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Bobby Wood hoping to punctuate career year with strong summer showing

Bobby Wood USMNT 4

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. — Another subpar season led to an honest conversation between Bobby Wood and Jurgen Klinsmann last summer. Klinsmann explained to Wood that the young forward was in need of a breakout campaign, otherwise he would likely have to take a step back to find yet another club with which to establish himself.

Wood took the message to heart, and the end result was a career year that just paid off with a move to one of Germany’s more prestigious clubs.

Wood completed a transfer from 2. Bundesliga outfit FC Union Berlin to Hamburg this past Sunday, the same day that his impressive season came to a close. The 23-year-old striker finished the 2015-16 campaign not only as an established starter with 30 starts in 31 appearances, but as one of the leading scorers in Germany’s second division with an American record 17 goals.

He was motivated through it all, in large part because Klinsmann had lit a fire under him.

“It was kind of make or break and I think I realized that and I guess I strived through that pressure,” said Wood of his conversation with the U.S. Men’s National Team head coach. “I’m grateful that he had my back the whole time. It wasn’t like he was trying to threaten me or anything like that. He was always there and he’s always been honest with me. It was the truth.”

Wood is now looking to add to what has been an impressive 12 months by having a strong showing at the Copa America Centenario. He has not officially been named to the roster yet, but is a safe bet to be on it because of how well he has been playing and because starting U.S. striker Jozy Altidore just went down with a hamstring injury.

The desire to deliver for his country in a special one-off tournament is also why Wood made the decision to sign with Hamburg this past weekend. Whereas some players in his situation would have waited until after the competition to make a move given that good performances could raise their value, Wood wanted to seal a deal so as to focus on the task at hand.

“I thought it would be better for me to be able to concentrate on the team here,” said Wood. “I thought if I had my club situation sorted, I could have my whole concentration on the U.S. Men’s National Team. That was important for me to have that cleared out and settled and my head is just on Copa now.”

There was interest from other teams in Europe, but Wood chose Hamburg because his “gut feeling” was that the German side would provide him the best opportunity to continue to develop. He also felt comfortable after having good talks with manager Bruno Labbadia and other members of Hamburg’s brass.

Moving to a bigger club should do wonders for Wood’s confidence ahead of the Copa America Centenario, but Klinsmann is counting on Wood for more than just goals. The U.S. manager is also hoping to use the youngster’s story as a way to motivate some of the other players who are still trying to find their way, showing them that things can come together quickly if you put your head down and capitalize on your opportunities.

“A lot of that has to do with becoming a young man,” said Klinsmann. “You come from the youth section – 18, 19, 20 – and you become an adult and suddenly you’re in an adult world and you have to bring out your elbows and I think Bobby learned to bring out his elbows. I told him that before the season started. I told him, ‘You have to make it this year. Otherwise they’re going to move you on. That’s how it works in Europe. They’re not that patient. At the age of 21 or 22, you’re an old man already.’

“He took that message and he scored 17 goals, he took his team Union Berlin to the highest-ever finishing in the second Bundesliga. It’s a tremendous place, a very hot-tempered place where he played at, very intense, and he got his opportunity now to move on to one of the most prestigious clubs in Germany, where a stadium is waiting for him, always sold out with 60,000 (fans), next year. This is big.”

The challenge for Wood now is to deliver in his first international tournament. Wood has 16 caps – and four goals – to his name, but almost all of those appearances have been in friendlies and World Cup Qualifiers. A large portion of them have also come with him serving as a substitute.

Altidore’s absence combined with Wood’s form could force the talented Hawaii native into the lineup this summer against Colombia, Costa Rica, and Paraguay. Whether Klinsmann would deploy Wood as a pure striker or continue to use him in more of a wide role is unclear, but Wood is ready to contribute wherever he is used.

“I’m a striker, but I think it’s important to try to be flexible,” said Wood. “My main position is a striker. I try to learn to play on the outside a little bit, but it’s a little bit of a learning process for me to go through. It’s something that if I get to play then I’m more than happy.”

Chances are high that Wood will see plenty of minutes with the U.S. in the coming weeks. His level of play and nose for goal have made a strong case for that, and more strong performances in the Copa America Centenario would put an emphatic exclamation point on an incredible 12 months for him.

“It happened kind of quick in the past year, but what happened before was a really long process,” said Wood. “It was a lot of downs, but I am where I am now because I worked hard to get here and I’m excited.”

Comments

    • while i think that klinsmann’s instructions and explanations tend to be of the obvious sort (if not straight-up patronizing), it seems, from what bobby said, that the “make or break season” talk was helpful to him.

      which is great–looks like it’s exactly what he needed, and that’s good management! but it leads me to question why bobby still needed to be instructed on how “europe works” when he’s been over there for a decade now. if only klinsmann had told him 5 years ago. 🙁

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    • I don’t know, the obvious is the easiest to grasp sometimes. To be told, your club will lose interest in you in 12 months, if you don’t score a lot of goals.. that is solid motivation. Klinsmann implied urgency and did his job.

      Like in the morning sometimes, I know I need to get up, but it can still help when someone pulls off the covers.

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  1. Klinsman should get some praise for properly motivating Bobby Wood, just remember where Bobby was 2 years ago at 1860. His message as a mentor and coach giving Bobby just the amount of opportunities hopefully will bear fruit this summer.

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    • Good point. Recall all the WTF reactions when JK kept giving Bobby call ups and playing time. Looks like he knew something and his faith is paying off.

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      • we should probably keep in mind that bobby wood has accomplished about as much as connor casey at this point. i think bobby will continue to improve, but in the immortal words of klinsmann, “he hasn’t done sh!t yet.” hopefully this summer will be big for him.

  2. I’m happy for this kid and hope that he does get the starting nod throughout the Copa.
    With Wood moving to Hamburg, Pulisic with BvB, Gyau & Johannsson hopefully returning to full health we have the makings of a very good attacking core in Germany. Looking forward to how all these guys perform in the upcoming 2016-17 season.

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  3. Professional athletes, like any human, can be motiviated in a variety of ways. However, it’s refreshing to see someone not sulk or shy away from the truth that you’re replaceable – no matter the name on the back of the kit.

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