By RYAN TOLMICH
Julian Green is set to meet with Hamburg’s higher-ups Wednesday, but club officials insist any conflict between the two parties has been overblown.
Recent reports have stated that the U.S. Men’s National Team winger has been called in by Hamburg bosses after refusing a demotion to the club’s Under-23 team. Green’s agent, Roman Grill, told MLSSoccer.com that there isn’t as much controversy as recently reported and that the player is hoping to make in impact with Hamburg rather than seek a move back to Bayern Munich.
“Nobody from the club has talked to Julian, so far, because of which there will be a meeting tomorrow,” Grill told MLS Soccer. “It is a topic made up by the media and only conjecture.
“Julian is confident that he can help the team succeed. Last year, he played for the FC Bayern U-23’s and scored 15 goals in 23 matches. This is not an option for Julian. He wants to show his quality and prevail in the Bundesliga. Julian has a contract in Hamburg until the end of the season. After this season, he will come back to Bayern.”
The controversy between the two sides stems from an announcement last week by Sporting Director Peter Knäbel that Green would feature for the U-23’s. Hamburg press officer Lars Wenger did admit that playing time with the reserves would be one issue that would be broached in the upcoming meeting.
Currently two points out of the relegation zone, Hamburg is back in action Sunday against Fabian Johnson and Borussia Monchengladbach.
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What do you think of these recent developments? What do you expect from Green from this point forward?
Share your thoughts below.
So Green scored for HSV II today.
I like that this story was first reported on MLS SOCCER.
Come home to MLS, Julian!
I can see a room full of German FA execs sipping cognac laughing about the “star” the USNT “stole” from them.
“Did you hear”? They cut Donovar for him? “And he refused to play for Hamburg’s reserve team ”
Just brilliant.
This idea that anyone was taken over Donovan is silly. Klinsmann would have just taken a player less if he had to. He wanted to make some kind of an example out of Donovan and had it planned for awhile.
They probably would need to be reminded who Donovan was in order for that to happen. After his German experience they probably figured it was a no brainer Green was “taken over him”.
Rumsey,
When LD was on loan at Bayern, their President Uli Hoeness, noted encarcerated tax evader, said LD wasn’t good enough for Bayern’s reserves. There were rumours that some players in the senior team agreed with him. Off course that locker room is notoriously political.
It seems Julian is good enough for at least Bayern’s reserves. So your hypothetical conversation seems unlikely to have ever come true.
American self-hatred aside, I would say LD got the last word on that when he buried that goal against Bayern with the MLS All-Stars en route to the All-Stars humiliating them.
Amazing how nobody really raised their eyebrows much over that.
Bayern is a good team. But they are not playing some mystical brand of football…and LD was more than good enough to play for them. All Bayern proved with that move is that they were even more knee-jerk anti-American (and anti-Klinsmann!) than some of our more elitist eurosnob posters here.
LOL sure. A goal in a pre-season friendly versus a career with Bayern Munich. I’m sure all the Bayern players would’ve given up their champions league medals just to be Cambodia Don for a day. After that game the Bayern players went home to play the Bundesliga and Champions League while Landy Cakes stayed behind to lead his team to the MLS Super Shield. He sure showed them.
quozzel,
That goal may have been memorable to LD and his fans but I doubt Bayern’s players or management noticed.or cared.
It was a friendly. They didn’t care. It’s about spreading the brand and making money.
Lots of players who are good enough to play for Bayern are cut by Bayern. They are no different from any other team,; you either fit in or you don’t. It’s hardly a big deal to anyone other than LD..
.
I know it was a friendly. But as far as Marketing Fails go, that one was epic. First off, they lost. Then they completely showed their collective butts. Guardiola refusing to shake hands with Caleb Porter in a fit of childish petulance kind of took the cake. They not only didn’t show their quality, they didn’t make any new fans that day…and Bayern’s management had moved Heaven and Earth to try to brand them in the US.
As far as revenge goes, that’s the best Donovan was ever going to get, playing in MLS. And it certainly mattered to Bayern, I can promise you that. Short of Guardiola hitting Porter upside the head with a chair WWF style, it would have been kind of hard for Bayern to have looked worse.
How about the Bayern players holding Porter down while Pep swan dives off the cross bar and lands on him WWF style?
With his lack of skills and sense on entitlement this kid is more American than we first realized.
Most likely Hamburg’s plan to stay up is by putting 11 players behind the ball here on out and Green just doesn’t really fit into that. At this point maybe returning to Bayern and playing with there second is his best option.
More likely that their plan is to try and stay up by putting the best team they possibly can on the field each game and Green doesn’t fit into that.
I like this guy.
Me too, much much more than Landon
When you lose 8-0 you don’t deserve to stay up, and you should probably look into changing something. Plus, he started for them when he first got there, they fired their coach, then he got hurt, so it’s not like he’s just sat on the bench twiddling his thumbs because he “isn’t good enough for the first team”.
+1 When you lose 8-0, there is likely precious little a 130lb winger who just finished eating fruit roll-ups is going to do for you anyway regardless of his talent, because you are almost certainly getting bossed off the park terribly in CM and defense.
Attacking wingers at the top level are rarely saviours; more like luxury items that make good teams better, rather than change the course of a bad team’s season.
I hope Green gets a few games over the next few months that allow him to show what he is capable of to in stretches, but I don’t know that we should expect much of this debacle at this point, outside of a merciful end and a clean bill of health.
They’ve scored 2 goals in their last 8 bundesliga games and went 1-1-6 over that time. Sounds like they’re playing behind the ball, and even doing that poorly
I’m all for getting as much out of all the playing time Julian can get regardless of main team or U-23 team. If Julian Is doing nothing to keep him off the main team then you have to look at the coach. Bayern Munich 8 – Hamburg 0 tells me a lot about Hamburg and the coach.
Hamburg benefits for the season and so does Hamburg so why did Hamburg agree to a loan and then not utilize him? Is it a Julian Green commitment issue?
I’m going to take a wild shot in the dark here knowing this will outrage some people but my guess is that the coaching staff don’t think Green is good enough for their team. Having watched Julian play a couple of time I just can’t say I disagree with them.
it has nothing to do with that based on everything that has come out since January.
Green had an interview on ESPNFC.com in which he said that rib injury kept him from training 100% for the rest of 2014 after the WC. this directly led to him not playing. as he put it, one day he would feel ok, the next it would not. this kept from training 100% and said it was a hard time for him.
so his lack of playing time in 2014 was due to the rib injury. now, you could not take Green’s word for it, and that’s fine. but i see no reason for him to lie.
that all said, i don’t think he should refuse to play with the U-23s if the idea is to get him back into shape. he shouldn’t be sent down to the reserves, but a few games to get back into game shape seems like a good idea. but i guess he would rather just get time off the bench for the first team. and of course, the Bayern Munich CEO came out saying they are not happy with Green playing on the HSV U-23s. if they wanted him in the 4th division, he would have stayed with them.
honestly, the whole thing is crazy. too much he-said, she-said. and Green played his part in that. hopefully this gets sorted out ASAP.
Well, if he missed playing time because of an injury then the
U21 is exactly where he belongs and I’m saying this as if he was ever a part of the senior team, which he never was. Why would he come out and say he’s not playing for the U21s?
He’s either getting career advice from his father or Clint Mathis, either way he’ll end up being damaged goods.
Why does everyone keep saying U23 or U21? It’s the second team in the Regionalliga and there’s no age limits.
Rob,
That puts you on the same level as a coaching staff that is about to get relegated and has just gotten blown out 8-0.
How can he be above playing the U-23 team? He isn’t an established veteran – he’s played a handful of games, if that, in the Bundesliga and he’s only 19. He probably should be playing in the U-23 team at this point. Maybe a loan to a 2.Bundesliga side may have been appropriate.
I haven’t seen much to justify the hype and people need to realize that many elite prospects don’t pan out.
Well he did pretty much dominate that level scoring 15 goals in 18 starts. Perhaps he isn’t ready for the Bundesliga but there has to be some middle ground to continue his development.
Jack, you are absolutely correct, plus Green would not have needed to move clubs if his goal was to play in a lower division. Bayern II would have welcomed him.
mikeg,
Julian is holding out for the big time. He believes in himself. A USMNT player who believes he is good enough to play with the best; what a strange concept, huh?.
I know, everyone on SBI thinsk that is stupid and that he should settle for less.
Funny I always thought that settling for less meant you got less. Not a bad philosophy for regular people like you and me but is that really what you want in your best athletes? To settle for just good enough? Is that how our Olympians think? Is that how Michael Phelps or Herb Brooks’ players thought?
I’m all for getting as much out of all the playing time Julian can get regardless of main team or U-23 team. If Julian Is doing nothing to keep him off the main team then you have to look at the coach. Bayern Munich 8 – Hamburg 0 tells me a lot about Hamburg and the coach.
I’m missing the part where the club denies anything.
it’s in the linked article.
i’m kind of disappointed in you, rob. you realize that there’s a lot more to hating than just showing up, right? do your research!
“It is a topic made up by the media and only conjecture.”
Maybe he should talk with his client about his facebook postings
I kind of like the kids confidence in himself and wanting his shot on the field. Will be interesting to see if he gets it.
So petulance and insubordination = self-confidence? Interesting take.
Green hasn’t come across as petulant just because he said he wants to play. Or is merely saying anything about your professional situation on social media grounds for insubordination and petulance?
I don’t see any petulance or him being out of line. Bayern loaned Green to Hamburg to play for their first team, because there was no playing time available at Bayern. Green he plays the same position as Ribery and Robben. If Green wanted playing time in lower division, he would not have needed a loan to another club. He could have played for Bayern II. Hamburg’s management has been far from stellar this season and Green’s situation is no exception.
If Bayern thinks Green is too good for their U-23 team, he’s too good for Hamburg’s.
No, Green hasn’t shown anything yet for Hamburg, but he never got a fair shake. Hamburg is sh*t right now. They didn’t play badly early on because of Green, and it’s clear they haven’t gotten better over the winter break. Yeah, Green needs to toughen up and put his money where his mouth is…but he also needs a chance to do that.
I never boarded the JG hype train, and was actually worried he might struggle at Hamburg (based on his pre-WC USMNT appearances and injury), but I am 100% with him on this. He signed a senior team loan contract and has been, by all accounts, busting his butt to get first team playing time. There is no way in hell he’s not good enough (whatever low opinion you might have of him) to get minutes for Hamburg’s full team.
^I mean “heck”
It’s politics and Green is playing hardball. Do you think he is doing this against Bayern’s wishes? I doubt it. If Bayern wanted him to do this under the radar we wouldn’t be hearing about it.
Maybe Green watched MIkey get butt f++ked at Borussia Moenchen Gladbach. I don’t know how this will turn out but the kid has cojones.
Agree with you. Unlike most US-based American players, Green has the benefit of advisers who are experienced and credible in the European game, both amongst his own agents and Bayern. It would surprise me immensely if any of this was him “mouthing off” unilaterally (as it stands, most of the comments “from Green” seem to be second and third-hand anyway, which you would expect in a coordinated effort).
I’m sure the Bayern folks are none too pleased that Hamburg’s own internal circus has left Green without an advocate at Hamburg since pretty much the beginning of the loan. Given what Green had already achieved in the Bayern youth system, even prior to adding a WC goal to his resume, I’d have to believe their internal valuation of the player was a low 8-figure sum. Not the kind of asset they want to see rotting on the bench of a shoddy team if they can do anything about it.
Well, someone isn’t telling the truth.