Kneeling down like a fool making the keeper wait? What's that all about? In an exhibition no less! He stinks BTW - flat out garbage ..couldn't cut it in Germany and is a career MLS'er ...Mapp on the other hand , understand you need to take people off the first move. I would love to see Bob drop Donovan to the bench...him and his pal Beasley as well as Eddie Johnson.
I'll agree that he went a bit overboard with the whole kneel down and do whatever crap. But he did make the goal and I felt like he had a pretty good game. So I believe you just have a vendetta against him and were going to make this topic regardless of the outcome yesterday.
if you can't complain about Donovan's play because he played well, you will find something else to bitch about
what game were you watching? Donovan played like a scared little schoolgirl today. i can think of at least 5 instances of where it was like he reenacted the pass to Olsen instead of taking the ball towards net against Ghana. wasted talented is what he is.
I think the whole kneel down thing was his way of getting into the zone to focus on converting the penalty. He's had so much pressure on him for the last several years, especially during this 18-match goal-less streak, so I think it was his way of getting into his "happy place" before a very important penalty.
I agree with Olephill2. Complaining about Landon focusing before taking a penalty, when everyone watching him knows its been forever since he scored in international play seems a bit biased to me. In the end, it wasn't a pretty shot, but it got the job done and boosted our morale going into halftime, which is all that matters. I was never a Landon booster, but I have hope that this year he will improve. He is still young. The national team has come a long way since 1990, when most of our potential player pool for the senior team were amatuer players. Now our U20 mens team has five pros on it. Now there are plenty of professional players that haven't gotten an invite to a senior national camp, including a starting defender in the EPL. Fifteen years from now the men's senior team may be a dominate soccer power as our women's team has been, but there will always be disappointments. Just ask any Brazilian fan about the 2006 cup finals!
I think the Beas has been playin like the ol' Beas lately at Man City. Running at players, great service and crossing in the box, shooting and scoring. I'll take him on the field.
Beasley is closer to the Beas of old than the Beas that was villified at the World Cup. I think he'll be back for good by Copa America... (I'll admit though that I thought the criticism of him during Germany was a little unfair)...
why was he the MOTM yesterday? Mapp, Clark, Bornstein, and Cooper were by far better than Donovan against Denmark.
You're kidding right? He was garbage. If that is what is considered playing well we have some really low standards. Believing that that kinda of play is good by him or most of that team is why when they play real competition away from home and in a hostile environment they look pathetic. Did anyone notice these guys can't shoot for shit. They almost never worked the keeper. From outside the box, their shots nearly go out for corners. And that slow lazy passing just isn't gonna cut it. Other than Justin Mapp's run i was utterly unimpressed. And Eddie Johnson was crap and i thought he may be good someday. But we need to reward guys that play well not just people who had a few good games a couple years back. I have no idea why he's even still getting starts when guys like Jeff Cunningham lead the league in goals or assists and are in form but aren't even invited to camp. I hope he was hurt or something or needed a rest. Oh and that kissing himself penalty stuff is just gay. Just take a decent penalty and stop wasting time.
While there is a lot of mouthbreathing going on here, I agree with this post. Donovan is still the guy on the US who is the most talented player. But just barely. Why won't he shoot??????
Because he's completely lost his confidence in front of goal. But how does a player get their confidence back? Any ideas?
I'm quoting your post but not directing this at you. Donovan was grandstanding with the whole PK crap. He's learning from the NFL on how to keep the camera on him. There is no focus time needed with a PK, it's automatic, you merely execute and hope the keeper guesses wrong or in this case can't touch it enough to keep it out. Donovan played well? That's a boarderline statement, yes he didn't screw up against Denmarks B-Team but I think we all know Donovan is capable of so much more and he consistently doesn't step up. He plays at the level of competition maybe stepping it up for two 10 minute spurts in a game. He was timid, not hungry, and should read it as a bit of a slap in the face that there was a reason Jimmy Conrad took his armband. Donovan needs to leave California for a grittier place and get some balls. Donovan still young: Only in age, he's been a pro now for almost a decade and was a focal point since way before that. I don't buy that argument as a free pass from him anymore. He's got it figured out by now and has played and trained and preformed with the best teams, mentors, coaches, and players. There's no excuses with him anymore.
Though not abundant in eloquence, I certainly agree with the spirit of the thread. Perhaps a source of such bitter frustration could be that we recognize a potentially great player, a talent that none of us have and that with such talent we all believe that we would live it to its fullest. Its a bit like the phrase 'youth is wasted on the young'....soccer talent was wasted on LD.
Important penalty? It was a freakin' friendly! That was ridiculous, pure and simple. We don't need soccer's version of touching yourself all over while getting ready to get in the batter's box.
Not going to get into the debate, but Donovan has been doing that pre-PK ritual as long as I've seen him taking PKs.
People in this thread are acting like they've never seen Donovan take a PK before. Donovan is not the first soccer player to have a pre-PK ritual, nor will he be the last. Plenty of athletes are superstitious. If it helps him score the goal, then by all means let him do whatever he wants.
I recall seeing him do this before as well but I don't remember BS posters getting all worked up over it like this time ... but maybe I just missed that thread...
He has to practice where he is failing - dribbling, shooting, running at people. Once he learns to do this successfully in practice - yes, I am talking about practice - he should regain (not rogain) the ability to do that on the field. My take is that his lack of confidence stems from him knowing that he is incapable of performing the assigned tasks.