Your goal keeper will ruin the team. He is simply not good enough and with so many great goal keepers to be had, I am surprised a better one has not been brought in.
At one level of analysis you are, of course, correct. At another, you are wrong. LD provided zero added value when he entered. The game did not change. Granted, chances continued to occur, but they were not more numerous or better. My point is that to get added value from an LD substitution, you DO NOT put him on the wing and expect quality crosses. He is an ok crosser, but nowhere near a Beckham. Put him in the middle behind Toni and Klose where he can hit better passes and read the play better than other Bayern players did on Friday. Then, he can also do his patented runs into the area to get the ball back or create space by drawing defenders with him. That's my point. LD has special attributes. Klinsmann should use them and not put LD in a position from which he can't bring them to bear on the action.
The German message board that I've been reading is starting to turn the tide. It's now about 50-50 as to whether LD can make it. Half don't believe he's strong enough for the league; at best a 4th striker, and at 10 Mil, that's too expensive. The other half are calling 'em crazy - basically, after less than 15 minutes how can you tell, give the guy a chance. I'm getting nervous. I hope Landon can earn some more minutes. Hope he really works hard in practice. I wish I knew what was going on in the minds of those who decide whether to buy him or not. I'm convinced that if given the proper amount of time, the guy can make it. But time is definitely not on his side.
Hard to say from that game. He was thrown into a quite disorganized seat-of-the-pants attack. I thought there were several bad decisions by Bayern players, including Ribery, that we tend to ignore because we are so focused on Donovan. If Klose doesn't stamp himself on the game a bit more Donovan will get a chance up front, even if only as a sub. I would imagine the Bayern boards are more concerned with Toni missing a sitter than LD. Also, if LD had struck a shot like Lucio did, even after that nice run, we would have 30 more pages on this thread.
Where can I find these message boards? When you say "strong" enough for the league, are you referring to physical strength or playing ability? I don't think there is any reason to be nervous. The March 15 deadline was always a bit problematic because that only gives him 1.5 months of actual league games, and he's going to be gone for a week for the Mexico game...and miss at least the Hertha game I assume. He just has a compressed time frame to prove himself compared to a usual 5-6 month loan. I don't think there is any doubt that Klinsmann wants him and believes in him, and I don't doubt that Landon wants to go. The key here is Hoeness and the board and what value they place on him. I think they've already seen enough to know that he has talent, can fit in with the team on and off the field and brings a dimension they don't currently have. The open question, which is a legitimate one, is whether he can handle the pressure of playing in high stakes, big atmosphere games for FC Hollywood and contribute right away. No one really knows because he's only done it in the 2002 World Cup, and maybe there's an argument to include Italy in the 06 Cup or a few Mexico WCQs. Hopefully, he can shake off any nerves he has and can produce in the 6-8 games left before March 15 at a reasonable clip. At that point, I think the board might spend the $10 million. If he does fine but not great, things become murkier. They'll probably only do it if they think he can acclimatize at some point by mid next season (which is certainly reasonable) and only if the fee is a bargain for them: $4-7 million. The problem then becomes whether MLS will accept it.
Certainly because Chelsea has all of Drogba and Anelka while Man City has powerhouse strikers such as Jo, Benjani, Robinho, and Bellamy. I might have misread your comment but, do you watch football?
Lolz! I think he meant to say Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Man U. BTW what's so wrong with Toni and Klose? Most team would kill to have a partnership like that?
yes, you did, I was talking about buying power. How many teams could just decide to go out and buy forwards of a higher quality than Toni and Klose, assuming you can even find them...went back to the point of 'if they could finish better'. I do watch football, and soccer. My point being if you're gonna hold JK responsible for a loss in which Toni and Klose miss so many clear cut opportunities, you're really setting your manager up for failure (of course any manager at a team like Bayern is set up for failure sooner or later).
In the end, it doesn't matter if the manager's tactics work or not if the players, especially the strikers, have all but forgetten their shooting-boots at home. As far as higher quality forwards, I would say Klose and Toni are in the top 20 strikers in the world setting them apart from the next lower tier.
This is 100% right on. Might I add that if Donovan is to be successful at BM, I think JK will have to try to set him up better. Use those big forwards to hold/flick the ball in to space and get Donovan going full bore in the open field. This is what he does best.
Let me put it this way: If Klinsmann really wants him, he will get him, even if Hoeneß is not 100% convinced. $10m is a lot of money, but not that much money by Bayern standards to deny a transfer which the coach absolutely wants. Klinsmann and Hoeneß have become buddies in the last few months. And while Hoeneß will always put the interest of the club first, I don't think that a Donovan transfer would be a problem. Remember that Bayern have not signed players Klinsmann wanted so far (at least they did not pay a transfer fee for them), and usually, every new coach has a few wishes granted. So fully convicing Klinsmann in the coming weeks should more or less seal the deal for Donovan, unless MLS demands an astronomical fee, or something unforseeing like a major injury happens, basically stuff you can't rule out, but are not likely.
There are two points regarding this: 1) For Donovan to look good, the Bayern players have to believe it first ... and they have to see it before that. In big games. Otherwise, his touches will be few and far in between and currently the players seem a little wary. Mind you, this was a game where Klinsmann was throwing the kitchen sink out there while Jol was sitting deep and responding with an occasional counter. Tactics-wise, Klinsmann quite properly put Donovan wide right against a very tall ex-Bayern left fullback/winger Marcel Jensen, where Donovan should have had plenty of chances to take the guy off the dribble. If anyone saw Marcel at the last Euros, his left back performance against Croatia earned him a permanent seat on the bench. Klinsmann did not place Landon on the left against a very physical and fast Guy Demel. Thus, the match-up was perfect for him and his touches should have been plentiful. But they weren't. In other games, the conditions would be different. For an offensive player, this was the time and the place to shine. 2) The guy he is fighting with for his job is Ivica Olic. Based on what I saw over the last two games - and this isn't the end, obviously - he is not in the same league as Olic. I am not saying he can't shake the nerves or whatever but Olic is one tough dude and he is already signed. That leaves Landon as a 4th striker, with very long shot to become 3rd over the next month and a half. That's a very tough road ahead to earn a big money transfer. I suggested in another thread that Bayern should have just gone for Boubacar Sanogo, who's proven and relatively cheap. With Ibicevic's injury, that's exactly what Hoffenheim did. And he'll be a starter. A 9 goal scorer in 21 matches with Bremen a season ago.
You wasted that much time to say the same thing you have been saying for the past I dont know x amount of years. I love ya but I think your view on Donovan is well known. Please please I'm begging you, bring something new to the table. You can do it!!!
I watched the replay of the game yesterday. It always helps to watch things twice. Donovan did better than OK; he actually played really well. He had one bad touch and then when he went to retrieve it, got knocked to the ground. He actually didn't look nervous at all - I think I was nervous for him and projected those feelings onto him. Contrary to Ray Hudson's opinion that he needed to get more involved - Donovan was involved and showing for the ball; his Munich teammates made decisions to go elsewhere at times and they also made decisions to get him the ball. I think there were a couple of ill-advised shots (one by Lucio and one by von Bommel perhaps - not sure it was him, but it was a midfielder) which wasted some opportunities, but that's not LD's fault. He came inside for the ball, the pass was behind him and hit him in the heel. He stayed out wide and got the ball; he covered back for Altintop when he went forward, and on one of those times anticipated the pass, intercepted it and took off, with a nice lofted ball over the defense, which unfortunately took a bad bounce and spun out. He was making runs off the ball, one of which Luca Toni attempted to get him the ball, battled hard and the defense made a good play on it. Luca acknowledged Landon, letting him know he saw his run (seems he realized it was a smart run). He had another great run and just a superb lunge by the defender cut off the pass - he would have been in on goal. In short, he went inside looking for the ball, he stayed outside available for the ball, got it and served it in; he went back on defense, looking for the ball. He used his minutes well - set up two shots and took a shot himself. He did quite well for less than 15 minutes of playing time. He looked like he belongs.
http://www.fcbayern.t-home.de/de/aktuell/start/index.php Then you have to sign up and click "Community". It won't let you even read the boards without signing up unfortunately. And of course, it's in German One of the posters explicitly complained about how Donovan got knocked on his butt "too easily" by Jansen. There were a number of people defending him, either because it was so late in the game, or because he was put out on the right instead of up front. However, the enthusiasm definitely seems to have cooled. Still a lot of fans aren't counting him out yet, though even some of the people who thinks he's an asset don't think he's necessarily worth the $10 mil. MLS is apparently asking. For what it's worth, the game thread was *brutal* against Ribery. They were calling him "useless", "lazy" and more. Suffice it to say they are bitter about the loss, so there won't be much praise for any players after that game.
I wasn't aware the team had a message board on their site. Thanks for the info - especially what the fans are saying. Brutal on Ribery, huh? Funny how fans the world over are basically the same - the better players always get slammed no matter what. (Although I agree somewhat, Franck wasn't up to his usually sparkly self.)
I doubt that Klinsmann's thinking was to maximize a Donovan/Jansen match-up. He wanted another scoring threat while not wanting to take off either Klose or Toni. Where else would LD play than right mid? Would anyone even contemplate replacing Ribery with LD? Not likely. Furthermore, even assuming the match-up was a good one, that doesn't necessarily imply that LD's touches should have been plentiful. Rather, it would imply that he would be effective in those moments when he received it. The number of times the ball came to him or any player is a function of other variables like the overall flow of play, other players' decisions and the individual player's (LD's) runs and checks to the ball. I do happen to believe that he wasn't aggressive enough in showing for the ball. It was reflective of the kind of timidity we've seen from LD in the past. I think and hope that he'll get past it to demonstrate the kind of aggressiveness he showed in the pre-season. As for Sanogo, I think LD brings more to the table including versatility. As for battling with Olic for the 3rd spot, I've always assumed that anyway. On a G10 team, I wouldn't expect LD to be more than a 3rd/4th option at this moment (next season or two), which is better than hanging out in LA as far as I'm concerned. From there, we'll see where he can take it, but he's got to get into that spot first.
I appreciate your assessment - I finally got to watch the game this morning. I agree with most of the above. I loved the intercepted pass, he used his quickness to surprise & it was great quality, but then the pass was lacking & too far in front, unfortunately. His lefty cross was OK, too, although it didn't find anyone. He seemed quite nervous at first to me. The play I was probably most disappointed in was the ball that fell to him early in stoppage time on the right side of the box. I thought he should have shot it, for sure, or at least tried to create something, but it seemed to me he rushed it & slammed it into the crush of players in the center, which were mostly defenders. It wasn't a good shot, which he was open for, or a good play, just a hail mary. I think it's kind of funny to overanalyze 15 minutes. There were quite a few times his teammates could have gotten him the ball & it would have resulted in a better play than what they did do with it. He'll do more when given more time. It wasn't his best or even his better, yet, but he didn't embarrass himself, at least. That's not much to celebrate - we'll have to wait for the next game!
Swami, I obviously do not mean you, but it is simply ignorance of soccer strategies to think that Klinnsi was thinking of any match-up with LD. For one thing, the MAIN thing, Hamburg play a zonal defense- so there is no such match -up. It would depend where LD was on a given play. As most here know, in a zonal defense, LD would be passed along, not man-marked like a forward against a 3 man backline. Secondly, Bayern needed a goal!! So, of course they wanted another striker on the field.
We also know that LD is going to be shorter and lighter than almost every defender he faces anywhere on the field. No coach has ever worried about an LD matchup with a defender, at least one based on size. I still don't understand why LD played so wide. I would think the he would have been of a lot more use circulating all through the middle, spraying passes, running to get the return or creating space for others to do so. Can't do that much from outside.
When he got the ball he was free to move inside, without the ball by staying wide he forced Hamburg to defend the entire width of the field which means another defender out wide and not in the box working on Toni & Klose plus out wide he has the speed to get around defenders and keep them beaten pulling the defens out of shape when they try to recover.