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Julian Green shows maturity, confidence in USMNT’s draw with New Zealand

Photo by Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports
Photo by Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports

WASHINGTON – Highs and lows are part of every player’s career, especially young ones.

Right now, in this moment, Julian Green is enjoying a high.

Four days after scoring a winner and helping set up a goal for the U.S. Men’s National Team, Green found the back of the net again in a 1-1 draw with New Zealand on Tuesday night. It was mostly Green’s own doing that led to his opening strike in the 27th minute of the match at RFK Stadium, as he collected a headed flick from Jozy Altidore on the left flank, took on a defender before cutting in, and unleashed a low right-footed shot to the near post.

It was not just the 21-year-old winger’s tally vs. New Zealand that impressed many observers, however. Green looked a much more confident and capable player than he had in most of his recent international outings. He stayed active and involved over the course of his 78-minute outing, oozed confidence while repeatedly going at players, and wasn’t afraid to pull the trigger when he had a chance.

The complete body of work of Tuesday’s shift was another step in the right direction for a player who had endured his share of tough times since emerging onto the scene by scoring at the 2014 World Cup. It, combined with his performance in last week’s 2-0 win over Cuba, was also a sign that a young player still finding his way as a professional is growing.

“Julian Green is back in the picture. I think not only (by) scoring today, but overall in training sessions,” said U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. “He’s becoming more mature, he’s becoming stronger, he’s far more confident. It’s really nice to see his development, so that’s one big plus over these 10 days.”

“The way he presented himself these 10 days, actually from the first training session on, we said, ‘Oh.'” Klinsmann added. “He made a big step forward. He becomes more of a personality. Again, he’s still very young, and I think always when you deal with that age you’ve got them the ups and downs and just hope that they mature over time.”

Green being able to make such an impression on Klinsmann during this international break should encourage U.S. fans. The youngster could have easily laid an egg and proven to be not up to snuff in this October camp given that he has not played much at the club level for Bayern Munich this season. In fact, he has just one 24-minute appearance to date, and that came in a DFB Pokal game back in August that was well decided before he entered the field.

Yet there Green was on Tuesday, looking like one of the Americans’ more dangerous and in-form players despite his lack of first-team minutes in recent seasons.

“That’s what I went through and every young player goes through: When you rise from 0-to-100 and then all of a sudden you don’t find yourself playing that much for whatever reason,” U.S. midfielder Danny Williams told SBI. “Of course Bayern Munich is big, but I can only give him compliments. He showed to the people and the manager that he wants to be in this team. I think he had two amazing games against Cuba and today against New Zealand, and we’ll see what happens in the future.”

What could be in Green’s future as a result of his recent play for the U.S. is a call-up for next month’s much-anticipated showdown with bitter rival Mexico. The Americans kick off the final round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying in November by hosting the Mexicans at Mapfre Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and Green has tossed his name into the conversation for the roster Klinsmann will put together by showing well and scoring in these two friendlies.

Earning minutes from here until then at Bayern Munich would surely boost Green’s chances of making the cut, but beating out stars like Frank Ribery and Arjen Robben for German Bundesliga time is not all that realistic.

It might also not be all that necessary for U.S. inclusion. Not when the maturing up-and-comer can stand out as much as he did on Tuesday.

“They are some of the best players in the world, so I can learn from everybody there,” said Green. “I feel that I learn every day from them, so if I come here I know how it is to train at world-class level.”

Comments

    • Our resident critic of cleanliness has been absent for quite some time. I’m sure he’s busy formulating criteria for acceptability.

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  1. Green did well in these 2 matches. He was consistently dangerous down the flank and had a handful of decent shots on goal to go along with his 2 goals. He’s always had the skills to be a productive member of the squad but lacked the experience and maturity. I’m glad to see that he’s really starting to progress. However, before he can truly advance his and the US’s play he needs to get consistent minutes at the club level. Consistent minutes will sharpen his skills and his read of game situations, allowing him to be more effective.
    Until he’s getting consistent minutes he’ll likely be a 3rd option to his primary competitors/piers Pulisic & Gooch who are already rotational players for their Clubs. I look forward to watching these 3 talented & versatile players continue their progression with club & country.

    On a side note did anyone else find Twellman’s comment on Green forever being known as the player who replaced Donovan on the 2014 WC Squad Condescending and inaccurate? Wondo and/or Davies were the players who likely took fat Donovan’s roster spot. Both played the roles that LD was accustom to playing….and both were significant disappointments. Green was brought to gain experience, and was actually successful while on the field.

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    • You can throw Mix into that conversation, who took the 10 jersey, didn’t see the field for a single second, and currently can’t crack the 18 of his MLS side. Anyway that decision is completely on JK, you can’t hang the blame on Green or any player.

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    • Even though this take on the situation has been pretty much debunked many times, people believe what they want to believe and bring it up every so often. Doubt it will ever go away completely.

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    • Lost in Space and Gary, you are both incorrect.

      Lost, you are mistaken because Twellman didn’t say that Green took Donovan’s spot on the team. I remember that exchange pretty well during the game. Darke was talking about how Green has been often criticized and then Twellman said something along the lines of “and it didn’t help that many people assumed Green was given Donovan’s spot in the WC roster”. He was simply acknowledging the narrative that is out there, but not arguing for it or against it.

      Gary you are incorrect because that has not been debunked at all. Only way you can think that is if you choose to believe the ridiculous JK lie that the way he saw it, Donovan could only play forward and that Green could only play midfield. We all know that’s bull. In reality you can say any one of these players took Donovan’s spot on the roster: Altidore, Dempsey, Arjo, Wondo, Davis, Green, Mix, Zusi, Yedlin and Bedoya. Notice that Green is on that list.

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      • Sorry, but you are mistaken. A replay is available on espn3.com. Shortly after Green’s goal, Twellman said, “”Listen, Julian Green for the rest of his life will be remembered as the player that replaced Landon Donovan on the World Cup Team.”

        He doubled down on it about a minute later “And I’m going back to it. He was a kid. And Ian, immense pressure on Julian Green replacing Landon Donovan on a world cup roster.” “

  2. This kid is gonna come good! If/when he adds about 10 more lbs of muscle he will be something to contend with. His IQ is there … The technical skills are coming on too … now the physical maturing that comes from hitting the weight room and playing regularly could do him wonders over the next 4-5 years.

    Die Wunderkind

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  3. Bayern has two games each of the next three weeks, so if there is going to be a time to get any minutes you would think it would be coming up. Rumor was Bayern was going to look in the January window for a back up to Lewandowski so its seems now or never for Julian. Oddly over the next three weeks they have home and aways with both Augsburg and PSV.

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