Top Stories

After repeated snubs, Klinsmann didn’t bother calling Chandler this time around

MNTHCS20111011241

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

After repeated attempts to call him into the U.S. Men’s National team this year, only to be turned down on more than one occasion, It appears U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has grown tired of Timmy Chandler’s unwillingness to commit to the U.S. national team.

Chandler’s absence from this month’s U.S. roster is not because the fullback denied a call-up, but rather because Klinsmann did not offer him an invitation, sources at Chandler’s club team, Nuremberg, told SBI on Wednesday.

Chandler told SBI last month that he was open to receiving a call-up and getting cap-tied to the United States during the October qualifiers, but Klinsmann apparently did not deem it necessary to select the 22-year-old fullback.

That Klinsmann ignored Chandler for this coming camp may not be entirely surprising given that Chandler has rebuffed call-ups from the U.S. head coach in the past, not to mention previous coach Bob Bradley. Still, Chandler not getting selected when he said he was publicly open to doing so now means he cannot be cap-tied to the U.S. until the 2013 Gold Cup or World Cup qualifiers.

Chandler and Nurnberg have endured some struggles in the German Bundesliga in recent weeks, but whether that is part of the reason for the snub is not clear at this time. What is clear is that the Chandler saga is still not yet over and it won’t be for quite some time.

What do you think Klinsmann not calling in Chandler? Is it the right move given how many times Chandler has turned down call-ups in the past? Do you even want Chandler on the U.S. national team at this point?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. This is a crucial time in WC qualifying, it is not the time to bring in untested players (like Alan Gordon) and play mind games with players who have formed the core of your team. And why hasnt JK brought in replacements for Donovan and Shea? The US absolutely has to get 4 points from the next 2 games and anything that detracts from that is stupid. Klinsmann is doing things that do not help in that regard and may hurt. Things you are talking about, like toughening up, etc., are long term issues. We have a short term problem that, if not overcome, makes all the long term issues meaningless for the next 2 years.

    Reply
  2. I agree with most all of what you say. I don’t see how any of Klinsmann’s moves this week help the team win the next two games. That’s the bottom line.

    Reply
  3. …..that was in the passed Ramin and I see what you are saying but players grow and improve. For right now they are playing really well and at a very high level. Both player just didn’t defend well, but contributed on offense too…..thats what we need on the USMNT

    Reply
  4. He did not snub Chandler. Chandler said no to getting on board so many times that Klinsmann has left port, and I, for one, hope that boat has sailed for good. This gnashing of teet over Chandler is beginning to sound like the same crap that went on re: Rossi deciding to Italian instead of American. Get over it, already.

    Reply
  5. because the guy is a cancer. He’s not respecting the coach, he waffles on his commitments, he’s immature.

    Dance with who brung ya.

    Reply
  6. People need to realize that playing for the national team is something you should really want, something you should wear with pride, like a badge of honor, a turning point in you soccer career. To call you up repetitively only for you to say no, with multiple excuses? Other players fight tooth and nail just to be selected for camp, why should Klinsmann stoop down to chandler. Just for him to say no again? If chandler or his agent doesn’t reach out to klinsy behind closed doors we can do without him.
    As far as Altidore, he’s the best striker we have, hands down and is red hot with his club, but he is not producing for the Nats for some reason. You can blame the midfield but that’s not going to change anytime soon, especially with Becks in the middle. In a way its nice to send a message to him, to Dempsey, to Donovan, to Howard….that your place on the team is not permanent or guaranteed, that you need to find that 6th gear and you have to be hungry for every game, every practice, to give 110% all the time, to chase on ever play, track back when you loose the ball, that you place on the team is not based on passed accomplishments but the present…..that each and every player, MLS or Abroad base, regardless of where you play, has to fight for his place on this team. Maybe things will change after this qualiying

    Reply
  7. But how does the act of him constantly turning us down and us constantly “calling him up HELP out team?

    Is he good? Yes. Does he have potential? Boy, does he ever. BUT in the end JK has to manage a TEAM – the team of players who are at this very moment fighting to play for us (who also have club duties and lives of their own).

    To address your ealier post, if Chandler would have come this time if asked (which the track records says was a fat chance) then he would have gottent a “cool, now let’s rebuild this relationship” from me. I wouldn’t have jumped around the room going “whoooo hoooo” because a guy who has not been straight with us has all of a sudden decided that his word means something. I’m not hating on the guy, or having a go at you, but the argument that his talent and/or potential is worth destroying what we have now just does not work for me. Bird in hand…bird in hand.

    Reply
  8. Disagree. From what I’ve read on YanksAbroad, he was a “constant threat” at right wing. Then again, I would also like to see Gatt in the team. Does he really exist,or is he a phantom phenom?????

    Hoping we’ll see Xolo Corona over Klejstan.

    Reply
  9. I can’t stand Chandler. He says one thing to the press in English (sheepishly wanting to play for the US but is too tired blah blah)then totally another thing in German to the german press (how he feels more german than American (hint hint Löw)). Grow a pair and declare.

    Reply
  10. Good thing people like you aren’t in charge of anything. Klinsi said what that was insulting to Jozy? That he expected more from him? No coach has ever said that about any player ever. What a harsh, embarrassing criticism. Jozy probably couldn’t face the public after that. Also, he didn”t criticize the scoring; he even admitted there were less chances; he wasn’t happy with Jozy’s effort in other areas of the game, which strikes true with me at least. Finally, I assume you mean “grovel,” not “gravel.”

    Reply
  11. Can we stop following this guy until he actually appears for the US again? It just seems silly to waste time talking about a guy who doesn’t even want to play for the Stars and Stripes.

    Reply
  12. I think you’ve summed it up nicely. Maybe Bradley had more time to deal with these issues, or maybe he was willing to ignore them. Klinsy is not in the same boat.

    Why bother to cap-tie Chandler if he hasn’t been willing to play in the past? Just because he’s cap tied doesn’t mean he actually has to say yes to a future call up. If he’s too tired or the flight’s too long when he’s 21-22 years old, guess what – he’ll only have more excuses as he gets older, gets injured, gets married, has kids, etc. Look at Cruyff in ’78 – he was no longer hungry for the WC for whatever reason and Holland went without him.

    Reply
  13. Yeah and then what do you do when you are counting on him and he decides to reject a call up? He is a player who has rejected them in the past and is a guy you cannot rely on. You can’t win games with unreliable players.

    Reply
  14. It’s great that they played well for their clubs, but I’ve seen both on the international level several times and they stunk. Also it’s not tough to defend in all offense league like Mexico. All you have to do is be well positioned and make an effort to defend.

    Reply
  15. You do not pay him all of that money for ‘new ideas’. You pay him all of that money for results.
    You can pay all kinds of consultants for ideas….coaches get results, period.

    Reply
  16. On the training camp ‘that Jozy wanted to be at..” I think Jozy could have served his case better if he had trained on his own, instead of enjoying drinks with his buddies in the Caribbean.

    Reply
  17. He’s been called in to be cap-tied going on a dozen times and turned down the call each time.
    He isn’t interested in playing International Football right now, unless perhaps (and this is conjecture) it is with Germany.
    But he’s turned down a Gold Cup and the WCQs and a couple of friendlies along the way. Let him decide if he wants to play, keep the channel of communication open…but don’t call him in until he is ready to commit to the grind like the rest of the team.

    Reply
  18. ….thats because you didn’t see Castillo play in Tijuana vs Toluca…went 90 mins, was a menace on the left wing. In the 56th minute, he skillfully passed three players in his own half, drawing chants of “olé” from the crowd in the Estadio Caliente. He also drilled the ball in the net on the 68th, but the effort was correctly ruled out for offside(with a team that is currently no.1 in mexico).
    ……Parkhurst was a beast in the F.C. Nordsjælland vs Chelsea game(UEFA cup)causing problems for Moses and Torres for the full 90 mins, overlapping and contributing on offensive.
    Castillo and Parkhurst are currently fit, in form and playing at a high level.

    Reply
  19. that is an interesting thought, DCP. Just like the original Benedict Arnold, who apparently after he left the American Continental Army and defected to the British was never completely accepted by the British :-), it is highly possible that Chandler’s PR games to get Jogi Low’s attention did more harm then good, especially after a string of German news stories after he snubbed Klinsmann’s invitation for the Jamaica games. And in the past two weeks Chandler on the field has fallen apart, flop of the matches in a couple of games and Nurnberg has lost four in a row and is in a big crisis now. It is possible that Klinsmann finally get fed up with Chandler’s PR campaign to catch Jogi’s attention, especially after headlines and quotes that, I think, made Klinsman look like a clown and Klinsmann let him now the standing invitation had finally be rescinded and at the point Timmy the Rocket Scientist finally realized that he had passed up the opportunity of a lifetime and is now in a deep depression. Well, maybe not a deep depression, but certainly feeling deep regret. Poor guy. Sniffle. Sniffle.

    Reply
  20. Pete – Excellent Post.
    Though, I have to quibble with your rating of Zusi – he is as good a crosser as we have in our pool and can handle that aspect.
    The rest of your post is right on.

    Reply
  21. I agree with Jon. We hardly knew you timmy. Also coaches are human beings and at time make subjective decisions. All coaches have favorites and those that they have love hate relations with Let’s first see how the next two games play out and how presumably the next round of qualifying goes. If we don’t qualify Jurgen tenure will definitely be a failure. We have the talent pool to qualify.

    Reply
  22. I believe they are. I don’t know why they wouldn’t be. So I assume he’d consult him if he was looking to call in Chandler.

    PLUS, even though he only played in Friendlies, Chandler would STILL have to apply for a one time national team switch with FIFA. It’s not like you can play for one team one month, the next team the next month, so long as your not cap tied. There are still rules.

    PLUS PLUS he isn’t good enough to play on the German team as a right back. Maybe as the 3rd or 4th option?

    Reply
  23. would you please explain you comment that “There are off the record reports that players are unhappy with the invasiveness of the blood tests”?

    Reply
  24. Everyone makes mistakes, especially in the heat of the moment, and I think it is cool that Mason apologized.

    And Mason: I am with you 100% bro’. pi$$es me off like heck that Chandler promised us last year he was 100% on board the USMNT only to jump ship in the hope of getting picked up by Germany.

    Reply
  25. Are Joachim Loew and Klinsmann still on good terms? If so, doesn’t it seem likely that Herr Loew would consult with Klinsmann before calling Chandler in. I don’t think this would necessarily mean that Loew would not bring Chandler in (that is if he is good enough for Die Mannschaft), but I would think it would be in Chandler’s best interest to be very careful with Klinsmann even if he doesn’t really intend to ever cap-tie himself to the U.S.

    Reply
  26. Timmy aside, I think choosing EJ and AG over Wondo and Altidore was a great decision. With both players, you get men who are fighting, and have been fighting for a long time to prove themselves to coaches and doubters. They have unmatched competitive drive, and and question of quality drop off ignores the impact of the fight and drive that these men have.

    You wonder why we struggle with lesser CONCACAF teams, or why we struggle to compare to Mexico?

    It is not a talent drop off, but a drop off in nasty, fighting edge. We lack it in certain areas of our depth.

    And before I hear another complaint about direct, long ball tactics…it is a successful tactic against teams that bunker. Ever wonder how Barcelona drops those surprising 2-0, 3-0 losses?

    When a team opens up and attacks us, it creates space for our midfield to operate. We saw it with Scotland and in spurts in many matches.

    However, we need to be able to transition quickly from these defensive, and attacking mindsets, and that is limited to your player pool. Which is why I support EJ and AG in this pool. With Dempsey, Gomez, Zusi, Corona, and Kljestan, we have the attackers that can do it.

    Reply
  27. totally agree. This is ridiculous not to call him & try to get him cap tied. JK, needs to look at the long-term future of the club. I see ppl crying that he hasn’t previously accepted a call-up….who cares? He’s young(20) and confused. Think about the long-term!

    Reply
  28. It’s like asking a girl out on a date and 3 times she says no or that she has other plans. At some point you move on and if she really is interested then she needs to reach out to you.
    The “I’d be interested in a call up next month if Klinsman wants to call me” is selfish and juvenile. If he wants to play then he needs to take the initiative. Did he call Klinsman himself and say “I want to play”? If not then its on him.

    Reply
  29. Certainly there is PR involved w/ being an International level manager. We have to be aware that what is put out there for public consumption is almost never the whole story… nor should it be! Addressing every news article, piece of gossip, rumor or manufactured drama out there is a full time job and only feeds the monster, it doesn’t calm it. Probably better served to spend the majority of one’s time coaching.

    Reply

Leave a Comment