Late summer was a wondrously cheery time for Julian Green. Called up to Jurgen Klinsmann’s World Cup roster at the age of 18, Green scored the unexpected goal of the tournament in a 2-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 in July. It was the first U.S. goal in the run of play in a World Cup knockout match in 12 years.

Less than a month later, Green strode into Portland with Bayern Munich in tow, buoyed by confidence only lent by a goal in a World Cup. These words from Arjen Robben only accelerated the process.

Green was the toast of America, in a lot of ways. He even had his own T-Mobile billboard plastered to the side of a building in Portland. In fact, I watched the Bayern team bus roll by it one day on the way to training at Providence Park. One wonders if the team noticed, if Green was the butt end of some good-natured ribbing on the fast rising status of one of America’s most promising young prospects.

Flash forward six months, and almost nothing’s gone to plan for Green.

If we’re honest, Green was never really in Bayern’s plans for 2014-15, even if Pep Guardiola’s equivocation on the matter last summer made it seem like there was a serious decision to be made. So when Green was packaged off to Hamburg in a loan at the end of August, there weren’t many raised eyebrows. The fact that Hamburg only narrowly avoided relegation the season before via a tense playoff against Greuther Furth didn’t seem to matter. It only mean the scent of potential first team minutes was that much stronger.

Very little has gone as Bayern, Hamburg or Green himself would’ve hoped. To date, Green’s appeared just five times for Hamburg, and he’s started just one game all season. That was during a 2-0 loss to Hannover on Sept. 14, and he was subbed off at halftime. He hasn’t played more than 25 minutes in any of his four matches since, and Hamburg’s lost all but one of those games. Hamburg, meanwhile, is just two points above the drop zone 21 games into the season, and they’re tied for the worst goal differential in the Bundesliga.

The trouble for Green is that Hamburg isn’t exactly loaded on attackers, left wingers especially. That Green hasn’t been able to dislodge guys like Artjoms Rudnevs or Ronny Marcos was not exactly a rosy signpost for his future under coach Josef Zinnbauer.

Then, last week, HSV director of football Peter Knabel reportedly said this to Bild.

“He should be able to impose himself, but I expect the players there can play there too. The U23 team is not a garbage can. It’s a flagship for development.”

Was Julian Green headed down to HSV’s U23 team? Not exactly a shining beacon for future first team minutes, and it was hardly what Bayern had in mind with the loan. Green has no real immediate first team prospects with names like Franck Ribery, Mario Gotze and Thomas Muller blocking his ascent, but at the least they could expect to see some return on their loan. One can almost guarantee Bayern will sell Green in the not-too-distant future. Upping his price tag with a sturdy, productive loan stint could only help.

Except, according to Green, the U23 thing wasn’t happening. Or at least not as far as he knew. A day after that report leaked out of Bild, Green refuted it. On Facebook. This was his post.

“Hi everybody, Just to make it clear: nobody from HSV has spoken to me at all. I read in the papers that apparently I’m now playing for the U23. HSV took me on on the third day of the season to reinforce the first team. This was and is my aim, and is the reason why I transferred. I’m a licensed player, I haven’t done anything wrong and I give all I’ve got in the training sessions. I always want to do my best to keep us in the league. If they let me play, I’ll shoot goals.”

Airing your professional confusion in a public, unfiltered space? Not a great idea.

Then things ventured even further into the land of confused verbal traffic. HSV’s Lars Wegener said that Green is not in fact being demoted to the U23’s, and that he’s still training with the senior team. But that didn’t stop Green from allegedly denying any future U23 appearances.

Good work ethic and attitude from Julian Green: “Match practice is always important, but the U23 is off the cards for me.” — Daniel Busch (@dan_bu) February 13, 2015

Julian Green was already absent from U23 training without excuse last weekend, when he wasn’t part of the first team squad. — Daniel Busch (@dan_bu) February 13, 2015

And now here we are. Just today, Green reportedly asked for a meeting with Hamburg management. That meeting will likely go predictably, with two intractable sides smashing head on like rams with neither giving. Hamburg’s position? Green hasn’t been good enough in training and hasn’t shown well enough in games to warrant more time above other veterans. Green’s position? You haven’t given me a fair shake, seeing as I’ve only played 111 minutes since September. I’m better than the U23 team.

Bayern has to be watching this unfold like an unamused parent mediating between quarreling children. CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge called the entire affair “regrettable,” which you can imagine him delivering straight-backed from his saddle before haughtily spurring his Fresian Horse toward brunch.

Green is 19. He’s done literally nothing of note as a senior club player. If he’s leveraging anything for playing time at Hamburg, it’s his moment of brilliance in Brazil last year heaped on top of the notion that he’s a Top Prospect At A Top Club. All of that is fair, but it doesn’t amount to first team minutes, either. It should be noted that neither side is clean in this affair. Mirko Slomka, the HSV coach on duty when Green’s loan was secured, was fired just two weeks into September and the day after Green’s first (and only) start. Zinnbauer, his replacement, has played him just 66 minutes since.

Attitude is important, and even in the most difficult of circumstances you’d hope Green would simply take the playing time where it comes while working to impress the coaching staff on the field behind closed doors. Frankly, he’s not old enough or accomplished enough to do otherwise. Posting Facebook messages and openly agitating against reserve minutes won’t connect the frayed part of the wire. It simply agitates the electric current and creates sparks. If Green is being treated unfairly, he can have those conversations with Bayern, which will be miffed but understanding. Filtering them through back channels while the club sours on its decision to pick up your loan will get you no closer to your end goal.

Green is still a prospect worthy of excitement, but one can’t help but wonder if neither Hamburg or Bayern are the place for him. First team minutes and a stable club situation in which he can find minutes are paramount. If he can find that, this sticky chapter in his early professional history can finally meet its declarative end.