Re: Fabian Johnson You don't think he will ever be good enough to represent Germany at the highest level? and if not do you think theres a chance he could ever represent the USA?
Re: Fabian Johnson Yes & Yes I think it's a bit comparable to the situation of U21 European Champion Sebastian Boenisch (LB, Werder Bremen), who is considering to play for Poland but is still waiting a bit to see whether he might become good enough for Germany in the next months (which I doubt...). I guess Boenisch will be playing for Poland in the Euro 2012. And since I don't think that Johnson will be good enough in the next 1-2 years, and is not even a starter yet anyway, he might want to explore his other option USA - if they want him, of course.
Re: Fabian Johnson A LB playing for a Champions League team in the Bundesliga? You should be banned for thinking that .
Re: Fabian Johnson He's not a natural LB though. He played as a left & right winger for Germany's youth teams, sometimes LB and RB. He pretty much doesn't have a "natural" position, as far as I know. Played almost on every position on the right and left side.
Re: Fabian Johnson Monchengladbach played Wolfsburg right after the October qualifiers. It isn't unheard of for two people holding the same passport to speak to each other after a game. I suppose at some point, someone should mention that Johnson only has 4 appearances for Wolfsburg this season, which can hardly be described as "starting for a Bundesliga team."
Re: Fabian Johnson If I were Fabian, I'd give it till Euro 2012. If he isn't entrenched in the German side by the time the rosters are announced and assuming he hasn't been cap-tied at the senior team, then were I him I'd apply to FIFA to switch the day after the rosters were officially announced.
Re: Fabian Johnson Has anyone talked to him about switching over to the USMNT? Or does he consider himself a German?
Re: Fabian Johnson well he's on German's U-21 team so...I'm pretty sure he sees himself as a future German NT player. unless he plans to Subotic them
Re: Fabian Johnson He's a very good player, but he will have to be impressed by our world cup if we want him to commit outright. Either that or he will have to be snubbed by the German Federation long enough.
Re: Fabian Johnson Maybe he just doesn't consider the possibility of playing for the US in the WC right now. He's very far from playing for Germany, maybe somewhere between 10 and 20 in the depth chart at "his position" (a "pro" is that he can play several positions), and won't be disappointed if Löw doesn't call; to be honest, it would be ridiculous if Löw called him up.
Re: Fabian Johnson I've followed this kid for most of the past three years. A friend of mine here claims to know his father who was apparently a US Solider stationed in Munich. I think if the USA puts the effort in early enough, they can get this kid. I'd keep Gregg Berhalter on the phone to him. I am with smithfan on her assessment of Johnson. Not good enough for Germany, but can do the job for the USA. The kid has room for improvement and I think he'll do that as he gets more playing time in the Bundesliga. I think the kid "feels" fully German because like Jermaine Jones, apparently, Fabian's father has never been in the picture. However, unlike Jones, despite Johnson's U-21 success, I think the chances of Joachim Löw giving him a shot at the Germany A-squad are slim to none. Just my two cents.
Re: Fabian Johnson Interestingly, he has appeared in Wolfsburg's last four Bundesliga matches. I believe that all of those appearances were at left back.
Re: Fabian Johnson And Wolfsburg is considered to be a club in a minor crisis. Defending Champions? Yes, but Fabian wasn't a part of that championship team. When they were winning the title, Fabian was in Munich helping to keep 1860 from falling even further into the 2nd-3rd Bundesliga abyss. This Wolfsburg team has six wins, six draws and five defeats. That's what Fabian is a part of. Don't equate Fabian's appearances with Fabian is doing great. He's getting his chances and that is good, but he's getting his chances because the idiot head coach is trying to put "his stamp" on what was already a freakin' championship team before he got there. I'm not telling you Fabian Johnson can't play. He can. But I am warning people not to pencil him in as a potential savior for the USNMT's left defensive position. Fabian does have that kind of potential. But he also still has much work to do.......
Re: Fabian Johnson Not too many 22 year old Americans playing regularly in a league as good as the Bundesliga.
Re: Fabian Johnson If it were the Olympics coming up, the fact that only Michael Bradley and Jose Altidore are playing at this level at 22 or younger would be extremely telling. Since the World Cup is not age-limited, this becomes simply an interesting fact with long-term future implications.
Re: Fabian Johnson True. But Johnson is a "22 year old American" who if you ask him will tell you he is German. And as long as he feels there's any chance he might get to wear the Germany shirt one day, he will never commit to us. However, the good thing is, if Toni Kroos can't get a call-up as well as he's been playing, that should tell Fabian Johnson all he needs to know about his chances of getting one.......
Re: Fabian Johnson Starting for Wolfsburg in today's DFB Pokal game: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=295837&league=GER.DFB_POKAL&cc=5901
Re: Fabian Johnson Good to see him still getting good PT. He's very much worth keeping track of. If Klinsi becomes our coach assuming Bradley leaves, we may have a much better shot at this guy than we thought.