I don't know. I don't think the talent at Werder Bremen is THAT bad compared to the other teams in the relegation fight. Paderborn, Dusseldorf, Mainz, Cologne...these are all very bad teams as well, and players like Rashica, Bittencourt, and Eggestein have shown some quality in the past. So, I feel like Werder should be out of the relegation spots on talent. The fact that they aren't points to poor coaching. I know the commentators during the game were saying that Werder management is behind Kohfeldt and think he's a good young coach, but if they don't want to be relegated, they need to make a change.
Actually, they were expected to lose against Leipzig away, Cowfield or not. 3-0 in this one is within the expected for their roster. Losing to Union at home and getting punked by Mainz (again at home) are fireable offenses, though.
I think he'd be toast if they didn't beat BVB in the Pokal a few weeks back. I don't know what's going on there but even though they miss a guy like Kruse, who can dictate play from the midfield, guys like Klaassen and Maxi Eggestein can do the job well enough. Rashica and Bittencourt and legit attackers. There's plenty of talent there and clearly something is just not working in the locker room anymore and they need to make a move before it's too late. Sometimes players just get tired of the same words from the same guy after a while.
WB are just horrible. Just remove JS from the team for a moment and they are just poor and deserve to drop. Poor quality all over. Now throw a young player in there who needs to develop and the prospect is bleak. Josh needs to get out of there and go to RB Salzburg or Dortmund or Ajax - anywhere with a rep for developing young players.
Meanwhile Jordan Morris turned down WB and has improved every year playing in MLS. The question has to be asked, do you think Sargent would've been better off starting his career at Sporting KC instead of Bremen?
Sargent and most of the team playing like a bunch of depressed 35yr olds. When Hamburg went down with Bobby at least they made an attempt at not going down.
I disagree with the premise because Morris was good in 2016, ********ing terrible in 2017, and injured for all of 2018. Great 2019 for him though. There's no grand, overarching theory about what path is most effective; it's all very player-dependent. Kansas City hasn't exactly been a striker's paradise though, so I'd still say that Bremen was the better option at age 18. Sargent's development would have been better had he been in USL at 16 though, rather than dicking around at Scott Gallagher.
You can disagree with the premise, but the fact remains Jordan has improved immensely during his time in MLS. Of course it's down to the player, but the club situation is crucial. So the question remains, would Josh have been better off starting his career in KC? I'd say yes and I'll get into why in a bit. I'm interested to hear some other responses first.
But he hasn't improved "every year playing in MLS." He had a breakout season in 2019 but his career was going hard in reverse for two full seasons. Is he better now than in 2016? Yes. Was it steady improvement? Really far from it. Morris is a testament to individual hard work, but I don't think he's a great test case for MLS developing a player well.
Yeah none of that is remotely true. Injuries really affected him in 2017 and of course he was out all of 2018. In reality he can shoot with both feet now and developed from a center forward to an attacking winger that's goal dangerous from either flank. That happened in MLS. I watch him every game. I've seen the growth. TBH he's ready to move on to a top 4 league.
Just curious, how many/which Americans from MLS have transferred to Europe 24 years or older in the last 5 years?
So... he's 19? Anyone have a handy list of # minutes a US player has gotten in the B1 before their 20th Bday? (or, let's say, before the end of the season finishing they year they turn 20...)
The simple answer is they know no better. They pride themselves in being a “family club”. A club that trust its own, loyal and give their former players all the jobs. This is imo, is hindering them. They make emotional decisions too often. Their president is ex-player. Their sporting director is ex-player. Their last 3 head coaches were promoted from within. Rehhagel was their coach from 1981 to 1995. Thomas Schaaf played all his career at Bremen, retired and trained the reserves for 4 years and then coached the first team from 1999 to 2013. In the last 40 years, they had only 3 coaches who were not promoted from either assistant or second team. This is all what Bremen knows. They don’t seek help from outside. They run the club like a family business. I genuinely believe they are clueless right now. Their sporting director said last week that if they’re to get relegated then better together with Kohfeldt. Still many fans are behind Kohfeldt and will rather him stay even in relegation. They really know no better. It’s incredible.
They have outside speed in Bittencourt and Rashica, (especially with Selassie back from injury at rb), central playmaking with Osako, an ok 9 in Sargent. Problem is they never play Sargent with Osako so Osako has no 9 and Sarge has no 10. I believe the only time they have ever played together iirc was v. Dortmund in Cup.
Whatever the £70 million, I disagree with people who think Pulisic is already better than peak Johnson. You need some consistency before claiming that. He may grow into a better player, or at least a more consistent one, but right now I remember more games where he disappeared than games where he's looked ace.