I think what gives Toljan even more of a boast is CL football. The other leftback alternatives are either EL or domestic only. The German coach has been harping on for a few years about wanting players to do well in Europe, specifically CL. As that is the ultimate practice for NT tournaments like WC and Euros. So yeah pretty much if Toljan can break into the XI for domestic and CL. Would be hard to ignore him. With Hector out until December (missing overall 4 games). That means even if Plattenhardt is chosen, he might still call on someone else to give a chance to. In terms of recent call ups for LB, it's been Platte and Gerhardt, outside of Hector. Heck he could easily divide the October games to 2 different LB to see how they play. There are also 2 Friendly games in November, although that wouldn't cap tie a player, it would still mean they are in contention. For example some players that were picked at the WC 14 had only 1-2 caps before the tourney. Others who played a bit leading up to the WC, didn't get real chances until a year or 2 after the WC. Toljan is a versatile player more so than other defenders as he can play well all over the defense. Which might make him more useful than others.
These are good points, and Löw may have gotten over his thing for playing four center backs at the same time. Toljan's versatility and well-rounded tools should in theory give him a leg up over an exclusive left back like Plattenhardt - I think specialization is one of the factors that kept Schmelzer out of the NT. WC could happen, in 2014 guys like Durm, Kramer and Mustafi snuck into the squad out of nowhere. But the USSF should have its ducks lined up in a row, just in case.
More like a brain fart for the ages. I know that region fairly well, and let's just say that the Serb-Croat animosity makes Northern Ireland seem like a Quaker meeting room.
Where's Klinsi? Can we send him over to Germany and have a chat with Toljan? This kid was very impressive for BVB yesterday.
Yeah and he wasn't interested in chatting back. http://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/horst-hrubesch/statt-klinsi-41120008.bild.html
Team of the Week: There is a yellow feel to our Bundesliga team of the week as 5 Borussia Dortmund players make the cut after their 6-1 win over Gladbach pic.twitter.com/uJ8A1fJ6Ih— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) September 25, 2017
Does phillipp really deserve a 10? I understand that he scored 2 and assisted 1 but he seemed like he didn't have much of an impact besides that. I think a 9.5-9.7 would have been more fair.
Jurgen tried and was given a quick no I am not sure he even has an American passport. I would bet heavily that he does not. Given that his parents were not married and his father died a long time ago (even before he was born - thus not even being around to around at the time of the birth certificate). He doesn’t even know any of his American family either- at least not as of a few years ago And even if he wanted to get one, I think it would be a very very difficult process
Gets the start a left back today against Wolfsburg. He has 8 appearances (7 starts) in the Bundesliga with Dortmund (including today). Also a start in the cup, and 2 appearances (1 start) in the Champions League. He made 2 starts with Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga and 1 in the cup before the transfer.
He seems unlikely to play for Germany anytime soon in an official competition, might be a chance to get him.
he's also eligible for Croatia it's not Germany or US only and if shredder is accurate him being eligible for the US seems complicated. Besides his seeming lack of interest in playing for the US.
We have asked him a couple of times and each time he declined. But then again, see how Mexico continue to invite JoGo ended up.
I could be wrong, but he currently doesn’t have a US passport (his dad died before he was born and something about just the mom on the birth certificate or something about paperwork) and FIFA rules prevent players going back and getting a passport once they get provisionally cap tied. Jurgen tried to talk him into getting his US passport and he had zero interest. Very estranged from his American side of the family, too. It would be best to just let this one go.
It appears that FIFA rules accept a citizenship you were eligible for at birth even if you never went to the effort to have it issued to you. The limitation is that you can't naturalize into a citizenship after you are provisionally cap-tied.
That's correct except that there is no FIFA issue. Toljan was born to a US-born father, so according to US law he is a natural born citizen and he was always US eligible from a FIFA standpoint. The fact that he would have to go through a bunch of documentation and filings to actually get the US passport is not relevant. Basically this is the almost the same situation as Terrence Boyd, except 1) Toljan would actually have to become interested in switching and 2) his father being deceased makes documentation a pain in the ass. Worth an occasional temperature check from US Soccer, though I wouldn't say he is an immediate difference-maker.
The fact that his father is dead (and died before Jeremy was born) AND the fact that his parents were never married makes it a gigantic pain in the ass, legally. It's possible, but I'm sure someone here could actually describe just how difficult it would be to get that passport under those circumstances.