Donovan...A Leader By Example

[Jay510]

ive heard much about Donovan not being the so-called USA soccer savior everyone thought he was 4 years ago, how he can be a whiner and may not be the leader we all thought he was. But i cant get passed what Marcelo Balboa said about Donovan today

he called him not a vocal leader, but a leader by example. i have to totally agree.

Donovan is the best hustler on the team along with Beasley and Mcbride....he plays hard for 90 minutes and never stops trying to better the team. During stoppage time up 3-0 he was running his butt off....

any thoughts on this?

[Sachin]

That's what everyone says about Eddie Pope. Great guy, hard worker, leads by example. Teams also need vocal leaders that get in people's faces as a peer. Obviously, Harkes and Reyna have both been capable of this. I thought LD might be the next one, but perhaps it's DMB or Dempsey or someone we're not yet thinking of.

Sachin

[GoDC]

I think if Donovan had stayed iN Germany he would have been running harder in the 90th minute.




;)

Nope totally agree. he and Beasley together have always been great and they stepped it up another notch last night.

[Roehl Sybing]

First, I agree, 100%. Second...
ive heard much about Donovan not being the so-called USA soccer savior everyone thought he was 4 years ago, how he can be a whiner and may not be the leader we all thought he was.
Much of it is ridiculous, but so is much of the original hype to which the overreaction responds.

Donovan is simply a great player. Yes, he has a bad game once in awhile, but everyone does. If we could just be happy with the good results, take experience from the bad results, and let players' performances speak for themselves, it would be alot easier to ignore the hype on both sides.

Of course, this is BigSoccer.

[bltleo]

I think if Donovan had stayed iN Germany he would have been running harder in the 90th minute.




;)

Nope totally agree. he and Beasley together have always been great and they stepped it up another notch last night.


Yes I agree.....Donovan made a big failure, mistake leaving Germany..
his colleague Cherundelo (Hannover) do really great career with Hannover
and he came to Germany when he was very young as well (19 I think).
Just Donovan has given up early..

[Jay510]

Yes I agree.....Donovan made a big failure, mistake leaving Germany..
his colleague Cherundelo (Hannover) do really great career with Hannover
and he came to Germany when he was very young as well (19 I think).
Just Donovan has given up early..


Germany isnt for everyone....

[StillKickin]

Yes I agree.....Donovan made a big failure, mistake leaving Germany..
his colleague Cherundelo (Hannover) do really great career with Hannover
and he came to Germany when he was very young as well (19 I think).
Just Donovan has given up early..
Note the smiley from GoDC. He was being facetious.

Landon does not need to be at Leverkusen.

[Jabberwocky]

ive heard much about Donovan not being the so-called USA soccer savior everyone thought he was 4 years ago, how he can be a whiner and may not be the leader we all thought he was. But i cant get passed what Marcelo Balboa said about Donovan today

he called him not a vocal leader, but a leader by example. i have to totally agree.

Donovan is the best hustler on the team along with Beasley and Mcbride....he plays hard for 90 minutes and never stops trying to better the team. During stoppage time up 3-0 he was running his butt off....

any thoughts on this?

Much of that hype is simply trying to build a US audience for soccer in general and the PR boys will use anything at their disposal. Landon (and Adu for that matter) are easy targets for the campaign.

However, I completely agree about leading by example. LD (and DMB and McBride) hustle way, way more than the rest of the team. Hedjukk has the hustle, but it is not always well focused. Dempsey appears to have good drive and instincts too, so I want to see more of him.

But guys like Wolff cannot stop playing until the play is absolutley over. It kills me when a shot is missed and the player just stops, regardless of the outcome. Whereas Donovan will get his own rebounds even if its twenty yards away. That inspires me on the sidelines, it surely can inspire the rest of the team.

[Jay510]

true....if every player played like donovan did yesterday...wed have won 6-0