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Hamburg coach: USMNT’s Wood could lose starting spot soon

Germany Soccer Bundesliga

Hamburg’s Bobby Wood, left, and Bremen’s Milos Veljkovic vie for the ball during the German Bundesliga football match between Hamburger SV and Werder Bremen in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017. (Daniel Reinhardt/dpa via AP)

AP

While one American continues to shine in Germany’s top flight, another is in serious danger of losing his starting role.

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Hamburg manager Markus Gisdol has suggested that U.S. Men’s National Team forward Bobby Wood could be benched soon if he doesn’t increase his form.

Thus far, Wood has scored just twice this season in all competitions for Hamburg -- who currently sits 16th in the Bundesliga on seven points through its opening 10 matches.

“We do everything to support him, but we can’t do more than we do right now,” Gisdol told reporters. “It’s up to Bobby to drag himself out of it.”

“It all falls together. He’s descended into a negative spiral from which he has to free himself. He has the potential to be a good forward, but he is not in any sort of form right now. He might give it his all, but things are not going well for him somehow.”

Hamburg has had its share of struggles overall as a club in 2017/18, with the squad tallying just eight goals in the opening three months of play.

Despite Wood’s low finishing tally, the 24-year-old actually leads his side in goalscoring at the moment.