Fabian Johnson’s run of goal-scoring form continued on Saturday against the German Bundesliga’s top team.
Johnson scored the third of three successive goals for Borussia Moenchengladbach, which claimed a 3-1 victory over league leader Bayern Munich. The loss was Bayern Munich’s first of the 2015-16 Bundesliga season.
The U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder’s 68th-minute finish all but sealed the three points for Moenchengladbach. Darting down the center of the field, Johnson was picked out by a long ball from Julian Korb just behind the Bayern defense. Ruled onside, Johnson drove towards goal before finishing past Manuel Neuer with a right-footed shot.
The goal was Johnson’s fourth in three games across all competitions for Monchengladbach, which now sits third in the Bundesliga. He now has four league goals and six overall this season.
Check out a video of Johnson’s finish below:
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Another awesome performance. The first goal, FJ pass to Wendt, Wendts pass and then shot was incredible
To the commentors who bring up Jurgen.. This has nothing to do with him!! I would have played his at rb too, Brad Evans,Spector or Yedlin were your only other options. FJs recent form has nothing to do with what happened two months ago in Pasadena but entirely with BMGs new coach. All credit to Schubert!
FINALLY someone who understands, Yes, FabJo has played winger before, and done well. Even played the final Euro U-21 game as a midfielder, and won. But he has never been seen as anything other than a utility player, capable of filling. Massive props to Schubert for putting his trust in FabJo.
Definitely making the Bundesliga more interesting.
exactly. everyone was so thrilled to have FJ serving as a fullback for us because we simply don’t have any other solid options. now FJ is tearing it up in midfield and everyone complains about JK playing him out of position?! can’t have it both ways.
i think everyone would agree that, at this point in time, having him in midfield would be ideal. but we need options at fullback. when we lost Shea, Chandler and Garza, things got tight. hopefully we can get them back, as well as someone like Villafana, to give us some depth so FJ can move up.
Seems to me ever since JK called him out he has been on fire, maybe JK knew he could play better and pushed his buttons alil
I had noticed the same thing. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but I am reminded of something similar in my personal experience. When I was in college my freshman year I thought I was doing okay and then a professor called me in and kind of did the same thing with me, telling me I should do a lot better. I realized that I could do better and ended up raising my GPA considerably. Sometimes you need that and it may be that is what FJ needed to elevate his game to another level.
Midfielder Klinsmann…..He is a PROVEN midfielder and not a left back.
You do realize this is the first time EVER FabJo is being run out as a midfielder/winger consistently. Prior to this season he has predominantly played as a fullback, and used as a utility winger when injuries/tactics (i.e. needing a winger with good defensive qualities to shut an opposing player down) dictated it.
JK is at fault for playing a few players out of position, but this is not one of them. NO ONE has ever thought FabJo could play up front consistently.
amen. there are multiple articles on this site over the years where everyone is saying FJ should be our fullback. either side. the truth is FJ is simply our best player at RM, LM, RB, and LB.
Proof that Klinsmann is a jackass.
Let’s close our eyes and remember the WC play-in between Sweden and Portugal. Had Ronaldo or Zlatan asked to be subbed off without injury I’m fairly confident their respective coaches would have been outraged. And had a reporter asked why they were subbed out I’m again fairly confident the coach would gladly explain why
I believe Scott e Dio93 is referring more to JK’s tendency to play FJ, and many others, out of their best positions.
I think SeD93 is being a bit unfair here. True, JK has (never?) barely used the same formation once, which I think is a problem, but JK is also working with much less quality than even previous USMNT coaches in earlier cycles have had to work with. So JK, in my opinion, IS trying to find that “magic formula” for each player. It just so happens that Fabian Johnson has really turned it on lately, and in a more attacking role, and I think we will see him almost exclusively in this role for the USMNT now.
Maybe SeD93 did mean the dropping FJ incident, but I think here it refers more to his being played in FJ’s less-preferred positions.
Memrook. Fair enough. But either way it’s unwarranted criticism. How can people say “this player can play multiple positions which is an asset” then turn around and say “the coach is terrible because he plays player X at different positions”…… (Enter nick young confused face meme …)
Not to mention Scott has a track record on this board of making irrational claims/criticisms.
Admittedly I’ve been away from SBI forums for a while, so I haven’t quite caught up on all the new personalities.
I will agree that while I have been highly critical of the USMNT’s recent performance (who honestly wouldn’t be?), I have a difficult time laying all the blame at JK’s feet. Is he a tactical wizard? NO. Is he even tactically sufficient? Maybe not as successful as implementing a system and getting his players to buy into, like BB was.
However, I stand by my earlier sentiment that JK just doesn’t have the talent that coaches like BB and Arena had. We had more players plying their trade in Europe, learning in a more intense environment and testing themselves at a much higher level than MLS (if anyone disagrees about MLS and it’s competition relative to leagues where results truly matter, i.e. pro/rel leagues, then I am sorry that we will disagree on almost anything related to soccer in America.)
Getting off topic, so to bring it back. FJ is a good player, and right now, arguably America’s best/most in form player. I hope he stays healthy and continues his form. We will need him to be at peak level in order to help USMNT throughout qualifying.
Regarding JK’s use of players, I was reading an article just yesterday about how Pep Guardiola has now gone 100 games without playing the same lineup twice in a row. Guardiola said that it is good for team harmony and morale because players know they always have a chance to play. Also, it fosters competition in the team. Guardiola has had some success, so maybe he knows what he is doing.
gary page,
(a) pep’s success at bayern is debatable (hence the ongoing rumors of him leaving). yes, they’re cleaning up in the bundesliga, but that’s not all that unusual. they’ve also had an enormous amount of injuries, so i doubt that the constant lineup changes are completely what he’s desired.
(b) club management is different than international management. bayern’s players play together almost every day. u.s. players might not even see each other for 11 months out of a year (depending on cups scheduled). obviously, fostering chemistry between players in certain lineups is going to take a little more effort in klinsmann’s case.
Nate, I am very aware of the differences and the nature of the national team means that Klinsmann has even less continuity than does a team manager like Guardiola, so that he is even more required to change lineups than Guardiola is. And your other comments approach fatuousness—the implication that injuries making changes necessary over 100 games? Ridiculous. And you pooh pooh guardiola’s achievements as manager? Yes, he has had excellent material to work with, but he has achieved better than predecessors at both Barca and Bayern did with pretty much the same teams. Not too many managers have won a treble, including the CL championship with two different teams.
“so that he is even more required to change lineups than Guardiola is”
the simple fact is that klinsmann has changed his lineup more than he was “required to”.
and i wasn’t talking about pep at barcelona, where he obviously achieved everything possible (pretty sure he didn’t change lineups as often, either). at bayern, he has certainly not achieved more than his predecessor heynckes (yet).
my biggest problem is basically with your entire hero-worshipping argument of “pep does it, so it must be right!”
using FJ as example of JK playing people out of position is a bit silly given how versatile he is. notice where his run came from? center midfield! not the left. and the goal he scored last week? from the right.
FJ is equally comfortable at LM, RM, LB, and RB. JK needs to keep him in midfield and allow him the freedom to move around, but the guy can play on either side. and in the right system, where the fullbacks overlap and push high, he fits in perfectly.
JK has certainly played people out of position, but FJ is a bad example.
Nice run of form he is on! BMG as a whole seem to be in a groove once the pressure of the UCL was taken away
Thought Neuer could have done better, but kudos to Fabian for making a great run. He was involved in the two other goals as well.