams
    that goalie that appeared in the paraguya game two years ago

    almost have that 10 man Germarican squad complete!

    Reply
  25. Will be interesting to see if Lichaj still doesn’t get a look while 18 year old 3rd division German players are. Green looks like a great prospect but our right back situation still needs to be figured out.

    Reply
      • So you think breaking into Bayern’s first team is the same as breaking into the first team for Forest? It’s not the kid’s fault that their U-23 team plays in the 3rd division. He also seems to be doing quite well (13 goals in 14 games.)

        The kid is 18, could be one of the best prospects on the planet, and a dual citizen. Klinsmann needs to grab him a lot more than Lichaj. They aren’t really comparable.

      • I never said I have any problem with calling Green in. However I’m not as worried about forwards at the moment as I am about starting Brads Evans at right back next summer.

  26. This is nothing more than just poaching a young player from the German set up. He’ll play for the last 2 minutes of a match and clinch his eligibility for the next phase of his careeer. We wont see him again for another 2-3 years.

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    • Never know. We need impact wide players, if he were to somehow break in to the first team this season and get any kind of minutes and perform decently, you’d have to think that would bolt him over Shea or any other fringe wide player (not including Bedoya in that bunch, he’s separating himself it seems).

      Reply
    • You take players, now matter how or where they were developed. Just because he didn’t come out of “our” system doesn’t mean he shouldn’t represent our country.

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  27. Nice. Such a big decision for him though, to make that commitment just for a friendly. However if he turns out to be the real deal he’ll always have a better chance to be a big part of the team with the US than he ever would with Germany, even if he breaks into the Bayern senior team.

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    • Not necessarily. All that is being reported is that Klinsmann is supposedly going to ask him to come to camp. But in order to enter a match for the US (friendly or otherwise), he would have to file that switch. He could also come and just hang out and train with the team and not file the switch.

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    • I don’t think he has ever taken part in a FIFA competition at any age yet, so he should be good to do whatever he wants without having to apply for a switch.

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      • He played with the German U-19s in an official game I believe. He would have to file a one-time switch, and after that, he would be cap-tied from that.

      • Ahh…missed it. Yeah, well I like the others said, if he even comes I am sure it will just be to train a bit w/ the team not actually play in one of the matches.

      • Yes, he played for Iceland’s U21 squad in UEFA qualifying. He had to file a one-time switch before he could play for the US.

  28. His dad is on twitter and is his biggest fan, while making it very very clear how much he wants him to represent the US — I think he includes #USMNT in every tweet about him. Obviously the kid can make his own decisions, but I was still surprised to see him with the German U-19s this month.

    Reply
  29. Awesome. I like that Klinsy is working towards the future. Yeah it would be nice to have some more talented players come though the American system, but the truth is we don’t have the resources to develop top talent.

    Reply
      • Resources are not always monetary. Kick the English UK coaches already here is the US out and bring in the German’s!

      • Caleb Porter is coaching the MLS Timbers VERY successfully by using German soccer tactics – control the ball with short passes, apply continuous pressure and use various offensive strategies to create goals. So, we need to get US coaches to use these modern soccer coaching techniques.

      • No offense Adi but the Germans and Caleb don’t have a patent on that style of play.
        But Porter has made a good statement for college soccer “coaches” (I didn’t say college soccer) and that they can coach.
        JK has a ton of knowledge of the German system and has not done anything to develop a system of player development here

      • Good for you Peter! The most intelligent post I have read on any soccer blog.
        These British pirates do nothing for the game over here and are just self serving.
        I know 400 of them and all but 3 could care less about

    • And the dual citizen, foreign-trained one require recruiting unlike the ones “stuck” in MLS for now. But we do need better coaching/scouting to bring out the better players in our current pool.

      Reply

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