(not currently relevant, but not much else to talk about) Also I didn't mean to say that Landon didn't want to stay at Everton; I think he would have if everything worked out conveniently for him. I just was saying there was likely some ambivalence. He didn't seem to fight very hard to make it happen. We all know he could have gotten MLS to capitulate if he forced the issue.
Agreed. He likely could have forced the issue if he really wanted, but soccer isn't the be-all, end-all for LD it seems.
Donovan just wasn't that motivated to succeed in Europe. He said in an interview once that he'd never heard of Bayer Leverkusen until he was on the phone with them; I don't think he was ever that motivated to go. His dream was always to play for the US, to play in World Cups, so the idea of "making it in Europe" was never something that important to him. I think he wanted to give it a shot in earnest later, but it didn't happen for various reasons. Ultimately, I'm glad Donovan stayed in MLS; I think his final couple seasons cemented his status as a league and club legend, which I think is important. I'm glad that myself and so many other fans in this country got to see this dude play live.
I’m just now watching a Borussia Dortmund vs Liverpool friendly and Dortmund’s 1st goal is created by a forward named Reyna. Turns out it is Giovanni Reyna and indeed the son of Claudio and wife Danielle Egan, a former USWNT player. Cool!
Apparently Reyna is impressing Dortmund quite a bit. Might have a similar role as Pulisic did that first season he got his chance aka not much in terms of minutes, but he will occasionally be subbed on or get a rare start.
Giovanni is currently on Dortmund's U-19 roster. I know he played with the 1st team in the friendly vs Liverpool but can they pull him up for official matches any time they want? If so would they have to clear a first team roster spot first? Someone who knows these kinds of rules please chime in. Another note: 16 yo Gio as an attacking mid would be playing behind 27yo Mario Gotze (25m €), 30yo Shinji Kagawa (6m €) and 18yo Spanish International Sergio Gomez (3m €). But I could see Gio getting playing time in side competitions when the team is giving their regulars a break.
Ok not Galaxy related, but Pulisic showing well for Chelsea. Check out the Barca players face as he tries to keep up: Pulisic shows off his blistering pace as he races away down the left flank, he tries his luck on goal from a tight angle, but it smashes the side netting. That pace... ⚡️1-0 [44'] #CFCinJapan pic.twitter.com/AP32XUveHl— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 23, 2019
I hope so, but I worry he will get the Hazard treatment aka getting his heels kicked and clipped on every attack.
Regarding Landon's time at Leverkusen. People seem to think that the general attitude in the Bundasliga is what it is today. Not true. Youngsters were hardly ever played, let alone American youngsters. Not sure when it happened but at some point the German FA struck a deal with the Bundasliga and policies were put into place that planted the seeds for the German National Team dominance today. There is a huge youth push in German teams, and with the rise of the Champions League being a huge money maker, the rest of the Bundasliga becomes a "feeder" league for the top handful of teams, youngsters are played all the time now because they become business commodities. Dortmund sold Pulisic for over $56million. Landon, with his so-cal attitude was those in a situation that sucked for him. Think the opening sequence for "Goal!" Movie, when the kid is at Newcastle trying to train with the youth team but with a language barrier. Nowadays with global media English is spoken everywhere. Back then nowhere near as much.
I was with you up to the comment on language barrier. I was travelling on business to Germany on a regular basis around that time, and found most Germans - at least in the business community, were facile in English. I asked about it and was told that English was a required course in elementary school. Now, obviously, that's the sort of thing that "takes" with some people and gets lost if there is never any need to use it, but I was genuinely surprised at how little a language barrier there was.
I believe that is the case, but I would not be surprised if Donovan's teammates did not speak to him in English, even if they could. I remember another US international wrote about his troubles in Germany, and this was one of the things he experienced. He described that training was highly competitive and the guys you were competing with took every advantage against you. Nobody laughs or jokes; it was nothing like he experienced with teams in the US.
I remember reading at the time that Landon was shunned by his German teammates. That one of the few people he got along with was Ribery, who was new to the team and French. He was also possibly considered Klinsmann's guy which was the kiss of death. FWIW, I have read that Jurgen blamed Landon for his failure at BM and held that grudge. Arren Robben was brought in in 2009 to fill the right wing position.
I didn't follow Pulisic's journey closely aside from dropping in on the YA boards occasionally, but he seemed to have a much better go all around. Not discounting the difference in their respective characters, I do think Christian benefited from being a lot less naive about what the experience of trying to break through at a world class soccer club was going to be like. Donovan was completely unprepared for that, which is not to say he'd have succeeded anyway if he had been.
I was mostly talking about his first stint at Leverkusen. I remember Donovan specifically saying his teammates wouldn't pass to him in training. It was another US youth abroad from the same generation saying they didn't speak English to him purposely. (I do believe Donovan speaks German). That's the first time I'm hearing that about the BM loan, though. I feel, that time around, Donovan was probably more a victim of what was happening with Klinsmann and the club. To your point, he wasn't seen as good enough for that level and being brought in and getting starts ahead of guys like Podolski was hurting an already fractured team that was already doubting their coach (sound familiar?). I've heard people speculate that Klinsmann blamed Donovan for that, but I don't know how much I buy it, honestly. Hand-picking some obscure player for a big role is something he's done a few times almost everywhere he's coached (David Odonkor, Donovan, Julian Green, Jordan Morris, Miguel Ibarra and so on) and I partially believes he just forgets about these guys once their done serving whatever purpose, especially if they don't live up to expectations. I believe Jurgen has a striker's mentality in that respect -- he doesn't bothering reflecting on the misses.
Something to maybe brighten your day. Check out the goal vids: https://deadspin.com/christian-pulisic-scores-first-two-of-what-is-sure-to-b-1836860881
Pulisic, Weah, Sargent, McKinnie, Adams, Brooks, Steffen, and Yedlin all playing for decent clubs in europe. You can throw in Miazga, Robinson, Boyd, and Saief to the mix too. We have a decent amount of yanks playing in europe in good to alright leagues.
📝 NEWS | Gregg Berhalter has named a 26-player #USMNT roster for #USAvMEX, presented by @ATT, on Sept. 6 @MetLifeStadium and #USAvURU on Sept. 10 at Busch Stadium.THE SQUAD >> https://t.co/FdVrBaugoC🇺🇸 ⚽️ 🇲🇽 🇺🇾 pic.twitter.com/2TKNHYEGXJ— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) August 28, 2019 Lleget called up for the Sept 6 friendly vs Mexico and the Sept 10 friendly vs Uruguay
I swear this has happened before. Lletget is injured, comes back from said injury and is doing very well in the league. Goes and injures himself again for the national team. I really hope he turns the call-up down. It's a dumb friendly and losing both him and Jona for colorado will be tough.