By RYAN TOLMICH
Navigating the pitfalls of European soccer has proven to be a tough task for members of the Americans Abroad contingent in recent seasons, but the latest player to make a move has seemingly ticked all of the right boxes with his new club.
News broke Tuesday that U.S. Men’s National Team forward Aron Johannsson is bound for German club Werder Breman, departing the familiar, and generally attack-happy, Eredivise for the much more disciplined Bundesliga.
The move up is a logical one for Johannsson, who departs AZ Alkmaar after two-and-a-half seasons and 29 goals. After making his name in Iceland, Denmark and Holland, a move to Germany is a logical next step on the road to club success.
Yet, the move is easy to be met with skepticism, especially given the recent track records of several Americans making major moves.
In recent seasons, Jozy Altidore and Julian Green have made moves that were seen as ones that would give them a step up in competition as well as a place to shine. In Sunderland, Altidore was meant to be the prototypical Premier League target striker, while Green was meant to be the wonderkid that would prove his mettle in a loan to Hamburg.
Looking back, both moves proved to be disasters, as Altidore struggled for playing time and goals before departing for Toronto FC while Green is now set to lace it up with Bayern Munich’s reserves rather than embark on another loan journey.
However, Johannsson’s move should prove much different than that of his two compatriots due to a factor that may be one of the most important in the game today: stability.
When the Werder Bremen kicks off Bundesliga play in the coming weeks, the club will mark its 33rd consecutive season in the German top flight. Four time Bundesliga winners, Werder has been a midtable team in recent seasons after finishing in third place in 2009-10.
Unlike Altidore and Green, Johannsson will likely not be faced with the pressures of a relegation battle or midseason coaching change. Instead, the forward will probably be given every chance to shine in a team that should view him as a legitimate contributor much more so than a project.
Having lost the club’s two top scorers in Franco Di Santo and Davie Selke, Johannsson will likely be given every chance to claim the role as the team’s starting forward. From the get-go, Werder could place its faith in the 24-year-old striker who has proven to be a potent goal-scorer on every level he has played.
Johannsson will now be tasked with proving that in the rigorous Bundesliga, a challenge that he will have to meet head on.
With Alditore struggling physically and mentally in the recent months, the USMNT’s starting forward job is as open a competition as ever before, and, with the backing of one of the Bundesliga’s most consistent clubs, Johannsson may have placed himself in the perfect position to take his chance.
Jozy should have gone to Italy or Germany instead of England. Shame he went back to MLS
I’m not sure I agree – at all – with the perception that Johanssen played badly in the Gold Cup. In fact I thought he was one of the few bright spots. His movement, his passing, his technical quality was heads-and-shoulders above every striker except Dempsey’s…he missed a couple of sitters but he was very good and I liked his positive first touch and movement.
I wish he was a little faster and a little more athletic, but from an IQ/technical/skill standpoint he is very, very good. And he’s audacious, a quality strikers have to have. He tries things. He goes for things.
I think this is potentially a very good move for him. Personally I think our top five strikers going forward are probably Dempsey, Johanssen, Wood, Zardes, and Jordan Morris, with Rubio Rubin trying to fight his way in…and I would expect Altidore to see a lengthy spell away from the team until he gets his head glued back on straight. Klinsmann made positive-sounding noises but his expression right before he yanked Altidore was not…kindly.
Strangely, I’m actually not worried so much about the forward spots so much as the midfield and outside back. I’d love to get a look at the likes of Lleget, Nagbe, Hyndman, and the like to see if they can solidify our midfield…and wow, we gotta do something at outside back.
I still think Johanssen is probably our second-best striker at present, and this move could move him to permanent fixture on the team if it works out like it might.
One thing that seems to be overlooked regarding using the Gold Cup to measure the performance of both the forwards and the backline was the terrible play of the midfield. They all showed the touch of Edward Scissorhands and the passing velocity of Nolan Ryan. I think this is a good move for AJ, going to a league where defending is not optional. When he gets used to the fact that he can’t hold the ball those extra two touches, he should rapidly improve. Fingers crossed…
“the perception that Johanssen played badly in the Gold Cup”
i must have missed reading that. i certainly don’t think he was bad, although you’re probably higher on his performance than i was. his movement was great, but everything else–including his finishing–was a bit off. but you’re right, i do like his confidence.
anyway, it was just a few games. i wouldn’t read too much into it either way (much like jozy’s performance).
Aron was OK in the Gold Cup, but had his struggles. He had more than a few errant touches or really strikingly bad passes. His movement is excellent and he has little bit of flair which is need in an attacking player. He isn’t Dempsey though.
this does seem like a good move for him, hopefully he can fit right in.
and while i do think it’s funny how some people are so certain that he’s better than jozy, ryan’s right on when he says that, due to altidore’s form, the usmnt striker role is ripe for the taking. hope he gives jozy some real competition.
If the Gold Cup any indication, AJ is ahead of JA in the pecking order at the moment. Jozy will need to get healthy and be in form to take his spot back.
well obviously, if a player gets injured, then the depth chart will be affected.
klinsmann’s job will be to determine whether jozy’s lack of form is related to his injury.
jozy hasn’t really been lighting up mls, but he’s not been bad either. his season so far looks a lot like aron’s last season at az–when, coincidentally, aron was struggling with injuries.
Nate Dollars,
AJ would not be a like for like replacement for Jozy.
If he must be compared to another USMNT player it would be Wondo or Clint.
Jozy is a little unorthodox but the closest thing to replacements for Jozy would be pre -retirement EJ, Boyd or Teal Bunbury.
why do you say that? i think jozy and aron’s style of play is very similar, although aron’s movement is better, and jozy’s passing is better.
AJ is technically superior to Jozy.
Better ball control, better passer, much more cold blooded, makes more intelligent runs in the attacking half. Very similar to Wondo and Dempsey
1. i really don’t think wondo is technically superior to jozy.
2. dempsey isn’t really known for his great runs–more for his passing, finishing, and general badassness.
3. not sure how evident it is that aj is “technically superior” to jozy. i really don’t think he’s a better passer, he *might* have better ball control–except for his movement off-the-ball, i don’t think any facet of his game has looked much better when on form than jozy has when on form.
4. i was referring to who plays up top along with dempsey (who we can assume will be starting for a while yet.). you don’t need to be exactly like-for-like to replace somebody, you just need to perform better in that role.
Nate Dollars
“1. i really don’t think wondo is technically superior to jozy.”
I believe I said AJ was technically superior to Jozy.
As for Wondo, he is much better than Jozy at understanding of the kind of movement a successful goal scorer needs to do to lose defenders and wind up in advantageous positions. At his best Wondo is near impossible to mark. There is a reason he has scored so many goals. .
“2. dempsey isn’t really known for his great runs–more for his passing, finishing, and general badassness.”
Dempsey makes great runs. He doesn’t get into all those great positions because he is a badass. There are tougher guys than Clint out there but like Wondo he knows how to move and wind up where the tap ins are possible. It is called losing your marker. Vertonghen compares Clint to Suarez, another guy who knows where he needs to be and how to get there.
“3. not sure how evident it is that aj is “technically superior” to jozy. i really don’t think he’s a better passer, he *might* have better ball control–except for his movement off-the-ball, i don’t think any facet of his game has looked much better when on form than jozy has when on form.”
Let me put it this way, since the World Cup I am much more confident that a ball directed to AJ is going to be used positively than I am if that same ball is directed to Jozy. It is about consistency and AJ is more consistent than Jozy especially when it comes to taking care of the ball. To me that means AJ is technically superior, a fundamentally more sound soccer player.
“4. i was referring to who plays up top along with dempsey (who we can assume will be starting for a while yet.). you don’t need to be exactly like-for-like to replace somebody, you just need to perform better in that role.”
No but Dempsey plays a certain way with Jozy and then has to alter how he plays with whoever replaces Jozy. AJ’s problem is he is a bit too similar to Dempsey so they need more time together.
The difference between Johannsson and Green and Altidore is that they had the misfortune to be needing to prove the nearly impossible in a very short time since both Sunderland and Hamburg were at the bottom of the table. Not only did they have to learn the system coming in cold, they also had to convince their team mates that they were really that good. The only way a player can score is by being given good passes, and that happens only when fellow players want to do that. After all jealousies come into play.
i would point out that when jozy was at sunderland, it’s more likely that they just weren’t able to give good passes (or they just shot the ball every time, like adam johnson). pretty much the only good passer in their midfield was seb larsson, and they mostly used him for long-balls and set pieces.
I’d say you both are correct. Sunderland weren’t able to give good passes to anyone but also showed reluctance from the get go to pass to him.
I can assure you as a long time Werder supporter, there is plenty of passing/chances for Johannsson to score, itll be up to him to finish them