Schweiny switched as well from a winger to central midfielder, just to give another example in the German system.
A lot players switched their roles late or over the run of a career. But in the modern game fullbacks are almost the most important positions given they are expected to go forward to create superior numbers and help in attack. That needs training and experience from day one of a footballers life that usual starts when playing on the big field. Thats what the Ajax school has been doing since ever. Apart from that has Green not the physique to defend. He'd need to beef up which will eventually cost him one of his assets: speed. Apart from that part II: The US lack fast, dribbling skilled wingers. Why converting the only prospect youve got of those?
Schweini has always been a CM also in youth. It's just that this position was taken by others. Van Gaal saw that and converted him back.
I remember reading something a while ago mentioning him being right footed. Transfermrkt list him as both. From his play he seems comfortable with both
You know what he means. Both Cherundolo and Lahm, to use another example, were not build like bulls but had a strong underlying wiriness that allowed them to keep up with larger and stronger players than them. There is a great video of Lahm defending against Koller floating around on the internet. Green at this moment does not have this. It's fine playing leftback against the semi-professionals from Illertissen, Schaldig- Heining or Amberg, but wont work at a professional level. PS: I just saw that Amberg have a dual-national German-American called Julian Ceesay. Wouldn't that be someone for Klinsmann?
You might be surprised but there are other aspects to a player's physique else than height and I mentioned one above. Call it body mass or whatever you want. Long ball to the right wing is what they play in Kreisklasse - Green will get manhandled in every league above. I also would not recommend to bring up Cherundolo as an example since with his deficits its been a wonder he played that high for that long. Maybe cause Hannover couldnt afford a better RB at the time. Basically a 1. Buli version of Willi Landgraf. Lahm is a once in a generation world class fullback who could manage to cope cause he possessed an outstanding game intelligence and was strong in 1v1s on the ground. Exception, not the rule.
I don't think Green could ever learn to defend at high enough of a level, when he's been trained as nothing but an attacker.
Julian is heading to Brazil to play with the USA U-23s, according to his tweet: On my way to Brazil to play for the U-23 Men's National Team. 👍🇧🇷 #jg37 pic.twitter.com/KF9ywJy4oc— Julian Green (@J_Green37) November 9, 2015
Good to see, the U23 squad needs him and he needs this type of experience. Glad to see him brought back into the fold, he could be very useful against Colombia if he's deployed properly.
Yeah, cause there are no "beefed up" fast runners... But maybe he'll only be as slow as this Green...
That Green is designed for straight-ahead speed and big long curves. Fast football players need extra muscle for taking hits and tackling.
Huh? Are you saying that M Green's body type and speed don't work on soccer players? First, it's silly to say you need to look like Usain Bolt to be a strong outside back. There are many thin, fast outside backs with good technical skills. Now J Green at 135 lbs, is slight. But if he were to "beef up" to even decent sprinter's weight it is not likely to affect his speed - except perhaps enhance it. Anyone who has ever worked with a decent speed coach knows that upper body strength can be an asset to a runner, if developed properly, especially for short burst runners, like, you know, soccer players. It was just a silly thing for the poster to say. Which is not to say Green would make a good wing back or full back - I don't see that he has the instinct for defending. But there are plenty of slight full backs and beefed up speedsters. Neither is mutually exclusive.
If I am going somewhere I am excited to go, happy. Not saying he isn't but, c'mon, is it so hard to crack a smile?