By CAITLIN MURRAY
Julian Green had an answer on Wednesday to questions surrounding his status at Hamburg SV. That answer came in the form of an appearance, and a goal, for HSV II.
The U.S Men’s National Team striker suited up for Hamburg’s under-23 squad and scored in a 13-2 demolition of local fifth-division side Halstenbek-Rellingen, quelling speculation Green was refusing to play for Hamburg’s reserve team.
Green broke a 1-1 deadlock in the the 11th minute of the scrimmage with a blast from some 24 yards out, which started off a scoring spree for HSV II, according to the club and local reports.
HSV II plays in Germany’s fourth-division Regionalliga, though Wednesday’s test match was not an official match, and reports in Germany suggest Green was one of a handful of first-team players to appear in the match.
Green initially denied reports he had been dropped to Hamburg’s U-23 squad, and then reports surfaced claiming that Green was refusing to accept the move. Green reportedly met with Hamburg officials on Wednesday to discuss the matter.
Green, 19, joined Hamburg on loan from Bayern Munich in September. He played just five times this season for Hamburg’s first team in the Bundesliga after suffering a rib injury in late September.
Green’s status at Hamburg also took a hit after the club’s firing of manager Mirko Slomka, who was in charge when Hamburg and Bayern agreed on the loan for the World Cup goal scorer.
“When he came to Hamburg there was a different coach there, Slomka,” Bayern manager Pep Guardiola said of Green earlier this week. “They changed the coach immediately. And every coach has his own ideas.”
Whether or not Green will remain with Hamburg’s U-23 team will be determined on Sunday, when HSV II plays an official league match against Luneburger Hansa.
The German-American joined the USMNT fold last year ahead of the World Cup and last featured for the U.S. on Nov. 14 as a late substitute in its 2-1 loss to Colombia in London.
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What do you think of this news? Think Hamburg’s U-23 side will be good for Green? Glad to see him nab a goal, even if it’s against inferior competition?
Share your thoughts below.
If he’s only going to play on the U23’s, why not go back to Bayern Munich? Last season he scored something like 23 goals in 32 games. Playing for Hamburg II? How will that help his development? Yes game time, but you know what I mean. It’s probably just a wasted year. It happens…not the end of the world.
The animosity that some USMNT ‘supporters’ have towards Julian Green is pretty absurd. So Bayern Munich, one of the top clubs in the world, and Pep Guardiola think highly of him. Jurgen Klinsmann watches him and thinks the same. Green plays nervously in a brief cameo in a USA friendly and people are ready to tear him down. Then he makes the World Cup squad (likely due to his performances in the practices that none of us actually got to watch) and he scores a goal in his only game appearance. But many people can only still complain about how he shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Then he gets loaned out this season and goes through an injury prone first half in which he doesn’t get much playing time. Yet instead of rooting for the guy to get healthy, secure some playing time and being excited about his potential both as a player and as a member of the USMNT, people seem to almost take satisfaction in his demise. Like he’s the next Freddy Adu.
I know this isn’t all or hopefully many USMNT supporters but let’s be fair with our players instead of rooting for them to fail, which serves no one’s benefit.
“people seem to almost take satisfaction in his demise.”
this is what i’ll never understand. falcao, rob, can you help me out?
Not everybody is a blind fanboy. some of us say thing as we see them and it offends those that are. A while back I predicted Green was going to be shipped out from Bayern and I got blasted for saying it. Turns out I was right and it bothers the sheat out of people.
Here is another one: Green will never playe for Bayern. He just doesn’t have what it takes to make it in such a big team. Picking the US over Germany showed that much.
cool, that helps. you’re invested in Being Right On The Internet, and if it means publicly rooting for some kid you’ve never met to fail, so be it.
Green probably won’t ever play for Bayern Munich. There’s nothing too surprising in that. Same thing with most players brought up through the youth systems at the world’s top clubs.
Versions like this of Green’s journey over the past year are what instigates the “Green hasn’t proven anything” fans.
“Green plays nervously in a brief cameo in a USA friendly and people are ready to tear him down” – Not really ready to tear him down, yet not impressive. Granted normal for a first time international debut.
“Then he makes the World Cup squad (likely due to his performances in the practices that none of us actually got to watch)” – Obviously the most controversial. Just as easy to claim as likely given in exchange for a USMNT commitment given the proximity of his commitment.
“he scores a goal in his only game appearance” – Very nice goal, yet the only impressive stint in a USMNT jersey thus far.
“Then he gets loaned out this season and goes through an injury prone first half in which he doesn’t get much playing time” – The only injury I know of is a rib strain in late September early October. Does not explain his inability to earn time in November, December, January, February.
It is just as easy to present a “worst case” version of the past years events to contradict your “best case” version.
That being said, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
Good luck to the kid as he struggles to keep his place as a first team player with Hamsburg. Whether a fringe first squad player or anything else, I just hope he continues to improve to earn time with both club and country.
great post, you’re on fire man
JK was quoted after the match…”The German 5th division is a higher level than MLS.”
Wait a minute…He ONLY scored 1 goal against 15-19 year old kids on a game where the final score was 13-2?
Good summery SBI. To reiterate James, a 19 year old player playing at the U23 Level is nothing to scoff at.
Good to see him back in good form. He still has some development to do, both phyisically & ability before he should be playing regularly in the Bundesliga
+1
See coach, this $h!t is too easy….
Green’s agent was quoted as saying the U23s were unacceptable. Anyone could interpret that as refusing. Perhaps the larger problem is the agent.
marco,
Do you really think a washed up 19 year old who has proved he does not belong on the USMNT would be able to pull this sort of maneuver off all by his lonesome?
Or is it possible that Green is in fact a valued prospect of Bayern’s and they are not happy about how the Hamburg management has, how shall we put it, mismanaged their side of the loan?
Maybe Bayern does not like their valued prospects being treated so shabbily?
His current market value is about 1.5 million euros. I’m sure Bayern is not interested in seeing that drop.
Dead right. At this early point in is career, Julian Green is an investment opportunity rather than a first-team stalwart. He has a superior pedigree by any modern standard. Bayern has every incentive to believe that they could sell the player for $10 million+ by the time he is 21, assuming he is properly cultivated..
But that hasn’t happened at Hamburg and it won’t.
Hamburg has proven to be an awful place to park an asset of this caliber. Bad for his experience, bad for his brand/market value, and bad for his psychology. I doubt BM will be sending any of its emerging assets to this clown-show in the future.
way to set up your own argument by misrepresenting any other perspective. what the heck has happened to you as a poster here?
anyway, awesome for Julian!
Müller, Beister, and Illicevic would all be starters on the USMNT, and they played in this game, too.
Good news!
Not too late to salvage something from this season I hope..
some perspective (correct me if I’m wrong) could be that the first team of HSV went out in the first half; with the second team playing in the 2nd half. Score at halftime was 6:2. Green scores to make it 2:1; interesting turn of events for him.
“Die Profis des #HSV laufen locker aus, in der zweiten Halbzeit spielt die U23 gegen Halstenbek.” from a local report twitter feed.
Same source, Morgenpost (@mopo_sport), reported starting XI for first half:
mopo_sport: Der #HSV testet gegen Halstenbek: Adler, Diekmeier, Rajkovic, Kacar, Ostrzolek, Steinmann, Müller, Green, Gouaida, Ilicevic, Beister.
All first team roster members with fewer than 400 minutes of playing time each. The exception is Dennis Diekmeier, who has 1087 minutes so far this season.
So, it looks like the first half was all about getting non-starting first team players minutes, while the second half was about testing the U23 reserve team.
which is funny because that means the U-23s scored 7 and conceded 0 while the first-team players scored 6 and conceded 2.
Way to dominate against 14 year olds. At least it looks like he found his level.
Yea, a 19 year old playing in a U23 game is really embarrassing…
Falcao is super into teenagers
Really depends on who is the impetus of the meeting. Was this Green’s idea or BM? Too many people jumping to conclusions with absolutely no access to the all the facts.
Looks like Green lost in this one. First he came out on Facebook to deny he was being demoted to HSV 2, which turned out to be a lie or he was just the last to know. Then he decides to try and fight against the demotion but eventually is forced to give in.
All he can do now is play as hard as he can for HSV 2 and bag as many goals as he can, then hope that HSV management sees that and gives him another chance with the first-team. Unfortunately he ruffled some feathers along the way by acting out. He would have been better off just staying quiet and doing what was asked of him since he ended up doing that anyway. He gambled and lost. I don’t mind the gamble, but now he has to deal with the consequences.
I doubt it matters what he does, the sooner he can get out of there the better.
Allow me to pose an alternate scenario. You are back in your childhood select days. You hear a rumor you’re being sent to the B team but last thing you were playing with the A squad and no one from the club told you different. The rumor very well may be true, but you’ve not been officially informed and until you are, I think I’d say I’m A team and I don’t know what you’re talking about. I might privately inquire is this happening and then voila you see they had a meeting. Nothing anyone said departs from this scenario, and I don’t know if I’d demote myself until it’s official. But by stirring the pot by denying the rumor he forced their hands. OK, we told the press, now we’ll man up and tell you the same thing. You’re with the II team.
He wasn’t a liar, he was trying to smoke out a rumor when no one had officially told him any decision. Now he’s had his meeting and they’re on the same page. I’d honestly be a little miffed if the press knew before I did.
I wouldn’t take much from a break friendly against a team from an even lower division, just like it is hard to read MLS preseason. The question is really when the whistle goes for league is he playing, and how much over time.
bingo…..
Looks like he will be terror to the German 5th division and probably another twenty goals in the German 4th division. At this pace he will be called up to the USMNT Gold Cup squad by JK in no time.
how do you figure that? how does a HSV II scrimmage where “a handful of first-team players” played mean Green was actually demoted? i’m not saying i know one way or the other, but i don’t get your logic.
I guess I don’t know for sure either Bryan, but I am just putting things together. The who issue has been about Green being sent (I used the word demoted) from HSV first team to the HSV 2. There was a meeting and now we get this news. So it seems to me that he did get sent to HSV 2 which is a demotion.
How is playing in a scrimmage a demotion though? A scrimmage that included other first-team players. Knowing he was out of training 100% for the rest of 2014, this seems more like him playing with HSV II until fit.
I guess I just don’t get the idea that this scrimmage means he got demoted. To me, this just makes it all more unclear given the other first-team players.
At this point, how much does anybody really care if he plays for Hamburg’s first team?. They are terrible in all the facets of the game that matter. They can’t win the ball and they can’t control it. Even if Green gets an occasional run-out as a winger, what are the chances he can make any kind of difference or impression? Even if he plays in every single HSV game through the end of the season, I’d rate him at 2-3 goals tops, with perhaps 2-3 goals created. And that is being very generous.
An attacking winger is, in many ways, a luxury player. They are not ball-winners. They do not control games. They make good teams better. They are far more likely to make a difference on a team that is already dominating the ball and winning the battle in CM and defense.
I could care less if Green spends the rest of the season playing mostly reserve team games, where he might at least have a chance to express himself and his abilities.
The best thing that could happen for all parties involved (Green, Bayern, and by extension the USMNT) is finding a better strategy for the player next year. No bottom-dwellers. No Sunderlands. I don’t care if it’s second division soccer, he needs to play for a team that scores and wins. Because by himself, he can’t make a difference in a bad team.