I agree that results can be misleading. And the scenario you lay out is one reason why I feel that way. If Wondo had scored it would have been one of those situations where the result was entirely at odds with how the game went. For those of us who feel this team did not play well for the most part, it would not have changed our assessment.
Yep. I just watched. Not even close. I remembered it quite differently from the actual footage. I may have been conflating it with Caliugiri's goal that got us into the 1990 WC. Mathis' was a nice goal and an important goal, but nothing crazy skillwise.
I really hope to God all of y'all who are criticizing Landon; shut up, Landon; of course he would feel like a team he is on was better, etc., etc., etc., that you actually bothered to LISTEN to the interview. The quote posted in the original post, pulled raw out of the interview, is VERY VERY misleading....and Landon in no way said the '02 team is better, blah, blah, blah, with the negative connotation you guys are giving it. It's a very good, insightful interview and praises this team and the future of US Soccer (and doesn't build himself up AT ALL) if you, you know, BOTHER TO LISTEN TO IT. But do carry on with your blind bashing - it's what Big Soccer is good at.
I think Donovan is spot on that team was our Golden Generation I was 17 the summer of my graduation I remember waking up at 2 or 4 in the morning watching that team absolutely out play Portugal, Germany and Mexico the only real team that gave us a real hassle I remember was South Korea. You had that feeling against Germany that we would just win and really should've if not for that handball. Ask any German today if their honest and know of that game that if they were very lucky to beat us. Such is soccer, on a level of which team is better i'd give the slight edge to the 02' team cause duh they made it further and damn near made the semi-final. So those newcomers tellin LD to shut up how bout you guys show respect and realize what Landon's meant to the US progress. All the crucial goals he scored. The Breakaway goal against Brazil ConfedCup 09, the endless goals against Mexico "The Mexicutioner" his best imo opinion game the Ecuador early 2000' game hat trick. He was our Clint Dempsey before Clint Dempsey with an endless motor. So IMHO short of wishing ill on the NT Landon can say as he damn pleases. I'm impartial Jurgen can do whatever he wants as well I will support him, was I a lil bummed Landon didn't get the call? yes he would of helped handle our glaring possession weakness. I think most that are quick to go at Landon are the Euro/ EPL contingent that still think Landon did a disservice by not "achieving " more by playing in the "Big four". Eff those leagues and their arrogant fans. It sure helped England huh. All Im saying is it will be a while til we produce another Donovan type of player I hope Green can become that but he's has no where near the speed LD had.
Controversial? I don't know. Overly and needlessly simplistic? You betcha. You can't determine how good a team is relative to another by simply looking at where they finished in WCs that are years apart. That's insane. Otherwise we should be arguing that the best US team ever played in 1930.
My gosh, folks: I implore you to LISTEN to the podcast. It lasts all of 7:59. I think you will change your tune....or not, if you've got your mind made up already.
He was asked a question. He's allowed an opinion. He put forth a logical reason. There's literally nothing controversial about his statement.
I would say that the 2002 team is similar in quality to the 2014 but mostly because every single available player hit a nice peak. Reyna and JOB were both healthy. I think that 2002 was the only year JOB ever played a full schedule. Mathis and Wolf came into their own. Stewart and Cobi were still good. It's like every single thing went right player wise for us that year. The only thing wrong was Armas getting hurt but we always had great depth in DM. It's like 2014 but if Landon were the Landon of six months ago and if Holden miraculously got healthy and played for a year and if Green had gotten his pro debut a year ago. AAMOF I remember this same argument in 2010. That was snake-bitten roster if I ever saw one but we managed to pull ahead. Also, how can we explain 2006? On paper, that was 2002 with a few improvements. I like comparing generations but we have to factor in that luck plays a part in roster availability and also luck plays an important part in games.
Once more - LISTEN TO THE PODCAST. He says this very thing. Said US Soccer is farther along than we were in 2010 - a team he was on, by the way. This might have been mentioned as the name of the thread too; course if it were, it probably wouldn't get as many views. We do love our controversy....especially when it involves Landon Donovan.
Listen to the podcast before you come to your final conclusion. Seriously. Edit: Whoops - just read what you said. Carry on. You apparently already dislike Landon, so never mind. Í don't think you'll want to have your mind opened up about it.
theyre pretty darn comparable IMO, he has the right to say it as others have said. Hes free to an opinion like everyone else
^^^ Yep I mean, love him, hate him, want him to close his piehole, whatever you think about Landon, you have to give him this: he's thoughtful and he shares a lot of what he's thinking. Probably too much? And, he's talking because people _want_ _to_ _hear_ what he's thinking. Don't want to hear it? Stay away from BS, turn of the Interwebs and the tube. Go run, play some futsal, do whatever. FWIW, Nate Silver agrees with his assessment: the 2002 team was a little ahead of the USMNT performance curve: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/has-the-u-s-mens-national-team-plateaued/ So... as others have pointed out... has he said anything that controversial? If you're upset about Landon referencing things that are pretty indisputable, like R8 > R16, what on Earth *can* he say? Lando does need some PR training, though...
(I) Some of you will remember the late great Joe Strummer of the Clash, who was a bit of a soccer fan himself. He reminded us to: "Know your rights. All three of them." He went on to explain that "you have a right to free speech, as long as you're not dumb enough to use it". (2) The 2002 team played a phenomenal game against Germany and had notched victories against then major power Portugal (led by Figo) and a very good Mexico (think Blanco and Hernandez). The 2002 U.S. team really came together nicely as the tournament progressed. That midfield was anchored by Claudio Reyna and John O'Brien. When healthy, those two were probably the best tandem of central midfielders the U.S. has ever put on a field together. In this World Cup - except for the Portugal game - our midfield play failed to maintain possession and generate offense. For the most part, the 2014 team simply did not deliver the style of soccer that Jurgen told us to expect. We went as far as we could with the team we took.
Actually there were things that went wrong in addition to Armas getting hurt. Reyna got hurt and missed the first game and was short of a hundred percent against Korea. Beasley got hurt and didn't play in the Germany game. Agoos had a disastrous tournament before getting hurt. Stewart got hurt and could barely play in the knockout phase. Regis completely lost his form and confidence in the runup before the tournament and had to be replaced on the left side by Hejduk who had zero left foot. Mathis never regained the explosive form he had before his knee injury. There was a controversy before the WC because his fitness results were so poor compared to the rest of the team. Cherundolo got hurt and did not play at all. Ben Olsen one of the most talented players of that generation never fully developed due to injury and was left off the team.
I think it's clear that Landon differs sharply on Klinsmann in just about every area: fitness, tactics, mentality etc. Just listen to his comments on ESPN: he said he thought the players were over-trained and advocated JK use Wondo in 2nd striker formation as early as the Portugal match. I think it's clear he doesn't feel the program is going in the right direction under JK and, if anything, I expect him to be more vocal about it now that the WC is over. This is just the opening salvo. Fans are already choosing sides, chickens are going to come home to roost if the players start to.
I dunno know about that. Seems to me Landon is doing a bit of (1) "analysis" (considering how many similar comparison posts have been made on this board in the last 24 hours by your average big soccer armchair analysts) and also (2) making a bit of "news" in that he's making those comparisons as (a) one the nation's best soccer players ever and (b) as a player whose particular situation is, as we might say, "newsy." I think it fits right in.
I'm very interested in hearing what the rest of the squad thinks. I understand that the players with international careers ahead of them will want to be circumspect. But I'd love what the guys who presumably will be retiring, like Beaz, think of what has happened.
I dunno -- he's always had a bit of a nasal tone to his vocal inflections. Then again, sometimes we all hear what we want to hear.
By this logic, Costa Rica is ahead of the reigning World Cup champions and two-time reigning Euro champions. Costa Rica is not better than Spain just because they lasted longer in this tournament. US 2002 is not better than US 2014 just because they lasted longer in their tournament. I have no idea which team was better. I will say that US 2002 was lucky in ways that US 2014 was not.
We chose a controversial coach. That's always going to cause friction. Especially when the coach chooses to do some controversial things. Whether your agree with him or not, choosing to dump Landon was always going to cause a rift in the fanbase.