Again I have to contrast Adu here. Do you think he would "drift right" at this career-defining moment? Or for that matter in the final 20 of a WC game where his team needs a goal to advance? Adu was no less dominant than Pato head to head a couple years ago at the U-20's. Donovan is a better player than Adu, but his head is firmly implanted in his arse.
Puh-lease, I love Freddy, but I've seen him disappear in many a game. And I've seen Donovan play some superb soccer in big games (and small) - like the entire WC qualifying campaign last go round. Or against Mexico virtually anytime. Donovan can frustrate us at times, there is no doubt, no player is perfect, and dribbling at defenses and holding the ball is just not his game, unfortunately, but let's not go into a hatefest (again) for no reason.
It's simply not acceptable to Bmunch fans to look up in the standings at clubs such as Hertha and Hamburg. It's extremely exciting for hertha fans, esp, to look down at bmunch. Bmunchians expect to win every year, and aren't often disappointed. Heck, they had to quickly shove a documentary on the bmunch CL winner season on after the game to stop mass suicide here. The grumbling in the press out of munich is almost as intense as the gloating out of berlin.
I don't get how offering up what you note are legit concerns is a hatefest? Very, very few folks around here root for LD to fail, almost all root for him to succeed. What's frustrating to many here isn't that he doesn't have the ability to make things happen, or run at defenses, force the issue at closing time, it's that in this game and others, his approach made him a secondary player, he faded into the background. We were simply hoping he'd step up (within himself, not sprout wings and fly, but do the things he does well, which includes running) and turn this game. I could care less if he goes to Bmunch, and I was very pleased to watch Hertha win a game like this. But while LD was okay, it would have been nice to see him distinguish himself. That's hardly hate.
kicker.de gave Landon a 4 for his efforts against Hertha, a figure setting him squarely in the middle of the Bayern players for their day's work. It seems like a fair enough judgment (no one is going to mistake Landon for a darling of the German press). If one wishes to extrapolate the grade, Landon did "OK", thus he "belongs". Imagine if Drobny hadn't played up to his well-deserved 1.5 grade by not quite getting to Landon's header! I am looking forward to a start versus 1. FC Köln, and I feel that Donovan will have a positive impact. Another week of training, some rest, a slightly lower level of competition. Interesting will be whether Franck and Ze R start.
And that's what seperate the GREAT ONES from the rest. The greats would always have the heart and desire to LEAD; the courage to rise to the occassion and challenged themselves on the biggest of stages even if they failed miserably. While the rest will tremble under the limelight. As much talents as Donovan has, he'll always be a follower, a sidekick, a role player, not the STAR. You have seen numerous times in youth tournament that ADU is the STAR. He's the leader, the playmaker, the one that would rise to the occasion and challenge the best in the world. However, if he attempts this feat at the moment with the senior level, no doubt he'll failed terribly. But you can see it, you can feel that he has the "IT" factor to be the star, the one to carry the USMNT to great levels. However, I honestly don't see this coming until the 2018 cup. And with the way he's rotting on the Monaco bench, he'll probably won't get the chance to lead the team.
klinsman's job in no danger. he was a very controversial choice , mostly done by hoeness, and he would be going against himself if he was to fire him at first sign of trouble. not that they are in any real trouble at the moment. they are 2 points of the lead, having already played the 2 toughest fixtures. what klinsi really needs to do is eliminate sporting . if they get knocked out, then yeah, he'd be in a lot of trouble. as far as the league is concerned, he needs to finish in the top 2 because 3. will mean a much more difficult qualifyer with the reformed format. finishing 2. is not the end of the world, even for bayern.
Again, let's see what happens. Donovan has impressed his will on games at high level before. He did at Anfield, where almost no opposing player does it on a Champion's League night. He did it against the World Champions to the extent that the best player for the other side praised him. He did it against Portugal in a World Cup match. He's done it in a Bundesliga match against Mainz with Leverkusen. Let's just understand - no one off match no matter how good or how bad he played - will be definitive. If that's the barometer Klinsmann is using, then he's not nearly as smart as people give him credit for and he set up Donovan for failure, or he set up Podolski for failure.
From someone that hasn't followed Bayern w/ any true detail in the last 10 years, I'm curious as the WHY Donovan must show that he is equal to the production of the two starting strikers in the 3-4 competitive games he has during his loan. When 95% of the players in the world are bought without extended loan deals, why is it necessary that Donovan, coming in from another country, to the top club in a 'big league', under pressure to get back to the top of the table, must score the winning goal in the next two games to show he deserves he should be purchased long term? In a brief history, maybe someone can educate me, was this kind of pressure and expectations placed on someone like Roque Santa Cruz? I mean, he had 23 appearances in Paraguay before Bayern bought his halfway through the season. He played in 13 games and scored 5 goals. He played for 7 more seasons and NEVER scored more than 5 goals in a season. I think Donovan has shown plenty that he can contribute to this team and match that production just by simply showing what he has already. To be honest, I'm most impressed that he's taking his chances well. It would have been nice for him to score this last weekend, but he's put practically all of his shots on frame in the last month. Perhaps I simply underestimate the pedigree a backup striker is supposed to have on a club like BM; but apparently anyone with his resume in the western hemisphere NOT from USA would have already been handed a deal. If this is a matter of price, that makes complete sense - why pay $15m now if you can wait a year and get him for free - can he help us win NOW? Becomes a great question. I just don't see that view articulated very frequently; it's more a question of if he can contribute which I think is settled. And for LD's sake if they choose not to purchase him, I would expect a line of mid-table teams in many leagues to come calling.
He showed he could hack it at the top level, he didn't show he could excel at the top level yet. That's probably what Bayern are curious to see if he can do. At this point, in no shape way or form can Donovan be considered a failure. He's done well, not great in his minutes for Bayern while palying against the best sides in the Bundlesliga...and even that little says something good about his talent. However, I think people are jumping the gun on the "make it or break" it part. Soccer isn't that easy or simple. Donovan didn't show his best for a number of reasons - both his fault and the fault of his teammates who played rather weakly against Hertha. It's tough to excel when your midfield us playing that poorly. Bottom line is that LD has played 89 minutes. How many strikers in the world have a goal per 89 minute strike rate? And the truth is that without a goalkeeper on the top of his game...he almost has 2 in those 89.
I was reacting to the above arse comment from Dogmatagram, and to the unfavorable comparisons of Donovan to Adu, of all players. "Legit concerns" are fine, but it doesn't take much, one mediocre game will do it, to have the haters go off. Call it a preemptive strike on my part. I've seen your criticisms/concerns - you have seen much more of Bundesliga football and Donovan playing there than I probably ever will, and I won't argue with you. Many of the critical points in this thread are more than fair. As I said in my post, he can be a frustrating player at times.
Kicker Ratings: Rensing (3,5) - Lell (5,5), Lucio (4), Demichelis (4), Lahm (3,5) - van Bommel (4), Zé Roberto (3) - Schweinsteiger (4,5), Ribery (3,5) - Klose (3), Toni (4,5) Lando got a 4 and Borowski got a 4.5
That's about what I expected. I agree that Klose and Ze Roberto were the best of a drab bunch this match. Kicker was a bit generous to Rensing, though, who didn't really do much of anything.
Agreed. When you play two of the top 4 teams at the away stadium, you cannot expect wins. These are quality teams playing at home, and Bayern lost each game by 1 goal, after controlling the majority of the play in both matches. Stuff like that happens all the time in soccer. Bayern just started the 2nd half with the toughest part of their schedule. It gets easier the rest of the way, yet they are still only 2 points out of 1st Place. They remain favorites for the title.
So my earlier 3-4 rating was not so far off. Sure, equal to some of his teammates but they have a contract. I think he can hang there for sure and BM would be happy to have him on the cheap. They just aren't going to pay huge money for him. I do think LD has to have some clout in the backrooms of MLS given his contribution to the league but we will know more as the deadline approaches. Beckenbaur and others are calling for Poldolski to inserted immediately with Toni's injury. Klinsmann responded that LD is clearly ahead of Poldolski at the moment (my guess is he meant match fitness).
Good, fair analysis in general. This has been the knock on LD for awhile and what particularly came through at the World Cup in '06...best exemplified by his backpass to Olsen in the box against Ghana. It's the kind of thing he can overcome with extended time in Europe...whether that's with BM or some other team. It has seemed to me that there has been a difference in his attitude, in this regard, between the games during the preseason and the real ones. In the preseason games, he seemed far more assertive and aggressive in his mental approach...pushing with the ball, making hard runs, taking shots and looking for the killer pass. I attributed this to nerves in the Hamburg game which isn't unreasonable, but I got the same sense in the most recent two games. It could be that bias from historical situations is coming into play, though. Has anyone else noticed this particular difference...pre-season vs. regular season? I would quibble with one thing above, though. Physically, he has been pushed off the ball a fair amount, though. It wouldn't happen in Spain, but Germany is a different beast in that regard.
While it is a bit premature to make definitive statements about differences between the two, there appears to be a lot of truth to this thus far. For all of his faults at this stage in his career, with few exceptions, Freddy shows up big against the best opponents and when the light is shining brightest. Whether it's against Juve, Chelsea, Celtic, Spain, being dangerous and scoring goals even in scrub minutes for Benfica, the Holland game in the Olympics, the U20 World Cup, etc., Freddy seeks to make big plays and actually makes them against the best or when pressure is on. You're right that he is still a defensive liability or sometimes makes poor decisions with the ball or doesn't make great off the ball runs or what have you at this point, but he is a difference maker...a game changer...and he has the mentality of one. I think the pressure of Europe or competition in any field can help to forge that mentality, but some people are just born with it.
Oh, I agree that he has been pushed off the ball. IE: His second half foul, just off the half circle, where he ends up flopping away from the ball after making a rather pathetic physical challenge. But he's no weaker or slower than lot's of players who are much more physical, so I'd put that down to attitude. That may be unfair.
By the way, soccernet's average position chart had Donovan playing centrally as the highest player up top against Hertha Berlin. If that's the way Bayern are choosing to play him, I do wish that they would take advantage of his speed by playing some through balls behind the defense.
I was frustrated watching passes to Donovan lofted out of the midfield and backline. He is 5'8'' on a good day and should not ever be played as a target forward.
I'm trying to remember unrewarded runs, and I'm not coming up with any. Was he making those types of runs? He was playing a bit deeper, trailing frequently, IIRC. But in any case, do you send through balls to a player who isn't making the runs for them?
I really don't think donovan is done. football is fickle and the press changes constantly. he did show well earlier in the friendlies and yes, he has not scored goals in the league. however, he does have a coach that thinks he brings something different and to some degree the support of the players. if mls's valuation is too high, then it's too high---but don't think that donovan is done playing (all this past tense talk about the trial being a failure) and that bayern doesn't need him or wouldn't want to have him at the end of the trial.
He should play for Hoffenheim-money won't be an issue there with Dietmar Hopp and god knows he can find starting role in that 4-1-3-2 they play. Plus, it would piss of Bayern if Hoffenheim won the Bundesliga