Disagree there. He's a very good, smart, cerebral player IMO that can play a few different roles & is respected by his peers & managers. He gets the 'hard worker' schtick all the time but he's progressively gotten better. Maybe he's hit his height and time will tell if as you say he fades into relative obscurity - but if relative obscurity is being a good contributor to a strong side with aspirations like Man. City, that's not so bad at all IMO... and he is 24 or 25. he's not a wunderkind talent as the fee/transfer seems to indicate, but he's a good one. I think Milner fits in better there than Donovan & really this could be a blessing if it means the whole Donovan to Man. City transfer is dead because I never liked that move even if Milner wasn't in the picture. That is not meant as a slight to Donovan at all. Some players just fit into different teams better, and I don't know if the environment of a Man. City would be a good one for him vs. an Everton, Villa, Fulham, etc. A little off topic, but for comparison's sake... I hate the idea of Neymar transferring to Chelsea as well. I don't think it's a good fit for him. it's not just about being 'good' enough. But there's a reason why those people sign the checks and make the moves and I am here free to talk about it while sipping a cup of tea.
By next year, Man City fans will be ruing the money spent on a guy who doesn't have the technical ability to get into the starting 11, just my opinion.
Speaking of Villa... rumours are surrounding Ronald Koeman right now. Things just keep getting worse for Villa, it seems. That opening day win is looking more and more important. If Koeman really does end up going to Villa, not only should any (real or unreal) rumours of Donovan to Villa vanish, but he'd do well to not even entertain the idea of going there - for his sake. I'm not a big Koeman fan... and think there are reasons why this guy has been unemployed.
Armand Traore is about to join Benfica from Arsenal it seems. http://www.record.xl.pt/capas/default.aspx I just thought this would be interesting for this thread because Traore was the left back Donovan scorched in his Premier League debut. It's still my favorite YA match of all time, and I'll always have fond memories especially of those American Arsenal fans that told us they would abuse LD then didn't come back post-match.
Nevertheless, let's bring the discussion back around to Landon. I appreciate there's not been much news and frankly think this thread should close once the window does. It's overly long, but there's not much sense in starting a new one unless/until there's a new basis for it.
I'm a pretty harsh donovan critic but couldn't help thinking he could have changed the pace and direction of everton/wolves today Everton off to a sluggish start
have to agree....everton had all kinds of chances but botched a lot of them...LD could have helped stretch the field even more and open up things more
I know I'm a Landon homer but Everton sure look like they could use him. Their midfield is so damned talented but it doesn't look like defenses feel threatened much at all by anyone blowing by them. If they sell Pienaar to get LD they'll be a better team. Regardless of who you think is better, they just seem to have too many players with the same skill set on the field at once. A 100 percent Fellaini and LD on the wings (combined with what they have already) would be a scary site for opposing teams. I'm probably just being a homer though. The countdown until Arteta's Girl puts me in my place has just started..
A Dutch sports magazine last week rated Donovan's transfer value at 12 million €€. Who is going to pay that?
A team that recognizes he is worth that... he is amazingly fit, rarely injured, pacey, smart and a leader and likely has 4-5 years of top level playing ability left... He makes teams better and is a constant threat when given space... How much did City just pay for Milner again?
If you include the value of Ireland, somewhere in the 24-26 million pound range. No, of course he's not worth that much, but he's English and the team buying him was Manchester City, which is throwing around crazy money. With that being said, if you want to compare Milner to Landon, James is 4 years younger and already a better player than Landon...
Milner is also an incredibly valuable asset to any English team as he fits in with their new restrictions on foreigners. I'm not sure he already is a better player than Donovan but he certainly has that potential.
Exactly. Not to mention that Milner was ill early in the Cup (for the life of me I can't figure out why Capello started him against the US). As for Milner's performance last season, he had about a dozen goals for Villa along with 15 or so assists (in all competitions)... That's an excellent season, and he's already off to a great start this year. He scored a nice goal for Villa last weekend and looked very good for Man City today (assisting on the first goal).