Well seeing as Sidney is the last of the '98 German-American trio ( first identified by @CreightonMCFCjoey ) still on the books at Hertha, I figured it was time for his own thread. Sidney is a player who can and has played all across the midfield. He's played as a #6, #8, AM and wide mid during his time at Hertha. This season it appears that he's most commonly played as one of the two holding mids in a 4-2-3-1 or as one of the two CM's in a 4-4-2. He's got 3 goals and 4 assists in 15 appearances (14 starts in 15 total games) this campaign for the Hertha U-19's, with all 3 goals being in the last 3 games. This is also Sidney's first season with the U-19's. previous thread located here: http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/98-german-americans-at-hertha-berlin.1987171/
Looking at match reports on Hertha's website, Friede has started in all 6 of their Ruckrunde matches since Mr. Collingsworth's post from just after the end of the Hindrunde at the start of winter break and added another 3 goals (unsure if any assists) to his name. Numbers are now 6 goals, 3+ assists in 21 appearances (20 starts). It looks like he's usually deployed as a CM in their typical 4-1-4-1 formation although he has played a least a couple times at CDM, RM and CAM in a 4-2-3-1. Unfortunately for us, he made his debut for Germany's U18s as he played in both of their friendlies last weekend against France.
Well if he's on a trajectory to play for us eventually, it's good he's playing youth international football. Not many of Germany's colts make the derby. In fact, none of our duel nationals are full German international players to my knowledge. Unless he just got captied and I missed that.
Jermaine Jones played for the German senior side. But, point taken - many players in the German youth setup will not end up Cap-tied to Germany. For a dual national to represent Germany at the u18 level isn't a huge indication of whether a player will (or won't) eventually be included in the US pool.
I recently re-read this post over at OWTY (http://owhentheyanks.com/2016/01/15/who-you-gonna-call/) where they talk about Friede. The quote I found curious was: "He has often contacted OWTY about his willingness to play for the US, yet has not received a call-up to this point." Maybe I'm taking the way this is written too literally, but it sounds as if Friede wasn't merely responding to an inquiry, but proactively reached out to the site on his own to declare his interest in representing the U.S.
I can't speak to that. That one little paragraph is all I have ever seen on the matter. One would certainly hope and think so, though, if his interest was that strong.
Sidney Friede is one of nine Hertha Berlin youth players in training camp with the Hertha first team. John Brooks is not in this particular camp, as he is resting after the Copa. http://www.herthabsc.de/de/profis/s...e/10901--10276-10276--10276.html#.V3_YrfkrLX4 This is the best photo of Friede I could find from the camp, from Getty Images. He's in the foreground.
Yep. I believe Jones is the only German-American who has ever gotten a senior German cap, and it was only B-squad friendlies. Johnson, Brooks, Chandler, Williams, Green, the Parker brothers have all played for German youth teams, but none of them were able to make it to the senior team. Even if someone (looking at you, Brooks) would have the potential to possibly break into the German national team picture, the USMNT obviously offers a greater chance to be at the top of the depth chart and receiving more playing time right away. I'm pretty confident that most of the upcoming German-American pipeline -- Friede, Glen, Anton, Sheron, Suddoth, the Tillmans, etc. -- will not make it to the German senior team and/or eventually choose the US. Jeremy Toljan might be able to break into the German senior team someday, but he clearly has mixed feelings about his American connection so I don't think he'd want to join the US anyway.
Jermaine Jones would have definitely been a squad player for Germany, if not for injuries. FJ was a starter on the U21 Champion side, and certainly could have been a mainstay the last few years if he would have stayed untied.
Even if Jones and Johnson would have definitely or certainly been regular squad players or mainstays for Germany (which I don't necessarily agree with), the US provided them essentially an almost-immediate starting job and plenty of playing time. And in the cases of Brooks and Julian Green in 2014, and possibly Timothy Tillman and/or Sidney Friede in 2018, the US can offer them a trip to the World Cup at a very young age that Germany simply cannot. I get what you're saying that Jones and Johnson (and Brooks) had potential to become a part of the German national team if they were patient, but the USMNT is a good team that regularly makes the World Cup and offers significantly less competition for a starting job.
I think Toljan's more likely to play for Croatia than either Germany or the US. Either way, I agree that the majority of the youth NT dial nays will eventually either play for usmnt or nobody.
Good point about Croatia for Toljan. It would be a fairly favorable move for Toljan because: a) even if he isn't good enough to break into the German senior team in any capacity, he likely would still be at least a squad player for Croatia b) even if he is good enough to eventually be a squad player for Germany if he is patient, then he'd likely be good enough to be instant starter for Croatia and receive lots of immediate playing time c) Croatia isn't elite like Germany, but it's still a good team that regularly qualifies for the World Cup, and Toljan could likely go as soon as 2018 at a relatively young age that Germany would simply not have room for him As one can tell, this isn't much different from Johnson or Jones or Brooks choosing the US. I very much believe that Tillman and Friede will follow the same path.
Hertha wrote up a profile on him: http://www.herthabsc.de/de/profis/s...e/10926--10276-10276--10276.html#.V41H1vkrLX4 (Google translate)
Young players, commit this to memory: Which current Hertha players can you abgucken most? One can abgucken by all players something and learn from them, most obviously by the experienced. Given the opportunity to abgucken experienced players, you should take it every time. Every. Time.
He's moved up to Hertha II this season, starting their first two matches. As a 98, he is still eligible for the U19 team as well.
3 weeks into the U19 Bundesliga season, Gaines, Wright, Friede & Tillman have together managed 2 goals and 5 assists pic.twitter.com/yHceFwCSec— Nats Abroad (@Nats_Abroad) August 23, 2016
Taking advantage of the international break: '98 German-American Sidney Friede trained with Hertha Berlin first team the let couple days #usynt #USMNT— Joey (@USAprospects) September 2, 2016
Played the 2nd half of a friendly against an 8th? division team. Brooks played the 1st half. Apparently the starting GK Thomas Kraft played right back and scored a penalty for the team's 10th goal, lol. Die 2. Halbzeit jetzt mit: Körber – Kraft, Hegeler, Baak, Mittelstädt – Friede, Kohls – Baumjohann, Owusu, Kurt - Allagui (46.). #hahohe— Hertha BSC (@HerthaBSC) September 2, 2016