Friday, January 15, 2016


Werder Bremen trialist Jordan Morris marked his friendly debut by deftly setting up Claudio Pizarro's lone goal against Inter Baku on Friday afternoon. Check it out.

- Greg Seltzer


Dr.Jon said...

That really was on hell of a pass with the outside part of the right foot to bend it around and past both his and Pizarro's defenders.

Matt said...

I'm not going to lie, I still get goosebumps watching our players perform well overseas. Even if it's in a practice game...

brian said...

hell of a pass - but if he had any left foot at all it's really a simple cross. executed it nicely, but made it much more difficult than it needed to be because he didn't want to use his left.

Fennel said...


Morris can cross with his left foot but there are any number of good reasons why Morris would have passed the ball that way.

If he shifts it to his left he might lose precious seconds during which the defenders might be able to shift into a better defensive posture, both on him and on Pizarro.

Doing it that way can take defenders by surprise

You put a clockwise spin on the ball, taking it away from goal.

I'm sure Morris has practiced this many times and knows exactly what he is doing.

dikranovich said...

Anthony Ujah is the top striker this season for Breman. He has helped a team gain promotion into the bundas league, and he has scored a goal every other game in said top league in Germany. He is 25 years old and he is making 600k a year. It makes you wonder if Aron johannsson was really asking for a salary of 2.5 mil a year to play in MLS, and what he is making with his current team.

how much can WB really offer the young American, and can it really be that much more than what Seattle is offering? Plus, Werder Breman might not even be playing in the bundas league come next season.

Morris puts in four or five good years in MLS and he will find himself the beneficiary of a very lucrative contract from any number of places in Europe. Then who is to say where salary demands will be in MLS in four or five years time.

Jordan Morris might honestly be too good for this team teetering with relegation.

Greg Seltzer said...


dhonick said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dhonick said...

Jeeze the ramblings of a mad man..

brian said...

funnel - you are delusional. left footed cross puts the exact same spin on it

Fennel said...


Of course, but a left footed cross would have taken him an extra second or two. Maybe by doing it right footed he took the defender by surprise just a bit and that's all you need.

The point is it worked and that is what matters.

dikranovich said...

fennel, that's a fair point, the bottom line is that the play worked. going to werder Bremen can work out also, but on the Bremen blogs he is viewed as property, not a young player looking to mature and find his groove. its a sink or swim situation, and if he swims, which we all expect, he will come out of the experience for the better, but that's not to say it would be better than going to seattle and winning an MLS cup or two and maybe even concacaf champions league, because you know when a US MLS team wins concacaf champions league, we will see our national team do better in the world cup than it has ever done before.

its going to be interesting to see how the Bremen offer compares to the sounders offer.

I really hope everyone can agree that letting top American talent go to Europe on the cheap is just no way to build up the sport in our country. I mean, how can it be, and where is the successful model for this?

do south american countries who were use to winning at least every other world cup feel like their results have benefited by sending young talent to Europe?

Greg Seltzer said...

Well, I guess you never get tired of trying to work backwards from what you wish the answer was...

1 - Having one guy on a team that wins CONCACAF CL means nothing towards a US showing at World Cup. It is not even the same type of game as a World Cup and, ya know, it is just one guy. How you come up with this sort of stuff and then say "Yeah! That's the ticket!" is beyond me.

2 - First of all, nobody is "letting talent go" - much less on the cheap. He is a free agent, which means he is on the market, can do as he pleases and there is no price to agree for his departure. Besides, as usual you are conflating two things: building up MLS and building up the NT. These are not the same animal, they do not have the same needs.

3 - Again, national teams do not send club players anywhere. And "South American" countries have not done the winning you speak of in modern times. I think you mean Argentina and Brazil, two of 10. The other eight have all of one final four finish since 1970. And that was in 2010, with a Uruguay side loaded with and led by guys who went young to European clubs.

dikranovich said...

3. the 2 out of 10, that's still a higher percentage than the 4 out of 50 who have won the World Cup from Europe, since 1970

2. Greg, you haven't seen an MLS game live since the last century, yeah, you went to a U.S. National team friendly in Italy, and Malta, but you really don't know US soccer, but except what you read online, and what your " little birdies" tell you.

1. Why does it hurt people so much to deny club results have an impact on national team results? Why is this such an affront? The Dutch had their best results when PSV was the best team in Europe. Next to this, their best results came in the 70s when the Dutch had great players on the national team and on Ajax.

Spain wins a World Cup when Barcelona and Real Madrid are winning European club competitions. Coincidentally smaller Spanish teams are winning Europa league. This is why Spain is winning euros and a World Cup.

Jordan Morris developed his skills in America, the USA. Next thing we know, these A holes are going to be telling us weirder Bremen developed Morris. If a top American player goes to Europe for free, that is going on the cheap, no matter how you slice it. In the long run, or the shot run, it is not a benefit for soccer in our country

Greg Seltzer said...

Life is far too short to continue wading through all the conflation, avoidance, irrelevance, false logic and intentional detours you throw in one post.

And, of course, you are dead wrong about the last MLS game I saw live... as if that matters in the slightest. Could someone else please handle this light work?

dikranovich said...

Ok, fair enough, no more personal shots from my side.

But please, does sending players to Europe really help to grow the game in America? I mean, does it really help to grow the game in our country?

isn't it one thing in 1990 when there is no viable league, as opposed to today?

Maybe the idea should be to send the best players to Europe at birth, or at some point when we are reasonably sure that they are the best, and then leave the rest of the minions here to fill in the gaps, for us poor stateside spectators.

dikranovich said...

I just don't get it. How is it not more clear, this idea of domestic success? And Europe is more like the horse chasing the carrot.

It must be the fact that a lot of people have lived through an already failed league, and that hangs over us, and permeates our soccer culture.

Dany Tzvi said...

no reason to engage him. all we can do is ask that he get his own blog if he wants to write entire essays in the comments section here.