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Bremen boss Kohfeldt wants realistic expectations for Sargent

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Josh Sargent made an immediate impact in his Bundesliga debut last Friday in a 3-1 victory over Fortuna Dusseldorf. However, despite the 18-year-old’s scoring his first senior goal for Werder Bremen, head coach Florian Kohfeldt has urged people to not expect too much of the U.S. Men’s National Team forward right now.

Sargent netted seven goals in 12 games for Bremen’s U-23 squad and followed that up with a goal less than two minutes into his Bundesliga debut. He has proven that he has an eye for goal and will continue to seek first-team minutes with Bremen.

“We all must be careful what we expect from him,” Kohfeldt said. “If he makes five, six Bundesliga appearances until the summer, it is a good year for him.”

Sargent is not expected to play every minute for Bremen this season, with longtime veteran Claudio Pizarro still with the club. Even at 40, Pizarro still brings experience to the squad while Sargent will continued to be groomed for the future.

“We want to develop out own top forward,” Kohfeldt said. “We wouldn’t have to buy them then. If next summer, Josh is the one, we’ve done a lot of things right. Josh does not care whether he plays at the Weserstadion of Platz 11 [the U-23 pitch] and he would not care about 80,000 in Dortmund.”

“He can block that out, a quality Pizarro also has. That can make the difference between a good and an outstanding player.”

Eighth-placed Bremen faces a tough test this weekend as they entertain first-place Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday. No official word has yet been given on whether Sargent will be Bremen’s 18-man squad.

Comments

  1. Sargent has shown he can get open, that er can hold the ball and that he can finish. He is a good-sized, strong kid. I am not convinced he has Green’s or Pulisic.s dribbling skills, or Weah’e speed. buy as a No. 9 he doesn’t need the latter,

    Also, he seems able to bring teammates into play. In short, he plays like someone with more experience. What’s not to like?

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  2. I like that even the coach can’t quite help himself, in one breath, don’t put so much pressure on him, in another, we’d like to develop our own top forward, he has the qualities of one good forward, those qualities can be the difference between good and great. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle when a player scores twice in a few national caps and on his first touch for the club first team. You can play him 5 more games all season but that would be deliberate foot dragging. It might even be justified as bringing along a young player slowly but it would be a trade off from first team production you could maybe use.

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  3. Unless Sargent has capable support from midfield, all the rest of the team really, he cannot be a one man goal machine. His potential is contingent on qualaty coaching and team play.

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    • In terms of NT goals for the year — and it was a pathetic total of 10 — the leaders were Wood, 3; and Sargent, 2. I get what you are saying in terms of he can’t fix everything and score every game, but as is I think Wood/ Sargent/ Green off the bench are one of the few areas on the team pointed the right way.

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  4. “We all must be careful what we expect from him,” Kohfeldt said.
    LOL
    Nice try coach but it ain’t happening.
    We expect him to end up at realmadridliverpoôlbarcelonabayernmunichmancity for record 300 mill fee within the next two years. Anybody that disagrees is a hater or at the very least a Mexican.

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  5. All I care about is where he lands with our NATS…. GB needs to him into the fold immediately and not bury him on the bench behind the likes of Wood, Jozy or heaven help us…Zardes. He needs to get regular minutes… often. and get developed asap

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    • The Zardes rubbish is foolishness where we hire a Cbus coach and expect him to play favorites and give him that one. But I think Wood, Sargent, and Green are a cut above and in a fair world he’s competing with the knacked Jozy and Morris for 4th forward. Cause otherwise there is a fairly long history of big MLS scoring NT flops, Twellman, Lassiter, Wondo. Zardes showed well for Cbus this year but then played 145 NT minutes without a goal or even assist.

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  6. Sounds like he’s trying to pump the breaks, but I doubt he’s directing that towards USMNT fans and thinks he meant it more for Bremen’s own fans?

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    • It’s something for both fan basis to keep in perspective. Both Bremen & the USMNT have lacked productive strikers recently. The fact that Sargent scored in his first SR games with both club & country is promising, but it’s the long haul & consistency that both need/want. Consistency takes time and quality players around them.

      Here’s hopping he has a long productive career for both club & country.

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