Shawn Parker at Greuther Fürth

If he had such terrible attitude issues would JK be recruiting him?

 

I sense JK thinks he can work with anyone. He is that much of a salesman.

 

Definitely an intriguing player and was really aggressive today. Tuchel has like 5 guys in the attacker rotation who can double as CF or winger so it'll be interesting to see how Mainz lines up in the coming weeks.

 

Maybe he is maturing? That would be great for the US and Germany.

 

I doubt it. When German trainers say that a player has an attitude problem, that almost always includes laziness. If a player is training well, that means he's working hard at practice.

 

laziness is one, there is also not a team player, getting in to arguments with staff and players, etc. I just have a problem with him with his remarks when asked to consider accepting our invite, there is no diplomacy in his response.

 

He said he could not respond due to the DFB requests...he pretty much had his hands tied.

 

His actual quote is "I shouldn't be talking to you". Mind you, that conversation went so bad that our youth coach gave up at that point. If he was told he should reject US invite and concentrate to playing with Germany then there is a better way to respond. The way he said makes him sound like a punk, I wonder if that is one of his "problems".

 

You can't evaluate that quote out of context.

 

This is the perfect player for the USMNT, if we are going to go 4-4-2. Basically slotted into the Charlie Davies role. Been saying that for a while.

 

true, but my hunches are usually pretty good.

 

Paging Shawn Parker? Will this be the next shoe to drop? Probably a better player than Green at this point. He's already started 13 games at Bundesliga level.

 

Tough to really say whether he's better or not because Green hasn't really been measured against the same competition Parker has as frequently, however I would say Parker has accomplished more (rightly so, Parker is 3 years older)

 

Parker also either doesn't seem interested or Klinsmann doesn't seem interested.

 

Parker couldn't expand with an answer because of potential DFB repercussions as they didn't want him to talk about that topic

As for JK
Grant Wahl ‏@GrantWahl Feb 27
Hearing Jurgen Klinsmann is pushing harder to get Arsenal's Gedion Zelalem & Mainz's Shawn Parker to choose the USMNT. Hardly a slam dunk.

 

Klinsmann is def interested.

 

Wonder why DFB was holding the line on Parker but not Green? Do they just think Parker is better?

 

Maybe Parker is just the only one willing to listen.

 

Well Parker has accomplished more technically then Green. However I'm not sure they're necessarily holding the line for him much anymore since he has only managed 18 mins I believe with the U21s...he's behind a lot of competition.

 

On in the 58th at RW it looks like vs. Eintracht Frankfurt

 

I wonder how much is that based on his performance and/or behavior.

 

Parker comes on at halftime vs Dortmund.

 

I actually watched this one. Parker played well, considering the circumstances. As always, he was pacey, but he's also beginning to show signs of better movement. I think he could really break out next year.

 

Agreed. Tuchel seems to enjoy taking talented guys and molding them into more efficient players who play the "right way", moving off the ball and looking for teammates. He's done that this year with Choupo-Moting, and if he gets sold I imagine the projects for next season are Parker and Koo.

 

At times, yes. However Mainz don't really play "the right way" most of the time. They're a smash and grab team that thrives on organization. They're opportunistic, which requires good passing and finishing in the final third, but they're not a team that will blow you away with superior passing.

Of course that's probably just the budget Tuchel works with. €17 million a year in team wages, and they have the cumulative 5th best record over the last few seasons. If he were to move to Schalke when his contract is up as so many have speculated, I assume his style would change.