LD CAN play forward. He doesn't have exquisite skill but he does have exquisite vision. For a shallow team like the USMNT, Donovan has a shot at 2018. But chances are he won't be healthy or willing in four years.
Well, Cuauhtémoc Blanco was forty last year and people were knocking on his door. He offered himself, even. It was only the manager standing between him and a place in the quals. He was playing quite well, pushing his Liga de Ascenso team to the edge of promotion, basically all alone. He was 36/37 last cycle and still scored in qualifiers, and a penalty in South Africa, against France. I doubt Donovan would manage that though. He started younger than Blanco (who only suited up for Mexico @ 22, Landon did for the USA @ 18). Donovan has played 35 more games for the NT already, too. It's not out of the question that he may still be needed if things don't pan out with the youth at this point. That in itself would be bad news. I hope we don't have to live like the French waiting for the next Zizou, or the Romanians for their next Hagi.
"Exquisite" is relative, I guess, but his vision would be useless if he didn't have the skill to go along with it (i.e. the pass to Shea in the Gold Cup). I've seen him make passes like those pretty routinely. He doesn't have the dynamism that made him so exciting to watch as a younger player, but I'd say LD is playing some of the best soccer I've ever seen from him.
No one has to agree with me. That's why I prefaced my comments with "I believe." It's my opinion that Nagbe is extremely talented, far more so than his stats would indicate. I believe him to be more talented than the current version of Donovan, and I think his ceiling is higher than Donovan in his prime. I reached this opinion by watching his games. Not saying this is you or anyone that responded to my post, but I would guess that a majority of posters that post here aren't more than casual fans of MLS, and haven't seen Nagbe play more than a handful of times. Nagbe is a fairly inconsistent player, and at his worst is frustrating to watch. At his best though, he's more exciting to watch than anyone else in MLS. When judging Nagbe's potential, I'm basing it on watching him at his best.
I dont think his heart will be in it after this one, I think theres a reasonable chance he retires from the international game after this one. It will have been a hell of a ride, loved watching him play. Could he continue to be competitive for a 2018 spot? yup, but i dont think he will want to be, unless we have a dire emergency due to injuries. If Klinsy is still the guy hes gonna have Nagbe, Rowe, Gatt, Shea, and hopefully a few other surprises in store for the big show in Mother Russia.
I'm thinking he might continue testing the waters in broadcasting/pundit-izing, but like someone else above said about his personality and coaching, he doesn't have that strong, opinionated, extrovert thing going on like Lalas. IMHO, he could do it, but he's going to need to come out of his shell a bit to be really successful. A thought just struck me that since he's still an active player, he's keeping it relatively low-key and may open up more if/when he retires, but I could be wrong.
The more I think about it, as far as those speedy wing options, the more i look at what we have now and what we should have by then........Landon should easily be in the conversation if he wants it. Besides Nagbe, Rowe, Gil, Gatt, and Shea, what are the names? Bobby Wood and Seb Lletget maybe on the outside...... Outside of Nagbe none of the guys have the consistency donovan does. We could very well have a scenario where the candidates dont grab it by the horns like the left back position making Beasley still a viable option. I mean, id like to live in a world where whe can cut the cord knowing we can be completely secure at that position in the future but, i need to see it. Time will tell if those 4 or 5 guys can flourish. But again, i do wonder if his heart will be in it in another four years time.
All I'm saying is that like a year ago nobody was sure if LD was ever gonna put on a US jersey again, but now we are all speculating that he'll be up for another two World Cups?
"Nobody" are idiots. A lot of level-headed observers expected Donovan's sabbatical in early 2013 to be a temporary (and needed/beneficial) thing, and that he was most-certainly going to be in JK's plan within and at the end of this current cycle. It is not that difficult to imagine some similar situations across the next cycle for Donovan. (Nor is it difficult to imagine him permanently retiring from the international game in any of the next 3-4 years, and 23 other guys going to Russia after the US qualifies again.)
If they play at WC 2014, will Donovan and Beasley be the first American men to play at 4 World Cups, or have their been others? Internationally, 5 World Cups is exceptionally rare, but I would guess that the group of players who have played in 4 World Cups isn't all that long of a list either. Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_players_who_have_appeared_in_multiple_FIFA_World_Cups Interesting that there are a fair number of guys who played (or at least were on the roster) in 4 WCs, but missed a cycle so took 16 years to get to 4 WCs. Also there may be some guys (Buffon?) who get to 5 in Brazil 2014.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_players_who_have_appeared_in_multiple_FIFA_World_Cups Keller and Reyna made the squad 4 times. Reyna actually played in 3, Keller in 2. So if Donovan/Beasley actually play, they'll be the first ones.
If memory serves, many expected Reyna to play in 1994 but got hurt (hamstring) just before the WC started. He was kept on the squad in the hopes that he could recover but never did in time.
I think Landon Donovan has 0 chance of making 2018 WORLD CUP IN RUSSIA. he'll be retired this time next year
He *might* still have something to offer if he were still playing at all then. I suppose he might still be a pro then, but nothing I've seen points to him having the desire for 2018. Everything I've read about him seems to point against it too.
Full disclosure: how soon we forget one of the best USMNT players ever. And he hasn't even retired yet. His name is Landon Donovan. Remember him?! Nagbe can dream of ever becoming anywhere near Donovan's level I suppose, but nowhere do I see any reason to think he'll come close. Its not impossible, just very very unlikely in my opinion.
I think this World Cup is the last one for both Donovan & Dempsey, and that both will retire after the 2015 Gold Cup. I also feel comfortable going out on a limb and saying that Darlington Nagbe will never be as good as peak Donovan.
Yep. As is, with 5 goals, he's even with Romario, Garrincha, Zico, Roger Milla, ZiZou, "Buitre" Butragueño, Altobelli, Sneijder, Hierro, Morientes, Platini, Schiaffino, etc. A bunch of legends. One more goal and he ties Rivelino, Mario Kempes, Schillaci, Stoichkov, Matthaus, Forlan and Henry. He's already in vary rare heights, specially for someone who does not play striker.
Plus he has two of the best goals ever for the USMNT, vs Mexico and vs Algeria. Not hard goals, but best due to their importance.