The fact that Donovan's position and the way that he plays it involve a lot of running wouldn't seem to make him a likely candidate for longevity. It may not matter whether he has the heart to go to 2018 if he doesn't have the legs.
While I agree that Donovan will be talented enough to make the squad in some capacity in 2018 if he wants to, having 3-4 Nagbe (2018 version) equivalents plus Nagbe would give us 4-5 players better than Donovan ever was. And that's not even counting Bradley. Full disclosure: I believe Nagbe's potential is far higher than the highest level Donovan ever reached, and I think that come the MLS season opener, Nagbe will be the second best player in the league behind Bradley (better than both Donovan and Dempsey). Obviously in my scenario above I'm assuming Nagbe progresses somewhat between now and 2018.
You mean this Nagbe, http://www.mlssoccer.com/players/darlington-nagbe yes? The one with 17 goals and 8 assists in 95 games by age 23? Or you know some other Nagbe?
Donovan would be able to make the team, but I am not sure if he wants to play another four years after the 2014 WC.
In his first 87 games in MLS (2001-2004 with the Earthquakes), he had 32 goals and 29 assists. Including playoffs, he had 42 goals and 35 assists in 101 games with the Earthquakes, all before he turned 23. Nagbe has 18 goals and 8 assists in 99 games including the playoffs.
this is usa MEN: news and analysis not usa men and women title IX equal opportunity news and analysis. check the title of the forum.womens sports is irrelavant to this discussion.
Prior to 2005 he also had: 2 MLS Cup Championships 1 Gold Cup Championship 2 U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year Awards 3 Honda Player of the Year Awards 2002 WC Young Player of Tournament 2002 WC Best XI 2003 Gold Cup Top Scorer 2003 MLS Best XI
This is a bit shortsighted IMO. If Donovan remains playing at anywhere near his current level he would be a great addition to our team. I'm not sure what magic you expect to happen in the next four years.
I think he's less dependent on his speed than he's ever been, relying more on his intelligence at this point. I see him as a veteran substitute on the 2018 roster.
I didn't mean that he's still dependent on his speed. What I meant was that he has put one hell of a lot of mileage on those legs over the years, and they have to start giving him trouble some day.
Ah, I see. Well, that's already started to happen with the frequency of minor leg injuries he's had over the last few years. Still, there's no denying his effectiveness when healthy. I still say he could make the 2018 roster if he wanted to, and hopefully for the good of the team, he does want to.
If I had a dollar for each time I've heard that about some other player... I doubt anyone is going to reach the heights Donovan reached with the USMNT. I doubt I'll see another American dominate a competition like Donovan did with the 2013 Gold Cup. I think eventually he may be in an administrative position with the USSF. He could be a coach, got the brains for it, but he's too soft-spoken for the job itself.
I do not think that will be enough by 2018. He will only get slower and plays in a league that does not challenge him technically nor tactically. The midfield, especially our midfield, requires too much running and Donovan is not going to morph into a Pirlo like player whose exquisite touch and vision allows him to be effective with less speed or endurance. Perhaps if LD were a forward or defender. At 40 I think Javier Zanetti is still good enough to start for Argentina, as he does for Inter.
I like Nagbe but this is absurd... I can't figure out if it's people overrating other players or severely underrating what Donovan has done over the years.... or maybe it's just natural for people to look for the next big thing while not fully appreciating what they have.
Don't be a dipshit. This is a soccer discussion. By your logic I could bold the USA portion of the forum's title and take offense that someone dared to mention the irrelevant names of a Mexican and a German for this discussion as points of comparison in the analysis. Damn foreigners, take it to a different thread! The World Cup is a World Cup. And appearing in five World Cups is a significant achievement for anyone who has the talent and longevity to achieve that career mark as a player. Regardless, it doesn't really matter, but your boys' club mentality is both comical and sad.
I don't think it is magic to project a player at 36 is going to be much less effective than he was at 32. This is true for an extremely high percentage of players, much less a player who has exhibited some issues with burn out mentally to go with the almost certain physical deterioration. I really hope he is as good in 2018 as he is in 2014, but I don't see it as even being a 50-50 chance.
We can agree to disagree. The US showed they can qualify for the WC and even beat decent competition without him and I just don't know how much you want to rely on a 36 year old player when we (hopefully) go to Russia. Perhaps you can use him as a veteran presence off the bench at that time, but this is assuming LD will even be playing soccer by then. I fully expect him to retire in the next year or two.
I think it is very possible he would still be an effective player at 36, but odds are against his both being effective enough to merit another World Cup spot and wanting to go to another World Cup and a long qualifying campaign.
And this notion we have a cadre of players just about to be oh so much better than Donovan is laughable. We have no one in the pipeline tearing up the ranks anywhere near what Donovan was doing in his younger days. We have many solid prospects, far more than ever before. But we don't have another Donovan coming up yet. Maybe that kid at Arsenal is a better prospect if he decides he wants to be American, but that's about it. To be "far higher" than Donovan you'd have to be talking global star status.
This. And even when/if that camp is open, and LD has "retired" from the game, he could -- in case of injury crisis or whatever within JK's 2018 pool -- easily say, "Camp is closed this summer 2018 so the camp director can go represent his country at the World Cup. Duty calls." It sounds ridiculous to consider every hypothetical, as there's far too much that could change (or not) across the next 4 years to accurately have any sense of who will or will not be playing at WC2018. Again, I could realistically see either or both of Donovan and Beasley perhaps getting to their fifth World Cup. I wouldn't put too much money on it, but it certainly could happen. (Of course dependent in large part on whatever the hell he wants to do with his life and playing career.)
Nagbe will be lucky to outshine DaMarcus Bealsey, who was playing in the UEFA Champions League at 23. If Landon has the will to do it, I think could play at a high level well into his mid-late 30s. But he's already mentioned that he'd like to get involved with development and the academies. I think that's his real passion.