I bet his being Druze has a lot to do with the switch to the USA. Israel is a semi-theocracy and that concept particularly sucks if you are part of a religious minority.
And I'd bet that a Druze in Israel enjoys more rights than he would in any other Middle Eastern country.
Not one thing either of you has said is improbable. Glad he's an option for us now. The depth of our pool on the left side will really benefit, and I hope Bruce gives him a chance to show what he can do.
Strawman Scotty, the question is what sort of standing does he "enjoy" in Israel NOT any other country.
I don't find that point irrelevant when you consider that the Druze are a religious minority in any country they're in. But if the question deals specifically with their status in Israel then I'd like to know what "sucks" about it (although I realize that was Bruce's statement rather than yours).
actually I think this is generally a civil conversation. My point is that he may not have the same attachment to the Jewish Homeland that someone Jewish would naturally have. Is that such a strange notion?
I never claimed the conversation was uncivil. And you're right; it's not such a strange notion. But it's still just speculation, and if we're going to go that route then I'd guess his switch comes down to getting jerked around by the Israeli national team, since there's actually some evidence for that.
[QUOTE="Bruce S, post: 35625825, member: 5681"]It's not anti-Israel. I'm Jewish. Check your baggage at the door.[/QUOTE] That's not mutually exclusive. And this about Druzes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze_in_Israel
Wow with those comments, no wonder he didn't want to play for them. Didn't know there was such animosity against Druzes over there. Shame.
My theory is he played central because he also has played central with his club and Arena also wanted to play favorites with Zardes.
Loser Kenny Saief begged me to play for my national team. I said no way because he's such a loser. Sad! He recently had surgery and was bleeding all over the place. Disgusting!
http://www.football-lineups.com/footballer/94470/Analysis/ This web site has Saief with about 4 starts as a forward and all the rest as a LM or occasionally a RM. Not immediately obvious where he came in when used as a sub. The Nat's could benefit from another good LM and I was really looking forward to seeing him in that role, so his appearance centrally to replace Corona was a mild surprise. But, the team sure could use depth behind Pulisic in that ACM role. With guys like Feilhaber, Kljestan, and Nguyen apparently not in Arena's plans, he seems to be looking at Corona and even Saief. Interesting.
Another one of those played out of position (looks like he was subbed into Joe Benny's position), IMHO... could be another one of those... HE PLAYS IN EUROPE (out of sight) FELLAS, so he must be good. That said, he looked out of shape, hopefully he improves with better conditioning, and cousin Brucie works to find his best position to help the team.