Aron Johannsson had himself a great weekend. He may have come on as a substitute in Werder Bremen’s 2-2 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach, but he was the one who scored the late goal to secure a point for his side.
Now, Johannsson, who has struggled with injuries during his time witheclub, is looking to use that performance as a launching point into a regular place in the starting XI.
He has started a couple games since returning from his latest injury, but his regular role appears to be off the bench, something he’d rather not do.
“I am not a player who is happy on the bench. I always want to start,” he told ESPNFC.
“Fundamentally, I am not a super sub — I might have been this in the past two games.”
While Johannsson may not like the role, his manager, Florian Kohfeldt, sees positives in how he’s impacted the team as a substitute when given the chance.
“He’s incredibly important for us when he’s coming off the bench,” the manager said. “He opens spaces and is dangerous in front of goal.”
Werder Bremen are off until next Monday night, when they face FC Koln at home.
Nice to see we have options up top for the USMNT with:
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Aron Johannsson (Werder Bremen, Bundesliga)
Bobby Wood (Hamburger SV, Bundesliga)
Julian Green (Greuther Fürth, Bundesliga II)
Terrence Boyd (Darmstadt, Bundesliga II)
Timothy Tarpeh Weah (forward, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1).
Andrija Novakovich (Telstar, Eerste Divisie)
Rubio Rubin (Tijuana, Liga MX)
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Altidore had more minutes than all of these available forwards, fighting for spots in better leagues, above!!! Yikes!!! 😮
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm”….so lets go!
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……we need a coach that recognizes skill and talent!!!
This position group is our biggest weakness by far.
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AJ – hopefully getting his career back on track and could be an important player if he does
Wood – having a really rough time of it now. Works hard, but not a true goal scoring/creative threat
Green- Not scoring at all in the 2 Bundisliga. Could still become a solid player, but the early potential Klinsmann/Bayern saw is not being fulfilled.
Boyd- 27 years old. Not scoring or playing much in 2 Bundisliga. Injuries stopped his progress
Tim Weah – Good potential, but Jozy was a better prospect at 18. Years away from knowing what we have here.
Novakovich – Having a great season in a weak league. Could be a good player for us but we need to see it at a higher level. Should be involved with national team soon
Rubin – hard to believe he’s only 22. Much like Julian Green the potential to be a great player is not there anymore, but maybe can be get his career on track in Tijuana
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A few other average MLS strikers to go along here. There’s a reason Jozy keeps getting caps. At his best he is better than all of those listed above. Very inconsistent player unfortunately. None of our options are terribly attractive.
THE UNMISTAKEABLE RONALDINHO!!!!
Man, you were doing great until “There’s a reason Jozy keeps getting caps. At his best he is better than all of those listed above.”
What top team has he played for?
Where has he worked to break into a starting 11 of a good team?
What top league has he excelled in?
Jozy Altidore at his best is like saying Freddy Adu at his best, as it means absolutely nothing…….because apart from AZ Alkmaar he has not proven himself in any top league or put in the work to break into the starting 11 for any top or even mid-table club
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Those players are not the best or our strongest area in terms of offense, midfield and defense….but with some of those players present Altidore should have never been a regular on the USMNT and because he was (as well as a bunch of MLSer’ instead of EPL, Championship Bundesliga I & II players etc) we didn’t go anywhere.
All I mean is we haven’t really had another name banging on the door for playing time. Swapping out Jozy for another is fine by me. I don’t think the result would be very different. All our strikers are very limited in one way or another. The strikers who have played have all had some really bad displays this cycle.
Bizzy
“What top team has he played for?
Where has he worked to break into a starting 11 of a good team?
What top league has he excelled in?”
None of the guys you named have done that either, with the exception of Dempsey no US striker has done that including the GOAT LD. I guess I would say Pulisic because I think he is more forward than a midfielder, but certainly no one on the roster you named.
You are right we have options, just none that stand out right now. I mean Bobby Wood has played in 19 Bundesliga matches this season with 1 goal, Jozy made 19 EPL starts in 2013/14 and scored 1 goal (admittedly with about 300 more minutes).
Johnnyrazor,
Let me help you fill in the blanks
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What top team has he played for?
Where has he worked to break into a starting 11 of a good team?
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Julian Green – Bayern Munich (No intro there)
Aron Johannsson – Werder Bremen (finished 8th last season, mid-table BUNDESLIGA team)
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Currently
Timothy Tarpeh Weah (forward, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1).
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“You are right we have options, just none that stand out right now”
True, but they are playing or are fighting for a spot in the Bundesliga / Bundesliga II / Ligue 1 etc, so nobody in MLS, a league inferior to Liga MX, should be a regular over forwards listed in the leagues above
THE UNMISTAKEABLE RONALDINHO
“All our strikers are very limited in one way or another. The strikers who have played have all had some really bad displays this cycle.”
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I have to agree with that, especially since they can’t seem to get any service up top. All I’m saying is with forwards playing in Top leagues we should never see Altidore, Morris, Wondo etc on the field
I would love another to step up and take that spot, but its early to say we should never see Jozy again. AJ has had 1 month of solid play after 2 years of anonymity. Novakovich could just as easily fade back to the bench at Reading that push on to new heights. Its too early for Tim Weah. Bobby Wood is a known quantity and really no better than Jozy. Julian Green isn’t scoring at all. We can definitely give these guys more chances than they’ve had, but its way too early to know if any of them have staying power.
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Like I said earlier this is a really weak position group where no one stands out for good reasons. We may need to do something similar to the post Mcbride 06-09 era where we played a serviceable workhorse like Brian Ching due to a complete lack of talent in the player pool.
Bizzy:
ArJo made no contribution to that 8th place squad, he’s had a good month on a squad in the relegation area.
Green: Never earned Bundesliga minutes and only a few cup minutes at Bayern was cut by Stuttgart because they didn’t feel he was Bundesliga quality, GF has finally climbed out of relegation but JG doesn’t have goals or assists, Weah played because like 8 guys in front of him was hurt, they didn’t put his name on the jersey. By exaggerating the exploits of others you lesson your case against Altidore. I like the guys you mentioned but let’s be honest about what they’ve actually done.
With Wood struggling it would be nice to see Johannsson and Novakovich up top but who knows if they will get a call this month and the US has been playing the 4-1-4-1 the last 2 games