^ Bshredder has it. I love Chandler folks. He is a really good player and might be a great USMNT player. He ain't Germany good.
agree except for the last part. as someone already noted (per kicker) he was the # 4 rated defender in the BL, in his 1st year at 21
Really, there are that many German fullbacks his age obviously better than him? Serious question, I don't watch much Bundesliga at all. Sounds a little overstated though.
The more I think about this, the more Nurnberg is on my shit list. And I don't like German clubs to begin with.
Germany is stacked with young players. These are the defenders they have called up for their next friendly Marcel Schmelzer (23) Arne Friedrich (31) Mats Hummels (22) Holger Badstuber (22) Christian Träsch (23) Philipp Lahm (27) They also have Jérôme Boateng (22) Andreas Beck (24) Sascha Riether (28) Marcell Jansen (25) Serdar Tasci (24) Marcel Schäfer (28) Christian Schulz (28) Heiko Westermann (27) Now yes there are a few of those guys who are significantly older than Chandler, but Germany is NOT afraid to call up their youngsters (remember they were the second youngest team in the World Cup). If Germany was really interested, you would hear something
Don't get me wrong. I agree that clubs are asked to part with their players for international duty too often, and too often come back worn out or injured, leaving them to foot the wage bill and figure out how to replace him. I would not be upset at all if Nurnberg put their foot down over a friendly, or the Olympics, the 2nd GC, or a non-essential WCQ match. The Confed Cup? That would upset me, but not this much. But as for the GC, an important WCQ match or the WC, this is totally unacceptable. Those need to be completely non-negotiable. (Yes, ALL official competitions and FIFA date matches are by the rule book, but officially speaking, it wasn't Nurnberg's decision, it was the player's. Almost certainly at Nurnberg's insistence.)
If Germany were becoming interested in the future of a player who had 14 first team appearances, we would all know about it already? I also question that.
Chandler may be comparable with other young German defenders, but because of Germany's depth they probably don't consider him indisposable or worth fighting over.
Why ? when you think about it they are doing what's best for the player. I remember the redsox trying to keep Dice K out of the WC but he played and played a lot, he was never the same, F'ing 100 + million down the drain and the idiot Dice K has never been the same. He may be headed for TJS. The Sox knew what was best for him, yet playing for Japan may have ruined a somewhat promising career.
This is smart on Nurnberg part. The US is expected to get to the final so this is basically would be a month long commitment for Chandler after the regular season. He can then return from the Gold Cup to immediately start training with Nurnberg for next season. German's believe strongly in periodization, that there are times for training hard, and times for complete rest. If you don't do this, your body and play suffers. Chandler is a young guy who has had a whirlwind year and it probably is very likely in his best interest to just go home and have some time to chill and appreciate everything he experienced this year.
1)who the ******** cares what Nurenburg thinks. 2)As you say, they're a small club with a small squad. It's not like they could afford to bury someone like Chandler for an extended period of time to prove a point. 3)Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this is: What does it say about the USSF et al that Bradley is so ********ing comfortable in his job that he would leave off a player that would make his roster better for our continental championship because some ********ing chumps in Germany put up a bitch? Seriously - 4 years ago the result of this Gold Cup got the interim tag removed from Bradley's business cards. This tournament is at home. Winning the whole ********ing thing should be the only goal. And Bradley's job is to put this team in the best position to win THIS tournament. Not prepare the team for qualifiers. Not make nicey nicey with a player's club. It's to win this ********ing tournament. If we do poorly in this tournament Bradley should be fired, if for no other reason than not insisting that he be able to assemble the best team possible.
Agree about Bob being fired for a poor showing, but I don't think we should be too quick to blame him about Chandler. A coach shouldn't have to coerce a player into playing in his national team's regional championship. Obviously the U.S. is not a priority for Chandler at this time.
Chandler for one If Chandler listens to his club, he doesn't have to play for the US at the Gold Cup if he doesn't want to.
Let's see it for what it is. Chandler and Bob got pushed around by a club that rightly or wrongly had the upper hand. As a result, hopefully Timmy will continue to solidify himself with that club and we'll see him at the Olympics next summer. That's something to look forward to.
It is not similar one bit. Japan was treated as a "guest nation" by CONMEBOL and thus the tournament was going to be a friendly for them. The German clubs put up some stink and the Japanese federation decided not to fight them over it. There's obviously no question that the Gold Cup is an official tournament for the US. If Bob wanted the kid, he should have gotten him. Dortmund's Lukasz Piszczek was rated as the best right fullback in Bundesliga with a 3.09 cumulative rating. Phillip Lahm was at 3.37. Andreas Beck 3.55. Timmay was at 3.08, but with too few matches to qualify for the top rated player list. The above (plus, obviously, Lahm, who's the German captain) are prime contenders to play on the right side of defense as Lahm's back-ups. Träsch (3.43) plays in defensive midfield for Stuttgart but can rotate. Boateng is with ManCity and is not really quick enough to play wide. Beck has fallen out of favor and Riether (3.61) can play either as a fullback or in wide/thin midfield. Another factor for them is that Lahm can play either side, if pressed. BTW, here's what GOAL had on this : http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=goal-thethreebiggeststoriesemana
Nurenberg will get more money for Chandler (one day) from one of the larger German clubs if he is a member of the German National team than they would if he's a member of the US Nats'. He may have his heart set on playing for the US but I'm sure that he has a lot of voices (mostly German speaking) in his ears talking about what is best for his career. Soccer players dream about playing for their National teams in championships. For a 21-22 year old kid to sit out definitely feels like a stalling tactic. Unless he's not totally healthy.
Something is not right. I know people keep saying he is just listening to his club...chandler can miss a little preseason to get the rest back, plus he is young. I don't think Chandler would lose his spot either. He is the best right fullback on the team...the cream would rise. He would not be playing every game anyway. The club and the nats could have limited his game time. Something smells fishy. I'm not questioning chandler, but the motives of his club and maybe someone else behind the scenes.
Ditto. I was enraged earlier, and I still haven't calmed down. For the love of God, he didn't even play the full year and he's 21!!! Are they going to be using the same excuse next year? He's too tired to go on WC qualifying runs? Oh, and they better be releasing him for friendlies later. Cause we won't be forgetting this, and HE HAS TO PLAY FOR US AT SOME POINT. Yes, it's a friendly, but again, you have to release him at some point. And the first time we see him again should not be as part of WC qualifying - aka game #1. We need to sort our new defensive line, and he's in it. So, Nurnberg, at some point you'll have to suck it. And Bob and USSF, you better make them do it. At some point shit will hit the fan over this. EDIT: And I hope Chandler realizes how much his fan base has grown over here. Kid played basically 1.1 games and has people freaking out over him not being included in a squad a couple of months later. We luv you man.