The Case for Green

Julian Green came seemingly out of nowhere and was a wild card selection by Jurgen Klinsmann in the 2014 World Cup. Furious fans blasted both coach and player for being selected over their beloved and legendary Landon Donovan. He scored a goal that drew life for the US in their eventual loss to Belgium in the round of 16 in Brazil. This seemingly justified his inclusion and many wondered if he was the next American hope so many of us have been waiting for.

Then he disappeared and strangely wasn’t getting called up to US games or appearing on any radars. The Gedion Zelalem and Emerson Hyndman hype along with college standout Jordan Morris began gaining momentum until earlier this year when Pulisic exploded on the scene.

Green was on Bayern Munich’s team but had never seen the light of day. He was demoted to the second team in 2015 and even on loan spells he was demoted to second teams. Then like Bobby Wood and others a spark kindled a fire. Carlo Ancelotti took over at Bayern when Pep Guardiola moved over the EPL.

Ancelotti was on a US tour and decided to stick Julian in against Intern Milan. Green took full advantage netting a hat trick before the 36 minute mark of the game. He hasn’t seen a ton of playing time, but remember this is Bayern Munich a team that went to the Champions League Final 3 of 4 years recently and has been in the semi-final every year since winning the Champions League in 2013.

Julian scored two goals this summer as a member of USMNT before earning his first competitive playing time for Bayern Munich.

He scored for the US against Cuba

And then New Zealand

Julian scored his first competitive goal and the first ever US player to score a goal for Bayern Munich in October.

I realize there are others who are getting regular minutes and scoring double digit goals, while Julian has one goal for his club. I absolutely believe in the fact that getting playing time even in less quality leagues is better than sitting on the bench anywhere in the world. I agree with Jurgen Klinsmann that quality strikers should be scoring every other game. However, I believe Green has made his case this year to be included on the roster and could serve as a super sub in the Hex as we prepare for the World Cup. We’ve already seen this summer how his inclusion on USMNT has helped his professional career. Clint Dempsey is down and I’ve never been a fan of the Chris Wondolowski inclusion, but even with him we’re lacking proven depth after Jozy Altidore, Bobby Wood and Jordan Morris at striker.

I do think Julian has a very long way to go to join the ranks of Christian Pulisic and Sacha Kljestan who have carved their spots out as starters, but he’s certainly done enough to earn the right to fight for a spot.