http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/gamecast?id=252721&page=features&cc=5901 Click on "Average Position" and "Bayern Munich" (or "Hertha Berlin" to compare). Donovan is Number 13, and he's pretty much the highest forward on either team. Soccernet tracks and displays this information live so that you can follow his average position throughout the match (although, unfortunately it only saves the full match average position at the end of the game), and since I checked up on this about halfway through his stint, I can tell you he was on average that high up for most of the game.
You're not wrong, but you're not correct either. Donovan was hustling his ass off out there, and yes sometimes he wouldn't get a through ball when he should have, and other times he made the choice not to make a run as well. He also spent a bit of time late in the match dropping into the midfield to recieve the ball. Most of the match was spent front running however, and as a result didn't see much of the ball as Bayern's central midfield couldn't complete passes....and Donovan couldn't create when he got the ball out wide.
To repeat what I have written elsewhere: LD as a post-up target at the edge of the attacking third is a waste of his talent. Moreover, Bayern has played very poorly, especially as it relates to LD. My interpretation of LD's play is that is clearly no worse than anyone else on the Bayern team, except Klose. Tactically, I think LD has more to give the team if he plays out of the midfield rather than as a far-forward attacker. I think Bayern management needed to see LD play better than any of his teammates. He has not obviously done that and the signs now point to Bayern going in another direction. Too bad for Bayern, LD and the Yanks Abroad forum. If Toni is out this weekend and Podolski starts over LD, he can kiss Bayern goodbye.
I can't remember how many runs he was making, but he was frequently making runs in the winter friendlies that went unrewarded. In one of the most recent matches he also had several good runs that Altintop passed on. My hunch is that the Bayern players are playing the way they've done all season, since both of their first choice forwards have been the type that play with their backs to the goal. It might take some more time playing with Donovan in order for them to break that habit. The other possibility is that Toni's injury caught the team off guard, and that the team hadn't really prepared for the needed shift in tactics during the week leading up to the game. I don't know enough about how these training sessions are run to say how likely that is, though.
Bayern has a notoriously cold locker room, dating back to the 1980s. If he needed a warm nest, Bayern isn't exactly the best destination.
Yes. That was glaringly obvious. And, very strange. I'm actually surprised not to have seen any comments by Klinsmann about it. Maybe it's part of a problem for the entire attack. There seem to have been many more miscommunications between Ribery and Toni or others than I ever would have expected from a top level team. Again, very strange.
that's kind of standard in all walks of life. The new guy replaces old friends, not to mention is competition to their own spots. Donovan really needed to put away one of his chances, then they are obligated to get him the pass. Toni is not creative force with the ball, but the guy closes like crazy. Very good poacher, always in the right spot.
and how did the internationals play? Like Ribery... But as I asked earlier here, I think, how many other players on that field left the time zone for a natioanl team game? Let alone passing through 6 or 7.
In most of LD's Bundesliga minutes the last few weeks, Bayern has had majority possession in the opposing half of the field. Hamburg, Dortmund, and Berlin all played 9 guys behind the ball, closed off Bayern's space in the attacking third, and played for quick counters up the middle vs the aging, somewhat slow CB pair of Lucio and Demichelis. It is the only smart way to play Bayern -- frustrate and conjest their talented attackers while quickly attacking their vulnerable CB's and keeper. This just doesn't facilitate lot's of through balls behind the defense. The defense is set up to deny that. It limits LD's strengths. The one time I recall a clear Bayern break-out into space was the Ribery run in which he fed a sprinting Donovan the ball at the top of the box. Donovan tried the 1-touch outside of the right foot flicked shot and the keeper assertively blocked it. It is interesting how important this one play is for Donovan. It was a rare chance to highlight his speed and mobility, and if he scored on that play, the ENTIRE tone of the subsequent media stories and the BS threads would be different. Score that goal and Donovan rivals Klose as Bayern's best player of an otherwise rather dull game. Instead of being the newbie American who missed two scoring chances, he'd be the speedy newbie who almost scored twice! The different spin in the headlines would be huge. All for one play. Donovan MUST put the next chance like that into the net, because until he does, he can't change the tone of the situation.
Yes, he's a poacher and he's always in the right spot. but I dare say his finishing leaves a lot to be desired. I've seen more glaring open-net chances not even put on frame by that guy than I can count. Now, Klose, on the other hand... Usually if he gets half a chance, he puts it away or at least makes the goalie make a save on it.
Too true, unfortunately. I was really surprised Landon missed it. That should have been an outside of the foot chip. He kept it down, which is harder to do than than chipping it. The chip, even of 18", would have been in.
Ahh yes, if only LanDo could get those shots past highly effective German keepers. What a different story the USA might have to tell right now.
this is exactly right. really WISH he had chipped the keeper. It was a split second reaction shot. he had very little time with the defender on him. he had no way to gain much power on the shot.
His header was great. Unfortunately, so was the save. Yeah, he should have chipped his other chance. So he missed as many gilt-edged opportunities as Schweinsteiger did. On another day he bags two goals and walks off the pitch a hero. Let's hope that other day comes this weekend.