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Green scores winner in Bayern Munich friendly

JulianGreenBayernMunich1 (DFB)

By FRANCO PANIZO

It may not have have officially counted, but Julian Green’s game-winning goal is sure to give him some confidence ahead of the second half of the Bundesliga season.

Green got on the scoresheet in the first half of Bayern Munich’s winter friendly vs. Sudanese outfit Al-Merrikh, setting the tone for a 2-0 victory on Thursday. Deployed alongside several first team starters, the young dual national netted when he received a pass on the left side of the penalty area and struck a low shot to the near post. Green started and went the distance.

Bayern Munich, currently in first place in the Bundesliga, returns to league play on Jan. 24 when they visit Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Here is the goal:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYvYbOvwLCY?feature=player_detailpage&w=600&h=360]

What do you think of Green’s goal? Believe he will earn more playing time during the second half of the season? Hoping Jurgen Klinsmann can convince him to accept a call-up soon?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Big mistake by Tab Ramos not calling him to the Under 20 World Cup last year. He would have been tied to USA and would have required a one time switch to even play a friendly with Germany. Now its the other way around.

    Reply
      • Well, considering he was likely going to be on the bench with the new Belgian midfielder Roma just signed. He could have stayed and fought for a spot on the team. In the ESPN article he said “He never felt like an important player on the team”. Going to MLS and be looked at as a star player sounded like a better option.

      • yep. He could’ve stayed and fought for a starting positions and a better contract down the road.
        Maybe being a well paid starter in a substandard league was his goal all along. Not everybody has the balls for the big time.

      • Great players earn their respect if he is as talented as USMNT fans make him out to be he would’ve proven himself.

      • By George yours must be gigantic to take such a definitive stance in a subject that you know nothing more than what web pages tell you. Not trying to be vulgar but your attempt to emasculate a young man because he chose to live a life that doesn’t meet your…large…expectations.

        Face it, like many fans in the world your lust for MB to play in Europe is so that you too can brag about having an American player playing in Europe. It has nothing to do with your understanding of what it means to be a pro playing anaywhere as you have no first hand knowledge of what being a pro player means. JK does and that’s why he picks the guys who do the business, regardless of where they play.

        In a WC year you want MB to waste his time trying to prove to a coach who just paid lost of money for another player that he was wrong doing so? Then in that effort maybe waste what – one of maybe 4 total WC chances ever? Yeah that might take big…stuff…but there has to be some argurment – no matter how small – for brains as well, no?

      • * ” Not trying to be vulgar but your attempt to emasculate a young man because he chose to live a life that doesn’t meet your…large…expectations is oversimplified…at best.”

      • USMNT fans vastly overrate our players when they are simply decent but not “World Class”. I don’t know how many times that term has been thrown around these message boards. A player that can execute a decent pass does not make him World Class. American fans are so obsessed with having a World Class they think any player who performs well in a few games is going to be our Messi, this is not always possible. I could care less where he plays his game at the end of the day he’s getting paid to play a kid’s game and make millions of dollars. We have people doing real jobs like fighting wars getting paid for way less there actual sacrifice. Klinnsmann wanted his players to play at the highest level and he considers that to be Europe. He told Dempsey and Altidore to challenge themselves to improve in a much more difficult environment that being the Euro leagues. Unfortunately, neither Dempsey or Bradley wanted to grind it out but “hey” that’s okay at least they can play in a league in their own country.

      • If Klinsmann really wants to stand by his words then I guess he has to start the only American with a goal, and or assist in champions league this year.

  2. I honestly think Bruce Arena is better at the X’s and O’s than JK. But . . . getting good players is more important than tactics. This is where JK pays off . . . he can talk to Green.

    Reply
    • Unless one manager is a quantum leap better than the other guy, being better at X’s and O’s is not that much of an advantage in soccer.

      Once the game starts , the only influence he will then have is with the three subs.

      The important stuff, getting the players organized and mentally prepared, etc., etc. happens mostly before the game. That includes getting better players in the first place.

      Reply
  3. JK needs to throw Green a bone…

    “I will put you on the WC 2014 roster if you commit to the US” or something like that…

    Reply
      • man… are you serious? at 19 player for Bayern, Green is better than half the USMNT roster that will go to brazil…

        you do what you gotta do….

      • And what you don’t gotta do is disrespect every other player on the roster. If individual talent was the key to the game, Ronaldo and Messi would alternate WC titles.

        Spoiler alert: it’s not.

      • Considering he has played zero professional league games, I’d say that’s an insane statement by someone who thinks anything European is automatically better.

      • No question his game will keep growing… Taking him to Brazil is the only way to cap him, otherwise he might just commit to Germany.

        Who’s to say Green can’t help the US team beat Ghana, Portugal or any other team in knockout phases?

        Tell us why Donovan, Dempsey, EJ, AJ, Boyd, Altidore, Gomez, Bedoya, Shea, Castillo, Torres, Zusi, Gatt, Fabian Johnson, etc, etc. are NOT playing for Bayern?

      • Guardiola played him in a Champions league game and Pep is a pretty good judge of talent. Sorry, but Bayern has a much stronger squad than the USMNT and Green keeps getting call ups to play with their first team.

      • Better than half the roster? Green hasn’t even played a senior international game yet. Although he could already be better than a few players this we do not know until his performance can be appropriately analyzed.

  4. I can’t believe JK is going to take Brek Shea to Brazil instead of Green.

    Can’t wait to see Shea get 3 minutes mop up duty against Germany, instead of bringing Green along for the WC setup to start the path for 2018 and cap-tying him to the US.

    Reply
    • Green hasn’t even made that many starts (if any) in the Bundesliga yet. While I think Shea is an average player he has been a part of the USMNT for a while now and has experienced the international game.

      Reply
      • I would take Green to Brazil over Shea in a hearbeat, if we can cap tie him. Green has a potential to develop into a world class player. Why do you think Guardiola keeps calling him up at 17 to Bayern’s first team?

    • If Green gets named to the US roster, he will already be tied to the US because he will have to file a one-time switch. That’s why it’s a much harder decision now. If he didn’t have to switch, he would have played with the US against Scotland or Austria.

      Reply
  5. The only way he doesn’t choose Germany is if he cannot break into their national team. Green has been raised in Germany most of his entire life (sure Jones, Johnson and Williams too) and has learned his game there. He is playing with the biggest club in Germany and if he continues to impress will eventually find his way onto Die Mannschaft.

    Reply
    • It’s always a tradeoff… Get to the NT faster with the US, without the same cachet as Germany, OR bide your time to get into the German setup. Impatience plays a part (ask John Brooks). If the WC were a year later, it might be a slam dunk to join the US. The path of least resistance is with Germany right now and any decision to switch to the US will be permanent.

      Lots of people predicted Aron would never join the US, so don’t assume a young player with only 1 or 2 shots at the WC will pick the logical team.

      Reply
    • Terrence Boyd lit it up for Borussia Dortmond II, played in preseason games, etc… with them but never made the full jump. You didn’t mention him, but of course you know that he also grew up in Germany, yet I think only Brek Shea can match his enthusiasm for being American…

      Reply
  6. Take it easy on the headline. He scored the OPENER, not the winner.

    Hopefully this will spark his desire to come play in the MLS, because that seems to be the smart move for good Americans abroad.

    Reply
    • JK needs to have a few Germaricans text and call him to let Green know that the US team is where he should commit. Then Jurgen can call him up and tell him we’re still looking for a winger for Brazil. If Pep Guardiola keeps Green on the first team and he starts playing as a sub and starts non-league games and shines then why wouldn’t he be considered for Brazil? Those are a few a few IFs but still weirder things have happened like Robbie Findley and Ricardo Clark playing in WC matches.

      Reply
      • Schurrle?
        Gomez?
        Klose?
        Ozil?
        Goetze?

        They play a rotating midfield/withdrawn forward spot. They’re unbelievably stacked up front.

      • of the names you mention, only Klose (a million years old) and Gomez (who never plays because he’s always injured and was jettisoned by FC Bayern) are true strikers. The others are attacking midfielders/wingers, who, yes, sometimes play as false nines. But they are not bona fide forwards. Right now, after Gomez and Klose, Max Kruse is a true forward and third on Jogi Low’s depth chart. Low does not like Kiessling and recently reportedly told him he does not have a snowball’s chance in heck to be called up for Brazil. Germany is desperate for young strikers.

      • Touche! Green is more similar to guys like Reus and Julian Draxler than to a traditional striker like Gomez or Klose.

      • Julian is just 18, reallisticaly he would have to wait until he is 22-23 to get a chance with the senior german squad, by then Klose is going to be retired and guys like Kiessling and Gomez will be over 30 years old, Germany is an amazing squad but they aren’t really as stacked as you may think, who knows? maybe Julian will be a much better player than Schurrle and close to Gotze, that would be enough to make it to the german squad.

    • I’d guess the better he does at Bayern, the closer he gets to a look from Germany. His desire to stay in the German youth program instead of coming to US camp seems to indicate that he would prefer Germany, if the opportunity arises. So yeah, I think each goal he scores for Bayern puts him further from committing to the US.

      It’s a catch-22. If he doesn’t play that well and Bayern cuts him loose, we’d have a better shot at him, but less interest. If he does play well and makes it big at Bayern, we’d be super excited to have him, but less likely to get him.

      Reply
      • I’m not sure his staying in the German youth program indicates much of anything. Because he started in the German youth program he needs to file a one time switch to play for the US which would lock him in. Where as he can still gain “national” team experience playing with the German youth team without committing to Germany. He may just be an 18 year old kid who isn’t ready to make a decision yet.

    • He might be our Julian Guzman or Owen Hargreaves. Just legitimately better then what our national team is, and will play on a team that can contend for a WC

      Reply
      • Owen Hargreaves…. “will play on a team that can contend for a WC.”

        I chuckled. England… contending for a WC.

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