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Chandler nets winner as relegation-threatened Nurnberg grab first victory of season

Timmy Chandler Nurnberg (Getty Images)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Zero wins in more than half a season.

That was the situation FC Nurnberg found themselves in heading into their first game back from the Bundesliga’s winter break, but a goal from Timmy Chandler helped change that as it set the tone for an emphatic victory.

Nurnberg picked up their much-anticipated first win of the campaign on Saturday, overwhelming Hoffenheim, 4-0, at Grundig-Stadion in their first game of 2014. Chandler netted the winner in the first half of the match, scoring his first of the season on a deflected shot that skipped just inside the near post and sent the home crowd into a frenzy.

Chandler also contributed defensively, going the distance at right back and picking up a yellow card in the cleansheet win. Fellow German-American Fabian Johnson started and played 45 minutes for Hoffenheim, leaving the game because of a hand injury.

While the victory was Nurnberg’s first in what has so far been a miserable season for the club, it did not pull it out of the relegation zone. Nurnberg are in 17th place on 14 points, two shy of the relegation play-off spot and three from safety.

Here is the goal:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqvgdos5UcU]

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What do you think of Chandler’s goal? Should Klinsmann call him up to the March friendly and get a closer look? Hoping Chandler makes it onto the World Cup squad this summer?

Share your thoughts below.

 

Comments

  1. @Good Jeremy: Yes, you are correct on grammar. And, yes, GW does tend to needlessly condescend. Irritating, isn’t it? But I guess we should expect that from a genius and be thankful for the wisdom 🙂

    Anyway, just wanted to note that Chandler was not doing fine with the USMNT even before the article came out. Before his debacle in Honduras in February 2013 and the Russia friendly in November 2012, he had not played for the USMNT, I think, for over a year. Had been snubbing all of Klinsmann’s invitations and also was conducting a heavy-duty PR campaign to try to get Jogi Low’s attention for a call-up to Germany. There were some stories in the German press with Timothy seeming to make light of his snubs to Klinsmann, like, ha-ha, look at me. I am turning down the great Jurgen Klinsmann.

    I do agree with you that a major undercurrent of the March 2013 (seems like yesterday) mutiny story was Klinsmann’s perceived favoritism for the German-born players, and probably a huge chunk of that centered on Chandler. Basically, from the very beginning, Chandler has been a problem (even going back to the Bof Bradley days) and it is not surprising that now that the USMNT has qualified for the World Cup with others carrying the burden and doing the dirty work and just five months until Brazil that Timothy Chandler all of a sudden change his ways and promotes himself as a totally committed to the USMNT in the hope of being gifted one of those 23 precious slots.

    Trouble is, his injection into the USMNT equation could be bad for team chemistry, and we all know how important that is. The Gold Cup team last summer in my mind was a model of perfect team chemistry and the senior team the past 6-9 months appears to running mostly smoothly chemistry wise. Does Klinsmann risk that by bringing in Timothy Chandler? We shall see.

    Reply
    • Agreed, the report said that the German players isolated themselves from the rest of the group, etc. Somehow I don’t see Terrance Boyd or Fabian Johnson isolating themselves or having attitude problems. The problem now is Timothy chandler is obviously our best RB, do you call him in or play with a makeshift defense?

      Reply
      • I agree, that Terrence and Fabian have shown total commitment and from all appearances seem to be totally accepted and well liked by all members of the USMNT.

        As for Geoff Cameron, during the past five months playing in the best league in the world against world-class competition, he has proved himself beyond a shadow of a doubt to be the best right back in the USMNT player pool. Don’t really see how anyone can call using top right back Premier League talent like Geoff Cameron a makeshift defense.

        I did not see the Hoffenheim-Nurnberg game yesterday so cannot judge performances. But, if it is correct, that Chandler had a good day, then one good day after 18 months of mostly average to bad performances does not mean that he is now in top form.

        Let’s not forget that Gertjan Verbeek, current Nurnburg coach and Jozy’s old AZ coach, was not satisfied with a long string of Chandler’s performances before the winter break and was quoted in the German press saying he would like to bring in a right back in January “who makes us better.”

        (Last Paragraph)
        http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/596829/artikel_wechsel-zum-club-kirchhoff-hatte-noch-keinen-kontakt.html

        Yeah, so would be premature after 18 months of bad form to now proclaim that Timothy is in good form. Let’s see what happens in coming games. Can he build on yesterday’s performance? Or was it just a one-day blip? And as already noted, team chemistry also has to be considered and if bringing in Chandler would inject bad destabilizing vibes in the locker room then Klinsmann will go with other options as Geoff Cameron’s back-ups, such as Brad Evans, Parkhurst, Orozco and Lichaj, all of whom are are totally committed to the USMNT and eager to endure long boring sleepless flights to wear the shirt and they are appear to be liked by other members of the USMNT members and would provide good chemistry.

      • It is disappointing that you think so little of the USMNT players and their professionalism.

        The evidence available to us so far is they have been nothing but welcoming to all the other players even though they are all competing for a very small number of available slots.

        Either that or they are good at playing well together even if they secretly, or even openly, hate your guts.

        Should Chandler be brought in I assume it would be because he has displayed such good form that he cannot be ignored. The USMNT players are pros and one thing about pros, if the new guy clearly makes the team better then there will be little room for argument.

        So the suggestion that “chemistry” issues, as in the guys will be resentful if Chandler is brought in and it will hurt the team’s performance seem groundless to me.

        Besides, the SN article, a net positive for JK, suggested the presence of such factions. If true, then that is great as it proves that the factions have little if any negative effect on the team. The US has lost one competitive game since the article came out and that was most probably because MB30 unexpectedly disappeared 5 minutes before kickoff.

        Chandler has proven that if in form he is the best right back in the USMNT pool. At this point if Dolo comes back, he is unlikely to be at his best. Cameron is inferior to Chandler as an attacking player. And for JK, his fullbacks must have as much of that component as possible. And Chandler has shown he knows how to shut people down.

        The real “chemistry” issue is that Chandler has not proven that his best can be translated to the USMNT under tournament conditions.

        Chandler missed the Gold Cup. He has not played in any of those two in a row, 4 days apart games; the simulated tournament condition games. And Brazil will be a tournament where all those off the field distractions and conditions will be considerable. JK has spent a lot of time getting everyone used all that.

        Chandler did not “travel” well to Honduras and I do not see where he will get much opportunity to prove he can handle that aspect before the WC. So as good as he may be, that ship might already have sunk.

        That’s the big risk with him.

      • Chemistry does play an important factor…not sure you recall how talented teams from the netherlands always underachieve at world cups and european championships….south africa notwithstanding…

        in fact one of the main points made about the netherlands during 2010 was the fact that for the first time they were getting along and playing as a team…

        so while yes, we would like to think that professionals will just shut up and play….when it comes to national teams, chemistry is just as big a factor as talent

      • SD,

        It is great that you bring up the Netherlands who are as world class ability in soccer is exceeded only by their world class ability in backstabbing and whining.
        If backstabbing, self-centered arrogance and prima donna behavior translated directly into talent on the field then the US had better never face the Netherlands.

        You are absolutely right about chemistry. Of course that is a concern and JK has been very vocal and very perceptive about it. But it is clear JK and more importantly, the player pool, has a handle on it.

        For example, JK did not drop Howard when Guzan was clearly playing better.
        Having seen Timmy’s putrid 2010 World Cup and knowing his history, he knew that Howard need to be pushed and would likely respond to Guzan’s challenges.
        Howard is a team leader and my guess is he probably realized that Timmy would probably be a locker room cancer as a backup. Now that he has stuck by Timmy and let him fight his way back to form he has a #1 keeper and a #1A keeper in Guzan who is a better back up that Timmy ever would be since he is much more used to it. Had he dropped Timmy he might have lost him altogether.

        That showed me that JK knows how to handle these sorts of things.

        biff, who does not rate JK’s managing skills, thinks the USMNT players can’t handle the relatively minor personnel issue of Chandler, should he be brought in.

        I respect both JK and the players more than biff does and think they could handle it just fine.

        In Bradley’s days there was clearly much more of a divide between the chosen few and the grunts.

        Clearly JK has made it a little more even across the board which was what that whole song and dance with LD was all about. If you will notice even LD is now spouting the company line about everyone’s job being in in peril and how much better that is.

        It seems like the players are all clear that anyone can be cut or brought in and JK is in charge of the locker room.

        There may in fact be a nationalist prestonzimmerman faction in there and maybe the Germans are sticking together and maybe the locker room is divided along racial lines. If so that was true before the Sporting News article which hinted at locker room unrest.

        And if true, that means these factions have not stopped the team from getting the job done since they have lost only one competitive game since then. And if MB20 does not turn his ankle I doubt they lose the Costa Rica game.

        You don’t have to love these guys or have them good enough as people to be worthy of marrying your daughters or sisters but they do have to be professional enough get along well enough to win and they seem to be doing a good job of that.
        So if Chandler does come on board this team has shown itself professional enough to indicate they can handle it.

  2. I’d like Chandler to show more commitment. Everyone raves that is so much more talented than our other options, but did anyone watch his last game for us vs Honduras. Timmy was terrible! If that’s the Timmy we take to Brazil we are in trouble. Period.

    Reply
    • I was thinking the same thing!!

      He coached Jozy and if I am not mistaken was MB90 coach as well.

      It’s hard to miss his qualities as a coach.

      Reply
  3. I’m not trying to spread random rumors about Chandler, but he seemed to be doing just fine with the national team until an article came out nine months ago detailing a lot of drama with the national team. This was about the same time that we were struggling early in qualifying and a lot of people were questioning if Jurgie had any idea what he was doing.
    The gist of the article was that there was significant friction in the locker room because a handful of unnamed German-Americans weren’t committed to the US and were only there because Jurgie played favorites.
    The team went on a tear after the report came out, and I don’t think Chandler has been called up since that article was reported. Come to your own conclusion.

    Reply
    • GJ.

      “the report came out, and I don’t think Chandler has been called up since that article was reported. Come to your own conclusion.”

      That should be “jump to your own conclusion”. Correlation is not causation.

      You’ve conveniently ignored the fact that the “report” came out after Chandler put in a putrid performance in the worst game of the JK era. The kind of performance that gets you dropped and perhaps run out of town had it been for a club team.

      Reply
      • Thanks for the English lesson. If we are being needlessly condescending, the period should come before the quotation mark at the end of the quoted phrase.

        I’ll stick with my gut on this one. I doubt that Chandler gets dropped for nearly a year because of one bad performance. The rest of the team was also playing horribly at that point, so why wouldn’t they get dropped too?

      • I think Chandler was listed to be called in a couple times but he somehow got “injured” walking off the field. Klinsmann just got tired of whatever games him or the club were pulling and decided it wasn’t worth it.

      • Since Honduras Chandler has not really not played well enough to get called up until recently.

        Other factors to consider are that Nuremberg have been in trouble all season and that Verbeek has called JK an A++hole.

        No love lost there.

        Besides if you think JK was bothered by that article, which was a positive thing for him, then you know very little about JK’s history.

      • Mr J,

        You are criticizing my punctuation and grammar in response to my criticizing your ideas?

        I’ll take that trade every time.

  4. I wonder what we would look like in a 3-5-2 with Chandler on the right and Johnson on the left. Beasley and Castillo could spell there on either side as well

    Reply
    • I think that would be extremely interesting. Bradley and Jones playing underneath Donovan in a more advanced role? Altidore up top with Deuce floating around working his magic? Cameron, Besler, and Gonzo on the back line.

      Sadly, I’m not sure we’ll be switching tactics any time soon, but it’s a fun thought experiment.

      Reply
  5. Rough day for the Hoff keeper!

    I expect Chandler to be in the Ukraine game and we will see after that. It would be unfortunate to see a guy like Brad Evans loose his spot to Chandler…

    Reply
    • Why? Because he’s a hard worker and super committed to the shirt and even more a vastly less accomplished and inferior player.

      Yeah. It would be unfortunate that the better player was chosen.

      Reply
    • waiting to see him in an upcoming friendly! Klins will be putting the best (in form) 11 on the field so if Chandler keeps it up he is in good position. Nice goal and hope to see Chandler continue his strong play.

      Reply
    • JK has given no reason to believe Cameron will be used at RB. The difference between Cameron and Omar or Brooks is too great to move him.

      Reply
      • Nate

        That was against Austria the second of two friendly matches a couple of days apart.

        Evans started the first one against Scotland and was replaced late by Lichaj.

        Cameron started the second one and was replaced late by Lichaj.

        One could be forgiven for thinking it was a pre-determined rotation.

    • While I’m excited about yedlin’s future and I love his overlapping runs, the dude would get burned at the WC. His main nock against him has been his defense and playing teams like Portugal and Germany? That’s a recipe for disaster.

      Reply
    • I think lots of questions will be answered by our roster against Ukraine. It’s in Europe and an official date so whether or not TC (or Gooch, LIchaj, Ream for that matter) are in JK’s plans will be evident at that point.

      Reply
    • I don’t know. Klinsi won’t ignore form but he’s usually pecking order minded and there’s little time to reverse that. Plus I think it’s dangerous to pick people based solely on a few games worth of streak when you have an established team. You might put a striker on the team on that basis because it’s a productivity spot. But backs whose down-ebb would not only be off form but maybe cost you goals? That’s risky.

      Reply
  6. Chandler definitely deserves a call up based on his performances, but we know Klinsmann won’t. Now we’re stuck with the likes of Evans and Parkhurst at RB.

    Reply
      • Where has Chandler been? USA finished the top of qualifying w/o the lad. Dream on Klinsy makes a switch now.. yeah gooch is in too…?

        lolz

      • Yeah Brad Evans was adequate… against teams like Panama and Jamaica. Too bad out World Cup group doesn’t include those powerhouses of CONCACAF. Chandler plays RB in Germany, whereas Evans doesn’t even play RB for the Sounders in MLS… who faces weekly competition at RB more closely comparable to the national teams of Germany, Portugal, and Ghana in your opinion, genius?

      • Evans is a little bit of a dark horse although I’d prefer Chandler. But Parkhurst is relatively immobile and tries to get by on soccer IQ. Like Spector without the crossing.

      • Chandler – misses Gold Cup and plays in games in the Bundeslinga
        Parkhurst – makes Gold Cup and doesn’t make the bench for games in Bundeslinga.
        Anyone think that he actually did the smarter move? He is playing and looks like a good candidate for the USMNT RB. The Gold Cup screwed over a lot of USMNT players. Brek Shea misses preseason for Gold Cup and doesn’t dress for Stoke. Joe Corona loses starting spot in Mexico after going to Gold Cup. Stuart Holden gets injured playing in the Gold Cup. Onyewu gets injured in Gold Cup.

        While we all like to think that the USMNT is the most important team to play for, you make a living off of your club team. Maybe Chandler was just looking to further his club career. His coach has been on his tail lately, maybe over the summer the coach told him he needed preseason.

        Chandler is a USMNT player. There are no other options for him. He has been quoted saying that he wants to play. All this talk about him hating play is so extreme. I understand he was confused at age 21 whether to represent the USA or Germany, but he made his decision. He committed to the USA. Let’s call him in now and see if he says no.

      • Donovan was getting the Klinsi motivational treatment, I think few among us actually believe he stinks. Castillo gets burned too much.

      • Who ever That_Guy is get’s a +10 for Pele.
        A very good observation regarding Gold cup versus club.
        Yes and it would be good to have Timmy back. If I recall correctly Chandler was one of the first German Americans to join USMNT this century. In fact I believe it was Bob Bradley who fist capped him.
        It is great to see him fit and in form again.
        Remember Honduras?, Everyone played below their standard, but Timmy looked like he was lost in the Mosquito Coast. In the end Timmy is a truly talented R-Back who attacks and tracks with real ability.

      • Its strange how often the guy starting every week at right back in the Premier league is left out of the discussion.

      • Who’s forgetting Cameron?, He is a lock, and is our defensive jack of all trades. RB/CB/DM etc. He will most probably start all contests, however maybe not always at the same position.

      • Cameron is more athletic than he is bright. If you put him together with Parkhurst you’d have a complete player.

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