Tea Light in the Dark Universe: Bobby Wood at Hamburg

HSV on the injury:

 

Liars!!

 

Seems that way, I can't believe

Sly dogs, keeping their player well rested to battle them out of the relegation zone. Or is it he accepted a call up but forgot he's #TeamKlinsamann for life

 

That's trending close to character assassination of one of our top players, who's busted his ass for years, simply off an injury we don't have much info on. You appear to be assuming the worst.

Jones is here. Fabian was going to be and Arena has suggested he's a key piece. Wood isn't a German American. Chandler is suspended and otherwise would likely be here. Arena's sent scouts to watch Green and said he's under consideration.

I mean, this seems far more about form/injuries than political statements. But that's just me.

 

That's a crucial difference.

I think things will go back to normal, but also wonder what tone Arena took with them when he went to Europe.

All the info I saw on that gave the impression that he didn't spend any time with them, just talked to them on the phone for three minutes each --something he could have done from the USA.

So, basically, he went there to see them play.

 

Oh my days, some of us here really live up to that beloved 'Spazzo' moniker some El Tri fans have granted us.

 

Excuse me but this is a bit off. You actually believe Bobby would risk a trip to a WC because he is thankful to Juergen? That's one weird hypothesis dude.

 

umm?
http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2016/12/06/23/07/161206-bruce-arena-visits-mnt-players?3

 

I had not seen that one. Glad he met them in person. He did need to make sure they knew he wanted them on the team.

Some of the absences are honest head scratchers to me: Chandler, when all our FBs are injured; Morales, who's looking good with his club; Boyd, who's back scoring even if benched again for unknown reasons.

Also, that they miss a couple of games at this point, when the European season is winding down, doesn't mean they won't be back after, once the crunch time is over. You have to consider all these guys are entering the final lap of the race.

So it's not risking their future with the NT, they are still needed and Arena is not a dunce, he'll call them again later even if he knows they were not exactly enthusiastic about it this time. He knows how important the last games of the season are.

Also, I think we should be capable to take care of Honduras with our MLSers only, if we must.

 

Boyd has played 6 games this year and has 1 goal, how does that warrant a callup? and these are his first 6 games in like 2 years, probably also why he isn't starting every game.

 

Despite the talk of German Americans, the two blatant omissions in my eyes are EMO, our current top CM and Arriola, being bypassed for the ghost of Zusi and Bedoya.

 

This makes no sense:

JAB: On the roster will most likely play
Jones: On the roster, will most likely start at least 1 game
Fab: Injured
Boyd: Just started playing after loooong injury layoff. 1 goal in 6 games doesn't warrant a call for a do-or-die series
Chandler: Suspended for the first game, I can understand not calling him up for this reason alone.
Morales: Playing. Not sure that he's any better than who was called in.
Williams: Not sure why he doesn't get called in, but DM isn't really a position we're thin at.
Zelalem: Dutch 2nd Division...enough said.
Green: 6 games, 1 goal in BL2. Haven't seen the games, just highlights.

Basically I see maybe 1 maybe 2 players that could've been called up but weren't.

3 were called
2 (Boyd, Zelalem) have no business being called now
4 Iffies and I get the lack of Chandler call.

 

That, and he's injured. He missed the last match due to muscle problems.

The much more plausible "conspiracy" theory (totally overused phrase as supposedly outlandish, and half the time it isn't a conspiracy rather ulterior motives, company men, etc.) here is that injuries were exaggerated by German coaches and team doctors because they didn't want to risk aggravation or an actual injury of consequence playing with the national team. If one has a hard time imagining this sort of thing going on, they are very naïve. We are talking multi-million dollar investments, and when that type of money is involved, history shows you should be able to imagine a lot of things. After all, remember how Chandler's manager reportedly antagonized him when considering whether to accept call-ups to the USNT and asserted it just wasn't worth missing training in the Bundesliga for something so unimportant? And this was while the US manager was a German legend. Now he, his connections, and prestige aren't even around. We would be dealing with different players than Chandler in this instance, i.e.: Wood, Fabian, Boyd, etc.; but the timing is pretty coincidental. And mind you, team doctors in the NBA exaggerate to even manufacture injuries all the time to have an excuse for their players to have a game rest here and there during the grueling regular season schedule. I'd watch closely to see how soon these guys return. I'm not putting it on the players because they're trusting their team doctors, but with Fabian I remember one instance where he couldn't play for us but next game for BMG he was right out there without any problems. That happens enough, and the optics are poor.

 

They are in the last stretch of games for their leagues.

Add to that that at this point they may not feel too enthusiastic about playing for the NT, with Klinsmann gone and some of the things said, and I think we can easily explain this away.

Which doesn't mean things won't be much better for the next qualifiers.

 

The Klinsmann firing was overdue. Deep down even the biggest Klinsmann loyalist must have known that.

And for a guy like Wood, he even was born....in the U.S.A. The current political climate shouldn't slow him down.

Barring the staunchest of political dissidents, I really doubt anyone could justify missing qualifiers that could keep them from playing in the next WC, unless their body was betraying them or their team doctor advised it wouldn't be in their best interest to play during that week.

 

Ducking hell, people. What the duck is wrong with people here?

There's no basis for these allegations and no reason to defend them.

How ********ing little brother do you have to feel to concoct this shit?

 

Is everyone else unable to see two or three posts or is it just my incompetence?

 

Try laying that line on the millions of folks who have/have had moderate to serious back distress. Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Don't you have an ambulance to chase?

 

It wasn't overdue. It was too late. At the point he got fired, it may have been better to keep him.

I want to have faith in Arena, though, in spite of his last year in the Galaxy.

 

The Mexican coach, Osorio, announced the other day that he was allowing Tecatito and Fabian to stay with their clubs after talking to them, since both had been injured before and felt they would be better getting back to form while helping their clubs. Both are playing now, by the way.

Playing for your NT is not an obligation, players get paid peanuts for it, and if they have reached their club ceiling already, there's no reason to showcase themselves.

It's plausible that Wood prioritized his club career at this point, getting treated by an on-going issue instead of coming here. It wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary.

 

Right?!? Oh my days!

 

In every sport where clubs pay more and more to their players, the less and less likely a player is going to play for their country while injured. Just not gonna happen, be it baseball, hockey, soccer, etc. Too much is at stake. Honestly, these "national" competitions are a ridiculous farce as long as organizations like FIFA run them. It's a great scam, get athletes to compete on someone else's dime by invoking patriotism, and make hordes of cash. I think it's perfectly okay for an athlete who's never made the big bucks and who's had injuries derail them in the past, (Bobby's 2012 injury was supposedly career-ending), would listen to his advisors if he has a lingering back issue, while his potentially one big payday is looming. This is a good opportunity to get it treated. If the US can't win without him, then we have no depth and don't deserve to win.

Besides Bobby is Hawaiian, not a Germerican, so his loyalty to Klinsmann is nothing. Hadn't he already been in the U20 setup? He was at 1860 Munich for years, and had coaches and tech directors get fired on an annual basis. You learn that soccer is a business and that there is little loyalty in the sport.

 

How far is Stuttgart from Hamburg?

 

One side:
I think Wood is still fit to play. His club probably put the squeeze on him about a probable minor knock that is common for mid season pro's. There may also be some retalliation against Klinsmann's firing. A lot of the younger players really liked him. Klinsmann was calling up Wood and giving him minutes during turbulent times at 1860.

Other side:
As a youth player Wood relished playing for the national team as far as I could tell.