I was hoping for him to stay with City for the first half of the season to just work on his game and then get loaned out over the winter break to a team in need of GK. Going to a mid table Bundesliga side that gave up 3 goals shy of 2 goals/game will be a great experience.
I havent followed them that closely, so have no idea (will probably get up to speed this summer... I guess they will be replacing Dortmund this season). Either way, Steffen gets a lot of reps. He handled the adapting period with Columbus very well... let's hope he can do the same at Dusseldorf.
Here's a doozy: Since he joined the USMNT in 2012, Timmy Chandler was at least as committed to the program as Landon Donovan. Note: I didn't say that Landon wasn't committed.
Here's another: Irrespective of talent, there will be over a dozen MLS players and at least 5-6 starters from MLS for almost every Hex game.
I am very high on Steffen. He will be as good as he wants to be. He has every natural thing that he needs to become a GREAT keeper, one to rival Friedel, Keller, or Howard. He has the tools to perform at the highest level a keeper can perform at. Keepers tend to peak later in their careers and maintain that peak for a long time. I think that Steffen will be at his peak when the US plays the world cup at home. I'm looking forward to watching him have great performances in knockout matches during that world cup.
So now we have a public report that Nagbe has turned down multiple call ups. Yet we’ve never seen anything public to corroborate the rumors about Chandler. Hmmmm
Timmy Chandler rising to heroic status among Klinsmann's apologists is one of the more hilarious peculiarities of the current moment.
Facts, Ill pile on, he isnt even a top 5 right back right now. Yedlin, Dest, Lima, Cannon, Adams all better options.
Is Chandler actually fit to step on a field this season? After the Morales selection we need a new talisman for the "Berhalter's biased and will never, ever call up this awesome major league superstar" movement. I guess there's Johnson too.
Chandler isnt any different than he was before... a player that might be able to help us. This just points out how absurd the attacks against him are by people like you. If only he fled an African nation as a young child and played in MLS. The reality is MLS fans became fixated on Klinsmann and took their hate out on German-Americans and any fringe player that didnt come from MLS. These people continue to be a disease within US soccer. Nagbe is exactly what that culture creates. A whole lot of wasted talent. I could care less what he does, but keep him away from the USMNT.
Which of course ignores the point: Chandler-haters (and we all know why) are so quick to point out that he wasn’t committed to the USMNT but when asked to show ANY proof that he was anything other than committed after joining the USMNT come up with......NOTHING. Meanwhile, another USMNT player get called out by a public source and the same posters who laid into chandler say nothing because of.....
Here’s another person who simply doesn’t believe that there’s a global meritocracy in soccer and that the major leagues are better than MLS/B2/championship. I’m happy to not call him in given his age and that we have a year until qualification starts. That being said, Chandler just played well as a sub for the 37th ranked global club by 538. Do you really think that Lima and Cannon (whom I am interested in seeing develop) could do that? Gimme a break. Don’t even get me started on Adams as a right back.
On the contrary, I'm excited to see Morales after hearing so much about his major league talents and about how Berhalter was so misguided in not selecting him earlier. My expectations are pretty high.
Hopefully, he’ll get to play with Baird, Trapp and Lovitz as I’m sure you’re also a big fan of Berhalter’s unwavering confidence in them. I’m sure he’ll get the same level of support from you and other that Trapp and Bradley have - there’s no way that two games vs top 20 teams would be enough to get a perspective as we’ve given those two over a full year of starts.
Hmm, I don't recall giving Trapp that much support. And given his garbage minutes in the Gold Cup I wouldn't say Berhalter's faith in him is unwavering. At any rate I never read too much into friendlies, although there's always room for some praise and disappointment to go around.
Classy, making your point by dissing Nagbe for being a refugee. Too bad his mom wasn't lucky enough to get nailed by serviceman, I guess? Nagbe had to earn his citizenship to play for the USA, whereas Chandler couldn't even be bothered to fly to the United States for a bonus check. Again, I'm super curious to know what Chandler did to earn the such fervent loyalty from rubes. Literally, what are you talking about? How, exactly, were "MLS fans" in a position to "take their hate" out on Chandler, given they can't control whether or not he gets called up or not? He got to represent the USA at the World Cup, which is the most prestigious award for an American footballer.
I remember when Fabian was called out publicly by Klinsmann. Will you acknowledge that there is absolutely no evidence of the oft-stated “Chandler wassn’t committed” once he joined the USMNT or provide evidence (a la Nagbe)? I’ll wait patiently.
Of course there was no evidence he wasn't committed under Klinsmann. Just because "fear of flying" kept him judiciously absent from every moment he would be required to get out of his comfort zone and play Concacaf qualifiers south of Corpus Christi doesn't mean he wasn't 100% raving committed. Why, that's exactly what the guys in the preWC camp said. "Donovan? A lazy bastard. He's an embarrassment in training he is. Now, oh that Timmy, he just loves to be here. Why, he's the guy who came in third on JK's beep test. Why, he's the guy out there after practice continuing to push himself on his own. Why, he's the guy who's given heart and soul to the USMNT for a full freakin' decade. What kind of irresponsible louts are you to question him just because his comfort zone lies between the Rhine and the Rhone?" Yup, exactly what they said.
I think the reason Chandler isn't getting a look is simple. Berhalter has been happy with the play of Cannon and Lima, and also has some young fullbacks he's bringing into the fold (starting with Dest who can play on either side). Cannon, by the way, has reportedly had significant "interest" from European suitors this window. Some of them in Germany. At the risk of sounding snooty, I'd also say that I've watched several horrid Chandler performances for the USMNT. I can't get too worked up about his exclusion.
I brought up chandler not to argue for his inclusion going forward (even though he’s good enough right now to be an asset) but rather to point out the hypocrisy towards him that a certain set of posters refuse to acknowledge (there’s no evidence of him not being committed to the USMNT when the media has no problem pointing out others)
Cannon just fits with the Nats. He's a nice blend of attacking and defending proficiency. You can add him to the attack or park him while the other back roams. He's also quite mature and experienced for his age, making him a natural fit with McKennnie, Adams, and Pulisic. A move to Germany would be great...it would apply pressure on him to be more assertive offensively and to be more flawless defensively. It could make Reggie into an incredibly valuable player.