re: Fab sent home from camp

He was mad because he wanted to sub in Rimando for PKs. PKs that never happened.

Fabian had been on the field for 111 mins. He was tired. The tightness he was feeling was not related to his previous injury, according to the article. After running for that long, tightness is normal.

Bedoya handled himself like a pro. He never bitches (at least not that I have read). Fabs pulled himself out and ruined whatever tactic Klinsman wanted to use. As long as Klinsman is still the manager, it is his call, not Fabian's.

If that is in fact how it all went down, I don't blame Klinsman one bit for getting in Johnson's arse over it. They are professionals, and Fabs decided that he was more important than the team in that moment.

Taking yourself out for any reason other than legitimate injury is downright shameful. Especially when you are representing your entire nation on a world stage.

That only compounded the fact that we lost. Fuel to the fire for the alleged selfishness of one man.

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The tightness he was feeling was not related to his previous injury, according to the article

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According to Jurgen.

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If that is in fact how it all went down, I don't blame Klinsman one bit for getting in Johnson's arse over it. They are professionals, and Fabs decided that he was more important than the team in that moment.

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That's just it. We don't know that's how it went down. We shouldn't know that it went down at all, because great coaches handle that shite internally. When's the last time Belichik pulled a stunt like this? Saban? Maybe Phil Jackson, but 11 rings earns you that right. Jurgen hasn't earned shite. He certainly hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt.

It's not a right-wrong thing here, if Fabian bitched out. It's possible. But it's not the media's business. Jurgen makes terrible decision after terrible decision. Sending Fabian home may have been the right one, but this way of handling it was the wrong one, and Jurgen's previous 38 frick ups cast a bit of skepticism over any decision he makes.

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Taking yourself out for any reason other than legitimate injury is downright shameful. Especially when you are representing your entire nation on a world stage.

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what if you are just gassed and going to cost your team the game because they are basically playing down a man?

i mean, coming back from injury and playing 110 minutes can do that to you. hey, coach, i need a sub so we dont lose this fricking game. why is that not ok?

Give me a fricking break. I know I'll get buried for this, but I find it hard to sympathize with Fabian when Jermaine Jones was on the verge of death and still played harder than anyone else on the pitch. Everyone on both squads was exhausted. The match was a

I know it's fun to jump on Jurgen, and believe me, I'm right along with you guys now. Losing to Mexico is just not something I'm alright with.

That being said, he's right here. Even when he came out, Jurgen went to give him the high five and pat on the back, and Fab acted like a child and ripped himself away from him. I'm a huge fan of Fabian Johnson, but with the stakes as high as they were, there is absolutely no reason to pull yourself out because you're "afraid of an injury". Jurgen is spot on in this situation in sending his arse home.

These guys are privileged to play for this country, and if you're not going to lay it all out there for a chance to make it to the Confederations Cup against your biggest rival, you need to go home and make room for someone who'll do whatever it takes. Like I said, Jermaine Jones was doubled over every stoppage of play after the 70th minutes, and he still turned it on and gave all he had when the ball was in play.

I haven't attempted to justify any decision Jurgen's made recently, but this one is just one I can't really disagree with. I think any manager would react the same way. Put aside all of the tactical failure and fatigue, and you have a player that would rather go pout and be self-serving on the bench than to suffer out there with your team. It really disappoints me because I'm a huge Fabian Johnson fan. I think he's one of the most talented players we have, but I just can't defend this sort of nonsense. So many guys in the pool would do anything to take his spot *coughFeilhabercough*. Hate Jurgen for whatever you want, but I agree completely with sending him home for that sort of thing.

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i mean, coming back from injury and playing 110 minutes can do that to you. hey, coach, i need a sub so we dont lose this fricking game. why is that not ok?

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We're at our best when he's up the field and a part of the build up. Every time he made an advanced run, we created a chance that was promptly ruined by some masterful play by our attackers. In a game like that, we need Fabian Johnson making overlapping runs and threatening the defense. Sure, the subs worked out this time, but it still doesn't change the fact that he chose himself over his team in that situation. I can understand wanting to preserve your club form and stay healthy, but in a rivalry match with so much at stake, there's no reason to come out unless asked to. These are the types of matches elite athletes live for.

Listen, I'm not disagreeing that most of this is resulting from Fabian slighting Jurgen, and when his ego is hurt, there's going to be some sort of retribution. That being said, we all saw what happened when he came off. It rubs me the wrong way that he felt the need to act like a child and pull away from Jurgen in the late in a match that we were very much still in competition for.

Every part of me believes that Jurgen most likely reacted to how Fab acted after he came off than him actually coming off. Even Landon Donovan, the person with more reasons than anyone to refuse to shake Jurgen's hand, put the team and fans above his personal problems with Jurgen and played nice. It just put a bad taste in my mouth. It reminds me of that one kid in youth athletics who turns into a shithead to everyone when they're not happy.

Again, I'm not defending Jurgen playing them as long as they did or justifying anything Jurgen did tactically. This is in no way a defense of Jurgen. I just think that a guy like Fabian Johnson is far above that sort of bullshite, and I really don't care what issues or underlying frustration that he had that caused it. It's perfectly viable that he hates Jurgen and came off for reasons relating to that, but at the end of the day, this isn't a social club. Keep that negative bullshite off of the pitch.

You have 10 other guys on that field who are just as tired, many recovering from injuries, and every one of them not named Clint Dempsey was still running and fighting to deliver a win way after they were out of gas. Hell, even Clint started to break into a brisk jog at points late with the game on the line. It pisses me off that one of my favorite players acted like a tool regardless of the circumstances. I think as fans we should be upset that he checked out with the match still in the balance.

I mean, if Landon Donovan got cut for his sabbatical and whatnot, walking out on a game still in progress with a tournament spot on the line better result in some sort of disciplining. It's not throwing him under the bus to speak openly about what happened when there was clearly some exchange when he came out and him leaving would lead to speculation anyway.

I know I'm rambling, but shite, man. We lost to Mexico, and one of our best players just decided to call it a day with the game on the line. That just isn't why I started following this team. We can blame it on Jurgen, but it goes deeper than that. It's just as frustrating to me to see Clint walking around and letting balls played in go over the touchline because he feels like it MIGHT be offside as it is to watch Jurgen struggle to put together any semblance of tactics even at a FIFA level. It's just bullshite all around.

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We lost to Mexico, and one of our best players just decided to call it a day with the game on the line. That just isn't why I started following this team

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How do we know that he just decided to call it a day? Are we just assuming this because Jurgen said it and has been so trustworthy with his statements in the past?

If you're injured and gassed, you take yourself out of the game and put in someone who has the legs to keep the opposition in check for the next 10 minutes.

Like I said before, it's one thing to come out, but that's not all that happened. Jurgen went up to give him the high five and pat thing he does, and Fab CLEARLY reacted negatively. Several people mentioned it when it happened. Jurgen looked a little shocked and even went to follow him for a second before the camera cut away. Had that not happened, I wouldn't have any issue with him coming off. I just don't like the way it went down.

I wouldn't be shocked if it was a personal thing, but I don't give a shite. We're discussing how shitty it is that Jurgen made these things public, and yet, the entire incident was on national television. I don't care if Jurgen and Fab want to go to Thunderdome after the match and fight to the death. You keep that shite off the pitch. If Ryan Giggs can tolerate being bitch slapped as a celebration long enough to keep the peace, Fabian Johnson could have easily just been an adult, taken the little pat and high five or whatever, and gone on with his life.

For all of the shite Jurgen gets for making things all about him, we go out of our way to defend players who have their moments of selfishness. Last year against Mexico, I got shite on for calling out Clint Dempsey for being a lazy piece of shite, which he seems to do whenever he's not getting all of the glory and trying all of these little flicks and shite when we're losing to Mexico. It goes both ways. Jurgen leaving won't fix everything. The biggest issue in US Soccer is that once you perform well, you become untouchable. Jurgen's method of targeting those players isn't nearly a good plan, but it's ridiculous how much leeway some players get while others are ripped apart even if they have an okay match.

Fab acted like a bitch after and was clearly pissed off for whatever reason. That's fine, but I expect a grown man to handle being tired and pissed off a little better than that. I just think it's stupid that somehow this has turned into Jurgen messing up again when any player who does that should take some time off. Regardless of the situation, he should have handled himself better than that.

Jermaine failed to track back on the first goal and had a guy blow by him on the second. Should have been subbed way earlier since he was so gassed.