German side Greuther Furth rebounded in a big way this past weekend with Julian Green playing a key role from his midfield position.
Green logged 90 minutes and scored his second 2. Bundesliga goal of the season as Furth defeated Osnabruck 4-0 on home soil. The veteran midfielder earned SBI Americans Abroad Player of the Week honors after delivering an impactful performance for the second-tier side.
Green’s sensational free kick broke the deadlock before halftime, boosting Greuther Furth in front 1-0. The 28-year-old lined up his free kick before drilling a right-footed shot into the top-left corner.
Furth would add three second-half goals to pad their lead, cruising to three points at home. Green drew the most fouls in the match (three), while also making two interceptions and competing 93% of his passes.
https://x.com/FraunaGabeX/status/1717953617120854430?s=20
Green and Furth sit in 10th place in the 2. Bundesliga standings and will next visit Homburg in DFB Pokal play on Tuesday.
Here is a look at some of the other top Americans Abroad performers from this past week:
Tanner Tessmann
Serie B side Venezia fought back from an early deficit to capture three points in a 2-1 triumph over Pisa.
Tanner Tessmann registered one assist in the result, playing 90 minutes in the heart of Venezia’s midfield. The former FC Dallas product drew a match-high three fouls, while also winning four duels and making 11 recoveries.
The 22-year-old Tessmann now has two goals and one assist under his belt in 11 league outings.
Alex Zendejas
Alex Zendejas’ point-streak was extended to four matches this past weekend after Club America’s 3-0 win over Monterrey.
Zendejas only played 45 minutes in the result but scored his fourth goal of the Apertura campaign. The 25-year-old has continued to provide an impact for the Mexican club, whether that be in the starting lineup or off the bench.
Club America sits top of the Apertura table, five points clear of Tigres with three matches left to play.
Gabriel Slonina
Eupen’s six-match losing streak came to an end this past weekend with American goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina shining bright for the Belgian club.
Slonina registered his first clean sheet for Eupen in a 2-0 home victory over Sporting Charleroi. The Chelsea loanee made four saves for the hosts, helping Eupen move to 10th in the league table through 12 matches.
Slonina, 19, has continued to hold the No. 1 job and will surely do so if he continues registering shutouts this fall.
Joe Scally
Over two months after logging his last 90-minute outing, Joe Scally did so once again this past weekend.
Scally helped Borussia Moenchengladbach earn a 2-1 win over FC Heidenheim, which was only their second in the Bundesliga this season. The 20-year-old Scally started and delivered a strong shift at right back, winning five duels, making three interceptions and five recoveries.
Scally has continued to do whatever he can to remain a consistent starter for Gerardo Seoane’s club this season.
What did you think of these individual performances this weekend? Was there anyone left off the list that you would’ve added?
Share your thoughts below.
holy cow
look at all the ink here for Julian Green
his ridiculous callup by Klinsman in 2014 to secure him for the future (what a flipping joke) instead of bringing LD was not his fault, it’s again the fault of Klinsmann the con man fraudster.
call him back! let’s see. Never been against him but he will forever be linked to JK’s arrogant ego
re. his World Cup goal, good for him! I remember some here claiming he shot it like that ON PURPOSE. LOL. you know, the Kilnsi die hards who never have been able to see the fact that we got hosed by that SOB and literally felt the need to defend JK by claiming Green shot it like that on purpose. Hey, I’ll take the goal, but good grief
again, not Green’s fault, but JK did him no favors elevating him to that status over LD, who had just earned Golden Ball honors at the 2013 Gold Cup, plus a share of the Golden Boot. Donovan scored in four of the U.S.’s six matches, including a brace in the 3-1 win over Honduras in the semifinals
need goals? LD was the guy to pick…not Julian Green.
Julian Green the answer behind Gio I’m reading? OK, let’s see it in the uni! call him
Landon wasn’t going no matter what. He didn’t want to play for JK so JK obliged him, which is what Gregg should have done with Gio.
Julian did not go as Landon’s replacement.
The guy who replaced LD tactically was either Wondo or Yedlin.
As for Brooks, in his last game he failed to be tight on Reus who scored the winning (and only) goal in the game. You could see him getting an earful from his keeper afterward. That is not the kind of thing that wil get him noticed in a positive way by GB whose lasting memory is probably from the 2021 Nations league.
Games that had my wife screaming for him to get off the pitch.
I’ll admit I have not followed Green like some of you have. My recollection of him was in the W.C. M. Bradley fed him a ball as Green made a great run and it banged off his shin and went in. I also saw a player who either did not seem interested or was unable to put in defensive effort. As many have said he has seen precious little time for the USMNT since. I always put it down to the lack of defensive effort which he must have improved or he would not be playing in B2.
So maybe he can force his way back into the USMNT by playing well enough to demand attention. Right now, I haven’t seen it, but of course it could be due to my very limited viewing of his games.
“I also saw a player who either did not seem interested or was unable to put in defensive effort.”
Green came on at the 102nd minute and scored a goal. The fact that it went in off his shin? One of Wayne Rooney’s greatest goals was his overhead kick vs Man City. That one went in off his shin pad. I’ve seen Dempsey score with a ball off of his crotch. No one complained about that.
Complaining about a “shin” goal is classic looking gift horse in the mouth stuff. I’ve seen lots of USMNT players shoot at goal with perfect form with the ball coming off of the foot or their head the way it is supposed to. And miss.
So excuse me if the ball going in off of his shin is extremely unimportant .
The important part is “ball going in”
Green was at the World Cup to score. And he did not have a lot of time to “put in a defensive effort”. As a striker for the beginning part of his career, he wasn’t there for his defensive effort.
That’s often code for some other objection.
He has since moved into the midfield. I see no reason for him to get back to the USMNT but I wouldn’t be opposed to it either. I don’t care that he plays in the BL2. I don’t care where you play. Gregg seems happy to play MLS guys and has done so since day 1. You are either good enough or you’re not.
Sign ‘em up! Criminal (at least ineptitude) that Julian continues to be on the outside looking in.
Who does he beat out in MF?
Gio? Musah? Wes? Luca? Fair to argue he’s better than Maloney or Johnny but Julian isn’t going to play as a 6. Could he have been included in GC, but we know his club threw a stink about it in 2021, kind of an unknown if they were asked this time. Klinsmann turned his back on him, Arena wasn’t interested, Sarachan played him, Berhalter talked him up in 2020 just before shut down and then in May of 2021 dressing him for Switzerland with the thought that then he’d be rested for GC. So did 3 of 4 even 4 of 5 (counting Bj) get it wrong or is Green just not as good as the guys in front.
I’ll play.
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Better than Luca, better than Johnny, better than Zendejas, better than Brendan (and Paxton) and many others who have been chatted up an asked to be in the team.
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Might be better than Tilman at CAM
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Furthermore, your revisionist history ain’t spot on. Kid was poison because of perceived favoritism (maybe rightfully so) and Arena didn’t rate him. Bruce is a mostly smart (and stupidly stubborn) guy and read the “anti-Juergen” backlash and moved on. Yanks could have have used him in Couva, and many other games in the ‘14-‘18 (Russia) cycle.
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He’s a pro. Been a pro longer than many if the names on your list. Has accomplished and experienced so much more than the names on your list. It’s insane that he (AND BROOKS) have been on the outside looking in.
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In pretty much any other industry a manager would be fired for not getting the best talent available on the payroll just because they don’t fit the system. Poppycock.
You know I remember one of those post or pre game interviews with Sarachan, and he made a comment when asked about Green something like Well we need someone on the field who can put the ball in the net or something like that. (Don’t quote me)
I know his stats aren’t mind blowing but he found a spot that settled into (when we found out he wasn’t a wing, or a 9)
Considering we hadn’t been chock full of goals I think it was stupid he was cast out…
Tactically… now? he’s not really a fit unless we actually played a 4231.., not this sometime GB version… But if that were the case I think Jesus has to get a look to back up Gio
I think it sucked.. He was a kid, he took some heat, but there was a reason why Sarachan said what he said and he deserved another shot.
Now, I just don’t see GB EVER calling him in now
Then again, Tim Ream was off the reservation, on his way to vacation, and you know the story
JR
November 12, 2020 The US is playing Wales in a friendly in Swansea. Josh is supposed to play but gets left out at the last minute, a COVID protocol victim. Given the pandemic most of the squad was European based but Gregg decides to fly his fave, Seba Lletget all the way from Cali, to play Fake 9, a position that Seba had literally never played. And he was predictably awful on the night, putting on a textbook clinic for why “some” MLS players can’t keep up with their euro brethren.
You’d think that if Gregg felt the need to give the Fake 9 a run out that he would have pivoted to others already with the team, Gioachinni or Gio. Or he could have called in Green sitting in Germany not that far away. Brooks was in that game so it wasn’t like everyone from Germany was Covid banned.
And if you are going to play someone at the fake 9 for the first time Julian would have been a far far better candidate to try it out that Seba.
From then on, it was clear to everyone that Gregg just wasn’t that into Julian, for whatever reason.
I mean Gregg has given run outs to guys like Djorde who isn’t in Julian’s zip code when Julian is right.
Julian is deader to Gregg than even JAB and has been for a few years now.
Green has had his ups and downs but the one thing about him that you can’t take away is he can be a dangerous finisher in a way few other Americans can be.
I don’t expect him to ever play for the USMNT again unless Gregg gets canned and Julian gets hot.
So explain why he’s never stuck in the Bundesliga. Bayern passed not a slight, but Stuttgart passed, he struggled when Furth went up, and no Bundesliga teams tried to swoop in and take a shot with him at a discount when they went down. Luca once healthy has held the starting spot at Celta for a season and a half in La Liga. Johnny and Tillman certainly haven’t proven to be better pros but both are more expensive than Julian and are getting opportunities. Brendan it’s maybe too early to tell but his NT numbers are far better per match.
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We know he turned down ‘21 GC, a time Mihailovic excepted. He had several other times he was talked about then got hurt during Berhalter’s reign. Could he have been brought in at some point sure, but his numbers in 2Bundesliga and NT are hardly astonishing. Calling it criminal or inept is pretty strong language for a guy whose average in a league that’s barely above MLS.
V: Germany had restrictions by region (state, whatever they use), so I don’t know if he was available or not. Clubs could also deny call ups at that time so we don’t know that he was available. On secondary note he’s hasn’t been a 9 or 10 for his club in years. It doesn’t seem anyone else believes he could have done any better than Sebi as a false 9. Doesn’t usually play as an attacker any more apparently an 8 or even this year as a double pivot.
JR
“It doesn’t seem anyone else believes he could have done any better than Sebi as a false 9”
“anyone else”? Anyone else must not have seen the game. Or watched Seba play. Remember, Seba had never played the position ever, before, anywhere.
Green was in good form at that time, three years ago and playing regularly for Furth.
Before that game I’d seen Green play a fair amount. And I’d seen Seba play a lot.
I don’t care what “anyone else” thinks.
Green , even if he had never played fake 9 before would have been superior to Seba’s first time attempt. So would Gio or even Gioachinni. Remember I’m talking 2020, not 2023.
“Doesn’t usually play as an attacker any more apparently an 8 or even this year as a double pivot.”
I’m not talking about today, I’m talking about November 2020, three years ago. Green today is more of a regista, a deep lying playmaker. But he is still twice the soccer player Lletget was/is .
Overall , at his best Julian was easily two to three times the player Seba was/is. But Green was not able to maintain that edge for a consistently long enough period, to win over certain people.
But, as someone else pointed out, the lesson of Tim Ream is that if you consistently perform at a high level, at the right time, in front of a high profile audience, you can force Gregg to pay attention to you. Julian is still only 28, so I guess you never know.
V: “Green was in good form at that time, three years ago and playing regularly for Furth.” That simply isn’t true. In 19/20 he had 4g 1a, in the first two months of 20/21 he had 1g 1a. He did finish 20/21 strong which is how he earned a callup in June and an offer to play in the 21 GC which he turned down to focus on his club. In that 21/22 season he was quickly benched and unproductive 0g 0a in the Bundesliga. His 7g last season ranked him tied for 35th in the 2Bundesliga. Tied with him were players from Ghana and Ivory Coast who also haven’t seen any recent call ups. He was 6g behind Terrance Boyd who hasn’t been in the US conversation for 11 years. Sebi in Nov 2020 was coming off a 6g 3a in the 18 game Covid season a goal contribution ever other game. If you go back and listen to guys that break down film after matches Lleget actually was doing his job against Wales it was largely the terrible timing of Konrad and Reyna (teenagers in their first camps being asked to do new things) so Lleget got the ball in the right spot but had no one to play to because the Ws didn’t do the right thing. When Uly Llanez came in more accustomed to the tactics the team got better. Also Lleget scored 5g for NT in 6 months in 20/21. Would I take Green today over Lleget a 1000 times yes. But again to say it’s “criminal” or “inept” is nonsense. Not to mention you don’t even know if he was allowed out of Germany at the time. Your basis is Brooks was so Green must have been even though they weren’t in the same city.
V: I couldn’t find the exact restrictions on Furth during Nov 2020, but Bavaria was the 2nd leading state in cases and deaths for Germany, more than double Brooks state of Lower Saxony. Hotels in Bavaria were closed to tourists during that time.
JR
“In 19/20 he had 4g 1a, in the first two months of 20/21 he had 1g 1a. He did finish 20/21 strong which is how he earned a callup in June and an offer to play in the 21 GC which he turned down to focus on his club. In that 21/22 season he was quickly benched and unproductive 0g 0a in the Bundesliga. His 7g last season ranked him tied for 35th in the 2Bundesliga. Tied with him were players from Ghana and Ivory Coast who also haven’t seen any recent call ups. He was 6g behind Terrance Boyd who hasn’t been in the US conversation for 11 years. Sebi in Nov 2020 was coming off a 6g 3a in the 18 game Covid season a goal contribution ever other game.”
Those stats aren’t convincing enough. WTF do guys from from Ghana and the Ivory Coast have to do with the USMNT?
This guy from Ghana is ranked higher than you in the League and he hasn’t been called up by Ghana so you shouldn’t be called up for the USMNT???.
No offense but do you know how senseless that sounds?
I said from the beginning, I don’t know if Green was left out for COVID reasons. If he was, no problem, Gregg did not make a choice about Green.
But if he wasn’t and neither you nor I seem to be able to find out, then I still think it was stupid to fly Seba all the way over from Cali to Europe during the pandemic to play him in a position he had never played before., and as best as I know, never did again.
If Gregg had some kind of hard on for the concept of Seba as a fake 9, then he would have tried it again and again and again and again and again but he did not do that. You saw how he kept trying to ram Jesus down everyone’s throats as a #9.
If he suddenly had to know about how the fake 9 would work, he had Gio and Gioachinni already in camp and could have given them a shot. Or as we said Green was a few hours away in Germany, were he so inclined.
” If you go back and listen to guys that break down film after matches Lleget actually was doing his job against Wales it was largely the terrible timing of Konrad and Reyna (teenagers in their first camps being asked to do new things) so Lleget got the ball in the right spot but had no one to play to because the Ws didn’t do the right thing. When Uly Llanez came in more accustomed to the tactics the team got better. Also Lleget scored 5g for NT in 6 months in 20/21.”
I saw the game and disagree with the analysis.
Konrad has never fit in well with the USMNT. It’s true that he sucked. But in his three games before this friendly Gio played on the wing (71′, 15′, 69′) for BVB.
Whereas, Seba had no games at his position.
So why should I think Seba had a better handle on what he was supposed to do than Gio did? It was Gio’s last good season before he started getting hurt. He had 46 appearances across all competitions, the same as Bellingham, 8 more than Sancho, 1 less than Julian Brandt, 3 less than Marco Reus and 5 more than his Uber driver. He had 7 goals total with 4 in the league. Bellingham had 4 goals with one in the League.
Not bad for some “teenager”.
V: BvB had this #9 named Erling Haaland who was not playing as a false 9 so Gio didn’t really get his timing right playing with a false 9. Playing the ball to the best pure striker in the game heading towards goal and then looking to collect rebounds is quite different than trying to run into the space vacated by the “false 9”.
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Gio did have a good season in ‘20/21 that doesn’t mean every game was good. As I pointed out above tactics from Dortmund that year quite different from USA in that match.
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What do guys from Ghana have to do with USMNT? Average players in 2Bundesliga don’t make national teams. Green is not a top league player, he’s an average player in a 2nd tier league. When he started playing against men in professional leagues he showed that.
JR
“BvB had this #9 named Erling Haaland who was not playing as a false 9 so Gio didn’t really get his timing right playing with a false 9. Playing the ball to the best pure striker in the game heading towards goal and then looking to collect rebounds is quite different than trying to run into the space vacated by the “false 9”.”
No doubt, but you’re confused.
Seba was a fake 9 virgin. If we assume that Gio was a virgin as well as well then all I have said is that I’d take my chances on Gio playing it better than Seba. Gio is just a better footballer than Seba.
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“Gio did have a good season in ‘20/21 that doesn’t mean every game was good. As I pointed out above tactics from Dortmund that year quite different from USA in that match.”
Again, so what? You’re changing the subject and trying to deflect. We’re talking about the fake 9 position. There is always an element of unfamiliarity when you move from your club team to the national team. I’m claiming that Gio would have handled that better than Seba, in part because he’s clearly just a better soccer player. And more to the point, in 2020 if I’m the manager I’d rather invest on integrating Gio more into the team than Seba because even then the differences in ceiling were quite apparent.
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“What do guys from Ghana have to do with USMNT? Average players in 2Bundesliga don’t make national teams. Green is not a top league player, he’s an average player in a 2nd tier league. When he started playing against men in professional leagues he showed that.”
I don’t use Ghana as a metric for whether or not someone can contribute to the USMNT.
+ While I haven’t done the research , I’ll bet that in 2020 Ghana had a deeper talent pool than the USMNT did.
+ Maybe you know more about it than I do but I am unfamiliar with the politics of how players are selected for Ghana. And don’t tell me that there are no politics involved and that Ghana selects players purely on talent.
In other words, that guy ranked above Julian who isn’t playing for Ghana? Does that mean he isn’t good enough to play for the USMNT?
It is a very, very sketchy way to make a comparison.
“Green is not a top league player, he’s an average player in a 2nd tier league.”
You can say the same for Seba yet you seem happy to have him play for the USMNT.
TX, he hasn’t been called up because he has been an inconsistent player that has been in and out of the starting lineup for a German 2nd division team when rosters were being chosen. None of the long list of great coaches that were lining up to get the US coaching job but got beat out would have called him in either. He is playing consistently now and producing results so he could get called up for Nations League, especially considering the recent rash of injuries. You earn your callups through club play until you can establish a proven track record with the National team, something he has not been able to do to date.