COLOGNE, Germany – United States national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann revealed on Tuesday that winger Julian Green will not be named to the CONCACAF Gold Cup roster following a difficult club season on loan to Hamburg.
The 20-year-old Bayern Munich prospect made just five HSV appearances this year, totaling only 113 minutes in the recently completed Bundesliga season. Despite his struggles on the club level, Klinsmann insists that he is not down on Green, and that his decision to leave the 2014 World Cup participant home for the Gold Cup is no punishment.
"We are not disappointed [in him]," Klinsmann told reporters ahead of Wednesday's friendly clash at World Cup champions Germany (2:45 pm ET; Fox Sports 1, UniMas, UDN). "We see everybody's learning curve as a natural learning curve.
"Julian took the risk to leave the nest in Munich and go as a 19-year-old to another club. He gets in a relegation battle with a big German club and has four different coaches in one year. So it didn't work out as we all hoped, he struggled. But we want him to struggle in certain ways, youngsters have to go through these roller coasters. They're learning that way."
Klinsmann said Green – who notched a goal and an assist for the US Under-23's in the prestigious Toulon Tournament, which ended with a third place finish on Sunday – will be given time to clarify his club status and regroup mentally before returning to the senior team.
"He needs a break now," said the USMNT boss. "He will go back to Bayern and they will sort out where he should be. So we leave him out of the Gold Cup and he gets a break."
The coach says this sort of decision is fairly standard when grooming young players.
"We manage their time, their next steps," said Klinsmann. "This is part of our coaching job. Sometimes, it's good to throw them in the cold water. Sometimes, it's better to take them out and let them breathe."
