I had no worries about his relationship with Germany. He has covered that multiple times. I was more worried about our (USSF/Jurgen) relationship with Nurnberg. With this latest news from Goff I feel much better because it sounds like an actual conversation occurred rather than Nurnberg just snowing us. Sour relationships can happen between club and country, and I'm happy to hear that that's not the case here. Bummed we won't have him for Mexico, but glad to see September. These friendlies may be "meaningless" (which I don't believe Mexico is), but at some point he NEEDS to get time with the senior squad to integrate into the team and know the other players and just get playing time as a team. That has to start somewhere. Looks like it'll start 9/2 or 9/6. Good. I suspect he'll see limited minutes 9/2, and a good chunk of time 9/6.
I don't want to get all emotional about this, but I have spent enough time in Germany and with Germans to know this might be the case and not necessarily with Chandler's complete participation. He is in a very poor position, what FIFA protects and what happens in the back offices are completely different things. At any rate, I hope he makes the next match, his pace and crossing are a grade above anyone on the roster who doesnt also play in the BL.
Monday: bob bradley posts under a secret name to inform bigsoccer that klinsmann stole his playbook anyway.
I am American and an USMNT fan but lets be fair. If you had a choice of playing for USA or Germany who goes deep into the World Cup while we struggle to get out of the group. Not to mention Germany is where he grew up. Where he plays and where his endorsements will be.
He chose, and he chose to represent the US. He's publicly said he doesn't want to represent Germany based on bad experiences and they're known to not want players who flirt with or play for other national teams.
You're too good to keep wasting your time posting, however little, in the constant paranoia threads about Chandler. At this point they're either intentionally ignoring you or their too paranoid to accept what you're telling them. Again, what does it say about the US fan base that every time there are rumors about Chandler switching, it comes from American fans. Its not coming from anyone in Germany. Its certainly not coming from Chandler. Hell, its not even coming from anyone within the USSF. He and his coach have committed to Chandler's availability for the two September friendlies, but you can be rest assured that the next time Chandler misses a US match of any kind, there will be another one of these threads.
I heard, from a trusted source, that he just doesn't want to be in a situation where he plays against Mexico. Apparently our attack gives him nightmares. Seriously though, if the guy said he's playing for USA he's playing for USA. Why would he lie about it? If his hope was to play for Germany at some point why would he say that he wants to play for USA. And if he played for Germany at some point and he wasn't called again you guys would still take him if he wasn't cap tied. I bet some of you guys wear tin foil hats and only access BS through proxy servers.
The US is indeed Chandler's 2nd choice right now...but it is not second choice to Germany, but to 1. FCN at the moment - and with good reason. It is normal right now as he is in recovery mode and the BL just started a day ago. Chandler wants to regain full fitness and flying across the Atlantic mid-week for a friendly won't help him much if he wants to play another full match in the BL a few days after international week as he tries to cement his place in the starting 11. He is showing loyalty to his employers right now, and to his career. Nuremberg isn't the only club upset at FIFA having this date so close to the start of the season for most leagues in Europe. Dortmund is dealing with the same issues with Kagawa, who was out for nearly a half season after breaking his foot with Japan in mid-season. No clubs are happy about this. I don't believe this decision in anyway has anything to do with Chandler having a second thought about representing the US...it has to do with being on the top of his game for his club. It is a wise choice and responsible decision. Chandler will play for the US.
The thread title really needs to be changed. There is no reason whatsoever to think he has stopped playing for the USA or will stop. It can be very misleading to a user just scrolling.
I don't know why any fan feels like they deserve an explanation for not playing in a friendly. I saw this thread and expected some sort of news article or quote contradicting previous statements he made. Instead, now I feel stupid.
I do not feel like reading all the threads to see if this has been stated, but a friendly against Mexico does not tie Chandler to us anyway. He can not be tied to us until/if he plays in round three of WC qualifying
Makes total and complete sense that at this stage in Chandler's career (and with 3 years yet to prove to his national team coach--which would be Jürgen Klinsmann, not Joachim Löw--that he belongs on the World Cup roster), his first priority is priority is retaining his place with Nürnberg, being that he's a kid who just went from anonymous reservist to Bundesliga starter, and one with a future that's considered promising. However, at this point, being dropped or losing playing time would be harmful to his career momentum (which has dramatically swung upwards in the past year), and he's not yet the high-profile player who could moan to the media and effectively call some of his own shots yet. Nürnberg is and should be the priority right now. As qualifiers and the World Cup draw nearer and his place is more cemented in the Bundesliga, the national team front probably begins to get more priority from him than it has now. (If in a year they ask him to back out of a Jamaica qualifier without being really truly injured, or in 2 years a Mexico qualifier, I'll be a LOT more surprised if he goes along with it.)
Yeah this whole thing just can't be a case of the August international date being a nuisance more than anything? http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/soccer/08/07/fifa.august.ap/index.html?sct=sc_t2_a10 It's pretty simple, if Chandler misses the Belgium game with an "injury" and plays right before or after, then it's something to talk about it. This is not really newsworthy.
or it's because he played a game this weekend, and has one next weekend. If he picked up any sort of small injury his EMPLOYERS probably don't want him playing the midweek game, let alone have to travel thousands of miles to do so. The kid just became a starter so his hold on the job is going to be somewhat tenuous. I'd rather him skip this super, super, super, irrelevant game and play for the people who pay his bills. USA/Mexico might be a big deal to you but to a German team it means jack. Stuff like this happens all the time. Didn't cherundolo pull out of one of the friendlies earlier this year because of an "injury", then play that weekend too? I already read he has committed to playing both the European friendlies coming up. If he turns down those then I'll consider his lack of interest worrisome, but until then I'm not the least bit concerned.
Everyone forgets that he literally has 4 months + 1 game of first team experience. Let him develop a little bit. Sheesh.
This was posted on the USMNT blog. Forgive duplicate any posts. Hopefully this answers all questions. See: Chandler Update http://www.ussoccer.com/Social/MNT-Blog.aspx
when your country calls you in you should be honored for the consideration. every european player has long flights and long seasons to play. injury is a valid excuse but playing a full 90 discredits that. bottom line, when asked to represent your country (btw on a fifa date) you do it and you do it proudly every time. not just when it's convenient for you. keep in mind you have a new coach who needs to learn players AND chandler happens to play the position where there are big question marks.
Sorry Ipaman, but I'd rather have Chandler cement his place with his new club rather than risk it with some friendly. It's the reason guys like Starikov, Doyle, and Onyewu aren't playing and why I believe Bradley shouldn't be called in. Like Arkjayback said, the kid is relatively raw and has yet to play a full European season. Furthermore, he's already committed to the much more travel friendly Belgium fixture so what is the problem? I believe your patriotism to be misplaced. Given the choice, I'd rather a player secure a starting spot on a European club over playing in a friendly. I know it's Mexico and we want to beat them but even they aren't bringing guys who need to win spots. These are friendlies designed to gauge player ability. We have 4 of them (Mexico, Costa Rica, Belgium, and probably a "Camp Cupcake" in January). As long as he gets to play in at least one of them, everything is cool. We aren't warming up for any tournaments or World Cup qualifiers. Remember, 2014 is the goal. We can get even with Mexico by going farther than them in Brazil. Bottom line is, you know the thread sucks when Ninjew is one of the voices of reason. Next we will have Whip come on and say we are overreacting.