Julian Dunn-Johnson

[InglewoodJack]

What’s the injury? Knee? Since may 2022? That’s tough

[Aird25]

1 minute ago, InglewoodJack said:

What’s the injury? Knee? Since may 2022? That’s tough

My knee has kept me out of the game since 2007. I’ve had 4 surgeries, but I eventually gave up the dream

[InglewoodJack]

2 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

My knee has kept me out of the game since 2007. I’ve had 4 surgeries, but I eventually gave up the dream

Knee injuries are no joke. My buddy tore his meniscus randomly messing around and he was telling us how much it hurt like 3 years later. I hope he can get back out there asap.

[Shway]

Damn...really sucks for him.
I randomly met him before at a family party, and just in brief convo I thought he was a really good kid. Head on his shoulders, stayed out of trouble.

Was really hoping that his stay in Norway would really propel his career.  

I hope he can turn it around.

[dyslexic nam]

^^^ 2 years out and a heavy duty brace for about 6 years.  And I was just a shitty beer league player.  

[Obinna]

14 hours ago, Aird25 said:

My knee has kept me out of the game since 2007. I’ve had 4 surgeries, but I eventually gave up the dream

We are kindred spirits. Just replace 2007 with 2005.

[costarg]

19 minutes ago, Obinna said:

We are kindred spirits. Just replace 2007 with 2005.

Me too, 2005!

Reinjured 4 times within 10 minutes of getting on the field, each and every time i've tried.  Even after taking years off for heavy physio and training.  I just can't get my knee strong again.

Edited September 15, 2023 by costarg

[Pottsy3]

16 minutes ago, costarg said:

Me too, 2005!

Reinjured 4 times within 10 minutes of getting on the field, each and every time i've tried.  Even after taking years off for heavy physio and training.  I just can't get my knee strong again.

2015 for me, with attempts to return in 2018/2019 but as well couldn't last ten minutes wihtout reinjuring. Funny enough, it holds up in other activity, but the impact of kicking a ball and the agility needed to consistently turn side-to-sude has consistently proven to be too much.

[Corazon]

Tore 75% of my ACL and my meniscus about 5 years ago.  Only had surgery on the meniscus as recommended by the surgeon.  So I'm out running around in men's league with only 25% of my ACL in my left knee.  Turf can be a bit hard on it but it's been holding up alright for a couple years.

[Acid-Tone]

Yo, who let all these weak-kneed MFers in here?

[kacbru]

Tore my left ACL in '95 and my right ACL in '05. Had surgery both times to replace it with portions of my patellar tendon. Still playing 2-3 times a week. 

[jordan]

Back on the pitch today, there is an interview attached in the second tweet, but its short

twitter.com/Canucks_Abroad/status/1750683314728431815?s=20

 

[clamlinguine]

I never knew I had multiple tears in both meniscus until I decided to show my kids just how its done to kick a soccer ball. I had multiple knee oowies from other sports that disappeared until I tried soccer again. I couldn't believe it.

Edited January 26 by clamlinguine

[Kadenge]

wow  out since May 2022! Hope he can get his game back. 

[narduch]

Started in a friendly today.

 

 

[Shway]

Let the resurgence begin. 
What a story if he was able to make it into the CMNT.

[jordan]

Hopefully healed enough to earn a contract.

[narduch]

1 hour ago, Shway said:

Let the resurgence begin. 
What a story if he was able to make it into the CMNT.

If he his starting Norwegian top flight we can't ignore him

[InglewoodJack]

13 minutes ago, narduch said:

If he his starting Norwegian top flight we can't ignore him

23 year old CB starting in Norway with decent height- if he has a decent season you have to think he’s definitely above guys like Waterman, Zator, McGraw, Kennedy and likely not far off from a call up IMP. With the Scandinavian schedule he could make himself useful in some of those B team squads that are largely MLS. Really rooting for him. 

[Obinna]

29 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

23 year old CB starting in Norway with decent height- if he has a decent season you have to think he’s definitely above guys like Waterman, Zator, McGraw, Kennedy and likely not far off from a call up IMP. With the Scandinavian schedule he could make himself useful in some of those B team squads that are largely MLS. Really rooting for him. 

Above? I would say it puts him in the conversation with the Watermans and Zators of the pool, not above.

Now, if Ham Kam go on to win the league? Yeah then I could entertain that, hell even if they get into Europe I would consider it, but if they have a typical season with him starting, I am not sure that's enough for Dunn to leapfrog all those guys, at least for me. 

That said, I think we should invest in a player like that sooner than later, so it would be nice after a full season starting at that level to come into the national team, maybe in the fall if we have some games that allow us to reach deeper into our pool. Given his age, I wouldn't complain with us selecting him over a Waterman or a MacNaugton, all things being equal.

I am just not convinced he'll clearly be a better player than any of those names after a full season starting in Norway, but let's see. McGraw and Kennedy in particular strike me as have a role to play moving forward. MacNaugton, Waterman, and Zator less so, although I like each of them as players. 

[toontownman]

He just has to have a consistent period of time without injuries, preferably getting game time as well. That is the only thing he needs. 

Even if he ends up performing well, I don't know I'd want him getting called for a good year or so. He doesn't need the extra wear and tear after being out so long. I think he just needs to be cautious and protected. He had so much potential imo but torrid luck. 

[YorkRegionFan]

The CSA at least needs to keep in communications with him.  I think Jamaica was expressing interest in him pre-injury.  Until we get clear starters with the CMNT, there is no point limiting our choices.

[Obinna]

Just now, toontownman said:

He just has to have a consistent period of time without injuries, preferably getting game time as well. That is the only thing he needs. 

Even if he ends up performing well, I don't know I'd want him getting called for a good year or so. He doesn't need the extra wear and tear after being out so long. I think he just needs to be cautious and protected. He had so much potential imo but torrid luck. 

That's a very good point. He would benefit from stability at this stage, for the sake of his career.

I was thinking the schedule in Norway would line up nicely for us to call him in November, since the club season would be already finished and that'd be better than calling him in say June or July (from a wear and tear perspective). However, a closer look shows the season runs all the way to December, so we'd be looking at a Jan camp poutine (if we're still having those). 

Another thing about Dunn in comparison to his competition is that none of these other guys are standing still. Waterman will have another season under his belt in MLS, as a starter, and the same goes for McGraw and (if we are lucky) MacNaughton. Zator will be concluding his 2nd season in the Polish top flight and Kennedy (the most entrentched of all these guys) is doing his thing in Austria.

Is Norway, and specifically Ham Kam, a better level than Poland/Austria, specifically Kielce/Wolfsberger? 

[Obinna]

2 minutes ago, YorkRegionFan said:

The CSA at least needs to keep in communications with him.  I think Jamaica was expressing interest in him pre-injury.  Until we get clear starters with the CMNT, there is no point limiting our choices.

Jamaica have deepend their pool since then, especially with young Championship level players, but they are not beyond calling a player from Norway, so we should button him up sooner than later. Good point. 

[InglewoodJack]

31 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Above? I would say it puts him in the conversation with the Watermans and Zators of the pool, not above.

Now, if Ham Kam go on to win the league? Yeah then I could entertain that, hell even if they get into Europe I would consider it, but if they have a typical season with him starting, I am not sure that's enough for Dunn to leapfrog all those guys, at least for me. 

That said, I think we should invest in a player like that sooner than later, so it would be nice after a full season starting at that level to come into the national team, maybe in the fall if we have some games that allow us to reach deeper into our pool. Given his age, I wouldn't complain with us selecting him over a Waterman or a MacNaugton, all things being equal.

I am just not convinced he'll clearly be a better player than any of those names after a full season starting in Norway, but let's see. McGraw and Kennedy in particular strike me as have a role to play moving forward. MacNaugton, Waterman, and Zator less so, although I like each of them as players. 

Waterman is 28 and Zator will turn 30 this year, I think if Dunn is performing (big if- he missed two years), he should be prioritized. I think we have a much better understanding of both waterman and Zator (and the other guys’) ceilings, I think there’s a lot more to Dunn if he continues his delevopment. I know Sweden is a better league than Norway and Malmo won the league, but Cornelius is close to our consensus best CB and a part of this is how well he played for Malmo. If Dunn can have a similar impact with HamKam, don’t see why he isn’t in the mix over the other guys we’ve called in and ultimately dropped when better options presented themselves.

 

Biggest if is how he plays though. Think he only has like one friendly under his belt in the last two years. I don’t know what his contract situation is or if he’s already guaranteed a spot on HamKam’s roster this year, let alone a starting role, let alone whether he’s good enough to hold that role down, etc. A lot of ifs here, but the thing that gets me most excited about this guy is he’s maybe the only CB in our system that bridges the gap between our CBs in their late 20s/30s (Miller, Cornelius, Vitoria) and some of the more promising crop we have coming up the pipeline- Stefanovic, Smith, LDF, etc. By the 2030 World Cup, Cornelius and Miller will be in their mid 30s and it remains to be seen what will come of our young players or where they’ll be at, but Dunn will be 29 or 30, so good veteran presence, still young enough not to have broken down significantly by then.