Bolton is excited. U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann is excited. Everyone is just a-bubble with excitement over Stuart Holden!
Among the many topics addressed in yesterday’s lengthy and ranging media confab with Klinsmann was Holden’s long, long road back from injury. Everyone is thrilled, if only cautiously so, that things seem progressing nicely for the once- and hopefully-future U.S. international midfielder.
Holden is back at Bolton now, having been recalled a bit early from that month-long loan at Sheffield Wednesday.
Klinsmann spoke yesterday about what a positive development it all was; Holden needs “games, games, games … minutes, minutes, minutes,” the U.S. boss said, and he wasn’t as liable to collect those with Bolton in the midst of a desperate reach for promotion playoffs. (The Championship table is here.)
He got games and minutes with Wednesday, and perhaps more are coming as Bolton closes 2012-13 matters.
Klinsmann has been in regular communication with Bolton manager Dougie Freedman, and did the same in April, he said, with Wednesday manager Dave Jones. When Jones saw that Holden would not be around for the final stretch and needed to prep his team accordingly, all parties agreed that Holden returning to the Reebok would be the best course.
We all may have assumed that caution would rule and that Holden would not be asked to close the divide between league play and international play as quickly as this summer. But listening the U.S. manager yesterday … well, I’m not so positive that Holden won’t be invited into one of the U.S. summer camps, the “big” camp for World Cup qualifiers or the “little” camp for Gold Cup.
Said Klinsmann yesterday: “Stuart excites us. He is really coming back. What he really needs is games, games, games — minutes, minutes, minutes. It’s looking very positive.
“We do know that he doesn’t want a break! He told us, ‘I had a break for 1 1/2 years!’ ”
