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Ancelotti: Julian Green “will get chances” in upcoming Bayern games

julian green

Julian Green’s impressive performances for the U.S. Men’s National Team has seemingly caught the attention of Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Bayern’s league match against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, Ancelotti said that the 21-year-old will make his Bundesliga debut “in the coming games.”

The Italian tactician also feels that Green’s best position is at center forward, and that he’s spoken to Jurgen Klinsmann about his development.

Green could make his debut as early as Saturday against Eintracht Frankfurt, but with a Champions League game versus PSV on Wednesday followed by a crucial league match at Borussia Monchengladbach three days later, the American could feature at some point this month.

The forward has not played in a Bundesliga game for Bayern’s first team. He has made three total appearances in all competitions for the club since 2014.

 

Comments

  1. What I find exciting is that for the first time the USA’s coach will not be forced to pick the best 11 players and move them around to try to find some way they can mesh. Instead there are now multiple players 23 and under who could arguably improve upon the US starters at virtually every position in the next year or two.

    There are at least 15 players under 23 who have a better than 50-50 chance of becoming mainstays on the roster over the next couple years. Of course, some of them will fail to improve, but others may do very well. And then there are those kids of whom I am unaware that will force themselves into the conservation.

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  2. When determining a player’s best position, I think it makes most sense to first identify the traits you want in that position. Does Carlo want his CF to be physical, to hold possession, to win contested headers? Or does he want his CF to run off the ball, knife through on the counter, pull defenders out of position, and attack low crosses?

    If he wants the latter, okay; I can see him in that role. If he wants the former, I don’t see Green as a good candidate for that position unless they’re playing another forward beside him who can do the hold up play and connect passes to the midfield. If he’s expecting Julian to play as a lone hold up forward, I don’t think he’s ever going to break through. He might get some courtesy minutes and a start or two but he will be so underwhelming that the coach will have no choice but to say “See, I need more players. Go buy me a true CF.” Maybe that’s the plan, to convince ownership that the cupboard is bare and they have no true backup for their danger man.

    Everything about Julian’s physique and his play screams that he should play on the wings or underneath the target forward. Though, he must be pretty bad at that shadow striker role to not even get a look there, especially with Muller being ineffective and the team seeming to have no one to backup that position.

    Whatever the case, it’s a near certainty that he won’t be considered for either striker position for the US. I love seeing him competing on that squad, but for his sake and ours he is best served to leave sooner rather than later.

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    • Lewandowski is more the run through the lines than a target forward and that is generally how Green was used in the preseason matches he played in. It is generally agree that Bayern will be looking for a forward at the break, but it seems Ancelotti wants to at least have one more look. Muller has been playing a wider role this season, not the underneath role he played for Pep, which might also relate to his struggles.

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  3. While the future is looking very promising, it’s one thing to shine against Cuba and New Zealand compared to Mexico and Costa Rica or in the WC. Let’s not anoint these guys until they show they can take the higher level of competition. Pulisic has shown it, but the others haven’t yet. Also, I think we shouldn’t ignore Morris who has a lot of potential, too. It certainly will be interesting to see how things shake out in the next couple of years.

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  4. “The Italian tactician (Ancelotti) also feels that Green’s best position is at center forward” (Klinsmann I hope you read that too!!!).
    Staying on the roster of Bayern “win all the time” Munich says a lot about the skill and work ethic of Green.
    USMNT needs to stop playing around and deeply incorporate and structure the team with Brooks(Hertha Berlin), Hyndman (Bournemouth) Carter-Vickers(Tottenham Hotspur), Zelalem (Arsenal), Gooch(Sunderland), Green(Bayern Munich) and Pullisic(Dortmund) in the mix.

    Green and Pullisic, without a doubt, have proved their worth and level of play on the field, without acknowledging the fact that they are both fighting for first team minutes on the two biggest clubs in Germany.

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    • No offense. That is a borderline naive statement. Players play were there is a fit/gap in their teams based on their team and individual talent. Pep saw him more as a winger. Is he wrong?

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      • No offense taken Anthony….but if a tactician and coach for a team like Bayern Munich, currently coaching a player, says this particular player’s best position AT THE MOMEMT is center forward then I think its right to say, regardless of what Klinmann or Pep SAID, he is a center forward (I may not know more than Pep about the CURRENT Bayern Munich team but Carlo Ancelotti does 🙂

      • I don’t think things have changed that much in three months, different managers just want different traits at each position. It might also have something to do with Ancelotti realizes he doesn’t have any other CF to back up Lewandowski and he has like 2,000 wing players, whereas Klinsmann has 2 solid CFs, a promising youngster and a serviceable vet, and much less depth of true wingers.

    • We’re already seeing the young players integrated into the team. Brooks, Wood, & Pulisic are basically inked into the starting XI at this point. Green, Gooch, & Morris are raising themselves into real consideration, and are likely to be 1st choice subs in November. If Green & Gooch see consistent minutes with their clubs they’ll likely be starters before the end of 2017.
      Hyndman & CCV are getting close, but in order to move into real consideration they need games. I expect that they’ll start receiving calls to the Sr. National team in late spring/early summer 2017.
      Zelalem is a bit further away, but if he somehow gets into the Arsenal 1st team and gets rolling there he’ll get chances.

      I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see nearly all the players you’ve mentioned on the WC team come 2018. They may not be starters, but they could all be there. The one exception IMO is Zelalem. I just think he has to much ground to make up on others until after 2018.

      The talent level in the pipeline is really impressive. We’ve got players in some great situations.
      Pulisic & Gyau @ BvB, Green @ Bayern, Zelalem @ Arsenal, Hyndman @ Bournemouth, Lennon @ Liverpool, CCV @ Tott, Brooks @ Hertha, Akale @ Villareal, Wright @ Schalke, etc…. The potential of the 2022 team is Incredible. Whomever we get to coach us after 2018 is going to have some real talent to select from.

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      • Hyndman is still pretty far, he hasn’t even sat the bench in a league match and has only seen two sub appearances in the League Cup which they were eliminated from. Although the situations of US players are looking better, there are still quite a few did not dress or did not plays every week on the abroad rewind.

        I hope we see some of these players in next Summer’s Gold Cup. Of course with the late tournament in July will playing Hyndman, Green, Zelalem, CCV hurt their chances of breaking in with their clubs during preseason.

  5. Ancelotti may believe that Green’s best position is Center Forward, but that is not one of the greatest needed for the USMNT. Player versatility provides a massive advantage to the player and the team they’re playing for. If Green can succeed as a forward and a winger than it’ll increase the his opportunities to get playing time at both the Club & International level.

    If Green really begins to receive minutes with Bayern this season I think we’ll see a significant youth movement within the USMNT attack. We’ve already got Wood & Pulisic making waves…
    If we can add Green & Gooch to the equation we’ll have an Incredibly young and energetic attack.
    I’d love to see something along these lines by the time we get to the World Cup….

    ——————————Wood————————–
    —Green—————Gooch——————Pulisic—
    ———–Williams(?)————–Bradley—————
    –Fabian——-Brooks——-Cameron—–Yedlin(?)–

    Subs: Zardes adds size & speed for either wing or striker
    Jozy/ArJo/Boyd/Morris to add a 2nd striker or modify the striker approach
    Bedoya to add a more defensive presence to close out the game
    Nagbe provides a spark off the bench if needing a goal.

    IMO if Yedlin doesn’t begin to reclaim his form soon Chandler may win the starting RB spot.
    Williams plays as a #8 with Bradley playing more as a #6. Both are high energy guys who’ll cover a lot of ground and allow a high press & cover type of play, they also add to the attack from trailing runs or shots from deep.

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    • don’t forget about Paul Arriola…….he seems to be coming along really nicely and it’s surprising he wasn’t featured much in the friendlies considering he scored in both of the last 2 qualifiers. The youth movement is definitely ramping up at the right time and hopefully the boys can continue to progress with their clubs over the next 2 years.

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      • I like Arriola and think he’s a good player. I just think he’ll remain a fringe player through this cycle. IMO Pulisic, Gooch, & Green are more talented and are competing in better leagues. Bedoya & Zardes bring more experience and greater defensive ability. That’ll leave Arriola as the guy who’s destined to be just outside the 23….who’ll be used as an injury replacement it something happens to the 5 ahead of him.

    • Respectfully…

      ——————————Wood————————–
      ————————–Green————————–
      —Gooch——Hyndman——Bradley——Pulisic—
      –Fabian——-Brooks——-Carter-Vickers—–Acosta–

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      • That’s a possibility, I just haven’t seen enough of Hyndman yet to believe he’ll be ready for that type of role. I’d love for Hyndman or Zelalem to prove me wrong, but time is running out for them to make the progress needed to claim a starting spot. IMO Nagbe & Williams are well ahead of them.

    • Not sure how Jozy gets relegated to the bench after one bad game (and it was a stinker). Wood has not scored for Hamburg since early September and has only 3 goals for the US this year despite being a consistent starter this year (Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Costa Rica). If you are just trying to get younger you included four players who are older than Altidore.

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    • I think everyone has forgotten about our newest player to select in early 2017 Kekuta Manneh. If He keeps developing from a mental perspective and from a consistency standpoint we will have some very serious speed on this team mixed with some players who have better technical skills that the US has never had. Come 2022 we could be the dark horse team that no one will wants to play. Hope Kekuta comes back strong from his injury. The Whitecaps pretty much folded once Kekuta got injured.

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  6. “His best position is centre-forward.”- Ancelotti

    Interesting. I wonder how a Wood/Green tandem would work. He fills a greater area of need for us at LW, but do we really deny a CF playing for Bayern’s first team his best position? Got to admit, Jozy was pretty frustrating to watch these last two games. This coming from a Jozy fan.

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    • Usually. physiologically, early to bald means extra testosterone in the tank. That’s a good thing in a forward / midfielder. If I was his stylist – I would recommend the baby Bradley / Dalai Lama look. Shave it brother, like a monk. You are destined for greatness. Stay humble. Work hard. Shine, shine, shine.

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    • Not really surprising. According to stats supposedly the vast majority of men will bald or experience balding at some point. Out of those, the lucky ones will experience it later and the unlucky ones usually in their early 20s the balding will begin. There is nothing natural that can be done about it. Male pattern baldness is like height, that story is already written in your DNA the moment you are born. If I remember correctly I think Wayne Rooney was already super bald while he was still a teen-ager. Rooney found himself a really good hair transplant doctor though. LeBron James went the same route. This is a good omen for USMNT fans because balding players have been good for us: Donovan, Bradley, Brooks, Howard, Guzan, Keller, Beasley, etc. I’m sure there are more.

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      • What are you? 12 years old? What sort of comeback is that? Who asides from the most insecure people places value on fame and money. Oh wait maybe he’s taller and younger than me!!!! That must be right. Get out of here with your stupidity.

        Before you talk about talking smack about Green, why don’t you go back and look at previous Green postings and you will see that I am one of his most ardent proponents. I often proclaimed that he will come good and can still be a star.

        Secondly, he is a PUBLIC figure. You play for the national team, you are a public figure. A picture was posted and his picture shows a 20 yr old with a severely receding hearline. It is not a big deal, but it is what it is.

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