Jordan Morris has previously stated he is open to a move to Europe and a Premier League promotion contender is reportedly closing in on adding him on loan.
EFL Championship side Swansea City is reportedly set to add Morris this week on a six-month loan, The Athletic reported Sunday. The Daily Telegraph reported Friday in regards to Swansea’s interest in the Seattle Sounders forward and now the Welsh club is closing in on an agreement with the defending MLS Cup Finalists.
The Swans are currently second in the English second tier and are keen on adding Morris for a push towards automatic promotion.
Morris has been one of the top wingers in MLS during his career, totaling 41 combined goals and 23 assists in 121 appearances. The 26-year-old is coming off an 11-goal, nine-assist haul for the Sounders in 2020 despite the team falling short in the MLS Cup Final against Columbus.
Morris has scored double-digit goals in three of his four seasons played, missing out in 2018 due to a torn ACL.
Internationally, Morris has scored 10 goals in 39 career appearances for the USMNT, being a part of the 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup winning squad. Morris continues to be a top option for Gregg Berhalter’s side heading into a busy 2021 schedule of competitions.
Swansea City is aiming to get back to the EPL after back-to-back seasons in the Championship. The club is under the leadership of manager Steve Cooper, who has led the team to 46 points from 24 matches so far.
Morris would be an important addition to the Swans, who have only scored 29 goals so far this league season, which is the second-fewest out of the current top six.
No one has raised this, so I’m just gonna throw it out there. The best of our players are in Europe, or heading there. But there’s going to be pressure to bring a quota of MLS players along for the world cups. If that’s his goal, I wonder if he’s better off staying. Anyway, best of luck to him – seems like a class guy and a great player.
There’s a lot of myth spinning about Morris here, as if he is a generational talent in US Soccer. This simply isn’t the case, domestically or internationally.
Morris posted points against good teams in friendlies (Mexico goal and a Netherlands assist) in 2015. He didn’t score again until 2017, and it was in a friendly against Jamaica. He scored 2 goals against Martinique (he got 7 chances) and then scored another against Jamaica as well, both matches were Gold Cup competition matches. He posted an assist against Honduras in a WCQ in 2017 as well, then failed to post a point until a 2 assist performance against Trinidad in 2019 in a 6-0 Gold Cup match. He then scored against Uruguay in a friendly match in 2019. That’s a total of 6 goals and 4 assists in 1486 minutes of play, and all in friendlies or in proper competitions against opponents that he should be scoring against.
In MLS last season, Morris scored 11 goals and added 8 assists in 27 matches (including post-season) and is considered in his prime. He likewise added 10 and 7 in 22 matches the season prior. These are good numbers, albeit not really elite. Chris Mueller was only a hair behind him, and while I know it was a strange season with “MLS is Back”/Covid, etc. his stats the previous season weren’t really exceptional either. Morris was outperformed on the stat sheet by Carles Gil, Daniel Royer, Valentin Castellanos, Jozy Altidore, Alejandro Pozuelo, Mauro Manotas, Chris Wondolowski, Kacper Przybylko, and CJ Sapong…nevermind when you compare him against Diego Rossi, Josef Martinez, Zlatan, Vela or the other top players in MLS that year. The fact that his numbers only boosted by 1 goal and 1 assist last season tells me that, while he’s a very good MLS player, he’s not an elite player. He doesn’t break top 10. I see a lot of Landon Donovan comparisons, probably because Landon spent his career in MLS, although Donovan did enjoy a very successful loan at Everton and did move to Leverkusen early in his career, as well as a failed loan to Bayern Munich as well. Donovan has 10 goals and 19 assists in 2014, long after his best years. At the top of Landon’s game, in 2008, he posted 20g and 9a. Even when he was scoring fewer goals, like in 2010 or 2012, Donovan was posting 16a and 14a. The comparisons are inappropriate, but it should be noted that Donovan was also critiqued in the period between 2004-2009 for sometimes flaking out against top-competition and lacking a killer edge. However, most of those assertions faded after his 2010 WC performance. That is the only other similarity that could be drawn between the two – that it could perhaps be argued that MLS and its lack of weekly competitive demands didn’t prepare them to execute consistently against the best in the world.
Morris will be competing for game time against Bundesliga players like Josh Sargent or attacking wingers like Pulisic and Reyna. He is a gifted player who is above average, if not statistically top-notch, in MLS. If he proves not to be up for the task of European football, then he will continue to perform well for Seattle and play an important squad role for the USMNT. I like to believe that, if he really pushes himself, then perhaps he can add something more.
I don’t think it’s fair to discount Morris’ production for the USMNT simply because it hasn’t come in important matches or against top competition in more than a few cases. That said, arguments need to be built on evidence, and until we see him against a better level of competition more consistently, we won’t really know what he is as a player. I think the snobbery comes when we look at him and say that his achievements don’t matter because he didn’t end up in the Bundesliga scoring goals or elsewhere in Europe. They do. That being said, comparing those numbers and achievements against other players who have been through the pipeline, it’s hard to justify the arguments of pundits calling for him to start or running puff pieces on him as though he’s the second coming of Landon Donovan.
So, to all these comments about him being “better” than the English Championship, or (in the reverse position) claiming that wanting him to test himself against better competition somehow weakens the USMNT, please come back to reality. If he is “better” than Swansea, he will go there and light it up. If he doesn’t gain a place in the team and you’re worried about his form, maybe ask yourself if a player can’t crack Swansea City, then are they really going to help in the World Cup against Brazil, Belgium, England, Spain, Italy, etc.? Being useful in lesser competitions against Jamaica and Trinidad is nothing to be ashamed of, but we shouldn’t pretend it’s anything more than that if Swansea is a real risk.
I hope this loan works out well for Morris. If he doesn’t manage to make an impact, he will come back to MLS and will likely continue what has been a fine career there. If he really plays well and makes a strong impact on the pitch, I think it could present other opportunities for him as well as really bring the best out of him and sharpen him even further. I have personally always thought of him as a relatively average player who can do a job against poor CONCACAF teams for the USMNT and influence games in MLS alone, but I genuinely hope he succeeds and can take his career to the next level if that’s what he wants. At the end of the day, if he’s not good enough for Swansea then he belongs in MLS, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m rooting for him.
This is a good move for Morris. If the loan goes through, he will face quite the challenge for playing time, which is not a bad thing. While Seattle provides him with regular PT, the only way to grow as a player is to push yourself out of your comfort zone and have to fight weekly to be in the starting 11. Morris has it easy in Seattle. He needs to be further challenged to be more than a serviceable player for the U.S. He’s already falling behind the new wave of young players playing in Europe.
What about his dog? Hopefully that’s part of negotiations. And his living arrangements? So much to consider. Hopefully he can figure it out now he is a seasoned MLSer.
I see what you’re doing. This garbage again? The not-so-subtle digs because he hasn’t pursued a career in a way YOU deem sufficient? Obviously you know what’s best for him, so of course he not doing enough, right? Same was true with Donovan staying in L.A. Holy crap. Let people live and pursue happiness, even if it means (God forbid!) you don’t agree.
I had no idea there were so many snobs out there. “Lame snobs” which kind of seems redundant, eurosnobs, pecking order snobs, and now hyper capitalist snobs. Thank goodness we have people who can point out these nefarious groups one could call them “captious snobs” but I prefer “Negative Nancy Snobs” better. I’m open other monikers if someone has one.
Just a general statement and not directed at johnny.r, but this seems like a good place to put it.In my life I’ve read some pretty complicated stuff and even written some myself. But, wow, all the abstract over written verbal garbage posted here about what is just a proposal at this point, is rather remarkable. Decontextualized money moves and hypercapitalist? What the Hell does all this mean? This is a good step for Morris if he makes it. Maybe he could find a position in a better club, but Swansea apparently wants him and Morris will have less of a culture shock going to the UK. It’s good if it comes to pass, and not a tragedy if it doesn’t. People need to chill out.
This would be a great move. If he does well, he could help Swansea City rise to promotion or at least make a name for himself, leading to interest from EPL clubs.
is swansea going to be grownups this time about having americans around? last time they kind of flipped out about bradley and a new american owner.
fwiw the snobs like decontextualized money moves but the best thing for america qualifying is being someplace playing. is this that. i think making sure you were in a good minutes situation for club used to be the goal of NT players before we got in so much demand you could get your validation from a snazzy transfer (and the Nats just need to cope if you sit eg steffen).
Yes, when we only had a handful of decent players the objective was to have players playing regularly anywhere. During this timeframe MLS was a major boost to the National Team.
However, as the sport has grown and we’ve gained more & better players, the objective changed to have players playing at the highest levels they are capable of. If MLS is Morris’s peak level…so be it. He can still be of value to the team…but by being a big fish in a small pond he won’t be challenged, and will likely be overtaken sooner rather than later by players who are challenging themselves in better leagues.
In the past players like Donovan, Pope, and others were secure in their rolls with he national team. There wasn’t anyone waiting in the wings to push them out of the 23. Morris doesn’t have that same luxury.
I see what you’re saying about making a move ahead of qualifying but if he does make a 6 month loan move he’s back in Seattle for July and August ahead of qualifying in September that is plenty of time even if the loan goes South and he sits in Swansea. There of course is risk of injury but that’s true if he stays in MLS. This is also really his only window of opportunity as well he’s 26 if he waits until after the WC in 2022 that means he’s 28 and not looking at a lot of options for teams looking for aging wingers with only MLS experience. If this was a straight transfer to Arsenal or Athletico Madrid I might agree with you but a loan to a Championship squad doesn’t really risk him losing his place with NT.
An opportunity to settle the argument that Morris is/isn’t able to compete in Europe. While the English Championship isn’t the best league, they’re in a position for promotion. So if Morris goes there and becomes a significant contributor it would at least confirm his ability in comparison to others playing at a similar level. If he goes and fails to be a significant contributor it’ll open the door wider for other options (Weah, Konrad, Uli) to overtake Morris in the US Pecking order.
that argument could be settled after 2022. it’s a lame snob framed argument. pope and plenty of americans could easily have played abroad but made decisions to favor MLS that it can be debated also made the NT better. that gets taken as one side of a “debate” when whether you play for club is actually a “practical concern” regardless of the debate. regardless which “side” of the “debate” you are on, the particular player either plays or not — and in the cases of players like bobby wood and ethan horvath, becomes snob “gospel” on perceived NT utility. when all it really says is they can’t start on that particular club team.
so i don’t actually want to get into some abstracted discussion of whether his club choice means he is worthy or not, i’d prefer players take a more practical approach this part of the cycle, get minutes, and that way we pick the best players period as opposed to just the ones who play in club. it gives you more choice and puts back in play several talented players in poor club situations.
this used to be USMNT gospel — you transfer out after we qualify or after the world cup — when the risk to the NT is low and the new cycle awaits. when we hit the qualifying end of the cycle, you find a home that gives you minutes. moving abroad right now to “test yourself” — when you are playing for seattle all the time — potentially pits club ambition against NT value. as a NT fan i’d prefer club situations benefitting the NT.
I agree that players like Pope, Donovan, and others could have played in Europe. In their time however there weren’t as many quality players in the USMNT pool, as evidenced by the drop in play whenever they were unavailable for the US.
Today (in most positions) we have a number of players who are pressuring the established players like Morris for roster spots. Morris doesn’t have the luxury that Donovan did. Weah, Konrad, Mueller, Uli are nipping at his heals. Playing & proving himself at a higher level would help fend them off.
The possible move being discussed is a loan not a transfer, so if it fails it’s not like he’ll be bench ridden long….so the impact to the USMNT long term is minimal. If its successful it possible makes him a better player, and therefore makes the USMNT better.
Excellent news. This will give us a better gauge of his playing ability.
fake skepticism. is NT production — including against good teams — as well as domestic club dominance not already plenty of proof on this question?
The loan is really a low risk option though isn’t it? If he sinks he can always return to Seattle and continue the status quo. If he swims he is in position to make the move permanent and significantly increase the quality of opposition he faces day in and day out. If they’re truly interested it seems like a no brainer to me. Especially considering the possibility of an MLS work stoppage this spring
oh yay, a 6 month loan to a 2nd division team.
That is still stronger than MLS
A six-month trial at a club on track for automatic promotion to the Premier League.
He could do better
He’ll have to fight hard to get minutes. I’m okay with this.
i think this appeals to hypercapitalist snobs who believe this is all one great sorting machine but in NT terms that is irrelevant. i have an already functioning and productive NT player in a solid club situation. anything that meddles with the money tree is a risk. making him fight for minutes when we are about to qualify may be conducive to abstract debates about the sorting machine theories but is an unnecessary risk to the NT.