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SBI Question of the Day: What should Julian Green’s next move be?

Julian Green appears to be in no man’s land once again as the U.S. Men’s National Team winger is reportedly out of favor at another club.

Reports recently emerged from Germany revealing that Stuttgart could move on from the 22-year-old winger. The reports come just eight months after Green moved to the Bundesliga club, giving up what always appeared to be an extended pipe dream at German giant Bayern Munich.

Following the reports, Green’s agency, acta7, told ESPN that the winger’s “goal is to get playing time. That’s his focus at the moment and he expects to get his chance”. He could very well stay and fight it out at Stuttgart, much like he attempted to at Bayern Munich. Things change over the course of a season due to injuries and the various peaks and valleys of a Bundesliga campaign. This could very well be a minor early season blip.

Or it could be something bigger and, at 22, Green’s luxury of being a young player is suddenly nearing its end. Should he move, there are always options. At the end of the day, Green has a World Cup goal to his name and several strong performances for Bayern Munich in his back pocket. No matter what you think of him, the talent is there, even if it hasn’t been fully unlocked for whatever reason.

He could very well stay and pursue something in Germany. Stuttgart is towards the lower rung of Bundesliga sides, making it unlikely he stays within the top division. He has, however, shown an ability to play in the 2. Bundesliga, where he made 10 appearances and scored one goal with Stuttgart last season. If he can accept the drop in division, the 2. Bundesliga could be a good place to rebuild his confidence, which should be his main goal.

Green could also test the waters elsewhere although, once again, a jump to a top league is unlikely. He could look towards a more attacking league like the Eredivisie, which has helped plenty of attackers not only find their confidence but develop a more deadly attacking game. There are a number of leagues that are still of good quality that could offer this type of step.

Or, Green could truly look at himself and realize a year or two as a very big fish in a smaller pond could do a world of good. Green could become a focal point instead of an accessory, earn the necessary guaranteed playing time to revive his career and then go from there. The Scandinavian leagues have long been a solid home for Americans and a good launching pad for several players that truly needed it.

The long-shot? There’s always MLS, even if a virtually insurmountable amount of moving pieces would need to fall into place. It would be a good move for his national team career, sure, but what kind of money would he command? Would teams be ready to move real assets to sign him? Would Green even be willing to give up on Europe entirely?

With that said, SBI wants to know what you think. What kind of move would be best for Green’s career? Should he stay and fight or try and find something with more guarantees? Vote in today’s poll and share your thoughts in the comment section below.

[polldaddy poll=9815005]

Comments

  1. How about Liga MX? Teams like Xolos or Santos, who are always looking to attract the English-speaking audiences, would be a good fit for Julian’s technical skillset. Would like to see him in a red and black Xolos jersey. It’s more competitive league than MLS and he would still be close enough to Bruce Arena’s eyes.

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  2. Not to inject too much reality in the discussion but two pivotal factors I see are that Stuttgart owns him and unless they tear up his deal and let him go on a free transfer, that affects his likely destination(s). Go down that list and ask, are you going to pay 6, 7 figures for him?

    Also, for both him and AJ the question is, at this length of time out in the wilderness, to what degree do national team considerations factor in. If you wanted USMNT the ideal low risk choice is really MLS. Higher % chance of playing and better exposure to Arena. If they have lost interest or started to see themselves as European pros again, there is little point in MLS and they decide whether to stay within Germany or seek out some less tricky perch in Holland or England.

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    • Problem with the MLS is that I think the transfer window closed about a week ago and the only way to bring someone in now is on a free transfer, i.e., out of contract. Otherwise they have to buy him in January and then he wouldn’t play for several months. BTW, you can’t really equate Green and AJ. AJ proved himself in Denmark and Holland, and his main problem in Germany was injury. If he’s fit again, he might be able to get on a club in France or similar in Europe. With Green, he still has no real professional resume. He needs to play to build up a resume, thus he needs a lesser league than the Bundesliga.

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    • another dose of reality is that it looks like the new sporting director at stuttgart is the same one that got rid of him at bayern. not saying that green is blameless, just that stuttgart’s decision might not be the “final nail” that some are trying to make this—it could just be a tough bit of luck for him.

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  3. He should go to Barcelona since small players seem to do well there. I’m sure they can use a 22 year old player with no top flight experience and a bad attitude.
    His agent need to make it happen by the weekend so he can Starr this Saturday.

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    • So you feel like enough time has passed since the Rafa “I’m a front for a drug lord” Marquez news to start posting here again? Because let me tell you, it’s not…

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  4. Someone mentioned this on the article from yesterday but mid table La Liga team or high table Portuguese team may fight his size best. Spain is a place where smaller CFs seem to do well ala David Villa and Greizmann, even our old boy Rossi. Maybe a mid table team like Sevilla or Villareal would be a fit or a higher level Portuguese side like Porto or Benfica. His size might fit there 😉

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  5. I think if he went to a decent club in Holland he could score around 15 goals in a season. I wrote here that Jozy should go to a miod table team in the Bundesliga from Alkmaar instead of to the EPL and did he listen? No. I’m tellin’ ya, the Eredevisie is his best bet.

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    • And another question–where should AJ go? He really needs playing time so he’ll probably have to move, too. They only have about 8 days, so can’t waste any time.

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    • Not the worst choice for either player, although one caveat that Arena seems concerned with team defense so going to play for some 433 team that’s ok with 6-4 linescores might not necessarily help unless you score like 20. Arena’s going to want to see you will give chase and hassle your man as much as the next guy.

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  6. Yawn. He wasn’t hyped as much as Freddie, but it came pretty close. Then he scored a goal in the WC that was mid-hit so badly it had backspin. He needs a check-up from the neck up and prove he can play 1st division ball somewhere before I’ll care.

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    • I have to admit I really have a tough time putting any energy into following Green. I knew nothing about him before JK made him famous. The circumstances by which I was introduced to him were very much less than auspicious. After the WC all I heard was that his first team wasn’t taking him seriously enough and that he declared that he shouldn’t have to play with lesser squads. Even now three years later, it seems that he doesn’t want to put the work in to raise his game enough to get to the first team.

      Is there a reason that I’m missing as to why I should be invested in his future?

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      • Same. I’m fairly indifferent to him. His hype train wasn’t even one tenth of Adu, but many on this board started to pencil him into the USMNT 23 after he played half decent last fall against SVG and another CONCACAF minion. I’ve just never seen him perform consistently, at any respectable level.

        I don’t think all this SBI hand-wringing is warranted. I guess it’s just click-bait because it drudges up old Klinsmann hate…?

  7. I think he needs more than a league change. He needs to change his position. He gave his best as a center forward in preseason for Bayern. He is not fast enough or strong enough to be a true winger or true striker, but his technical skills and eye for goal would serve him well as a CF. he would do well in that position in the 2. Bundesliga, in the Championship, or the Eredivisie, all a step up from MLS. Though I do think that an MLS team would pay designated player money for a young guy trained at Bayern if he took a loan and proved he could put balls in the back of the net. Also, he would gain a lot of experience like that, which is what he needs. Scandinavia will not help him progress.

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  8. Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Spain. Better he stay and fight for his place or loan to another Bundesliga 2 team until January because moving to a new country requires adapting to a new language and culture, outside of just playing football.

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  9. “Or, Green could truly look at himself and realize a year or two as a very big fish in a smaller pond could do a world of good”
    Where would he be a big fish in a small pond? An American college? I doubt it.

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