LD certainly played well enough for the Nats and for San Jose. But I honestly think Friedel may have earned in with his play in the WC and his standout season w/Blackburn.But I knew LD would get it because he's everybody's "poster child."
Good question. Personally, I think Friedel deserves a great big ol' hug* for his yeoman performance at the World Cup. But I'd give the award to Donovan because of his electrifying performance in Korea. Yes, he had only two goals, not six as the press release first said. But he should've had two more -- remember the one called back against Poland, and the OG against Portugal? And then there was that one he just missed -- so it should've been five. Close enough. Even if you want to say it was a push between Donovan and Freiedel, give it to Donovan because he's in MLS. Reward the homeboys. *Not necessarily from me. I think he'd prefer one from, say, Heidi Klum, anyhow.
LD was the obvious choice. The reasons were discussed in another thread. But to summarize, LD had a good year with San Jose, and was the number one star of the World Cup for the US. I had Reyna and Friedel as the #2 and #3 choices, respectively.
if i'm not mistaken isn't this award just for your play with the national team? does club even matter? if so landon certainly deserved. friedel wasn't even the first choice most of the year.
Friedel deserved it. This was his best year ever for country and club. Landon had a good year but he's not playing in a top league like Friedel, Keller, Reyna and I think that should have been more heavily weighted. This was a PR decision and not as much based on merit.
Exactamundo, my friend. Ever since the Honda player-of-the-year award was created, it has been put forth with the express intent to award the top player in his time with the national team over the course of a given year. Club play doesn't even factor into it. And mind you, there was no MLS when the award was founded in the early 1990s. It's not a matter of "club and country"-- it's just "country" here. Both players excelled in the World Cup, but Donovan deserves the award, definitely, "poster boy" or not. He has consistently scored goals for the national team all season-- and when you get right down to it, the game is all about scoring goals. But I do have a curious mumbling here... If Claudio Reyna made FIFA's all-World Cup team, as a mamber of the Best XI, shouldn't he have received a greater consideration for the domestic award? Seems odd to me.... Cheers, William
Right on. From my reading of the criteria in the article, it's international play that matters. Landon's play in the Gold Cup made him, to me, an obvious choice. Reyna was very good for us, but he did NOT deserve to make the FIFA all-star team. He got that because a) he's our most famous field player and b) he played his best in the knockout games. His contributions in group play were negligible, but I don't think whoever was picking the WC all-stars paid much attention to that.
Donovan got 6 goals (2 assists) in 1473 minutes for the Nats in 2002. McBride 6 goals (+ 3 assists) in 1177 minutes. For the sake of my sanity, I won't mention who got 7 goals (and 2 assists) in 809 minutes If scoring goals is the criterion, Donovan finishes #3.
My doctor, a 60+ old lady asked me for US games. After she watched, she said--"The #21 is so exciting!" Afte I mentioned the #21 playing in San Jose, she asked me to take her to a game there. See, even for someone not knowing US team, they can grab the true fact--Donovan is the best player in US World Cup game. Reyna is very good in Mexico and Germany game, but he doesn't contribute too much in the group play. Mathis is clearly favorate, but his palying time in World Cup wasn't enough. JOB is very good too, but he lacks the flash of Donovan's play. Freidal is definately at his best, but you only give the best player honor to a goalkeeper if your field players are not in same breadth of the game. Like what we used to see Keller.
Of the three, Donovan has my vote. Although, but for a coach's choices, we could be having the debate between Donovan, Keller, and Mathis ...
IF any of those things mattered for this award you would have a point. I've seen this written a couple of times. "Landon's won 'cause he's the savior of soccer" "Landon only won 'cause he's the poster boy." "Landon only won because his sister's hot." Hello, kids. That's what awards given by the press and especially sponsors are. Publicity.
Re: Re: You think LD deserved it? Some fat guy whose presence in the starting lineup guaranteed the US wouldn't win in SoKo.
Re: Re: Re: You think LD deserved it? Do you mean the guy who scored the brilliant goal against a semi-finalist saving America from a tragic failure? The only guy who could have scored against Kahn the Merciless.
I just love this line of reasoning that the award is all about publicity and that the voters couldn't possibly have made this choice on merit. Then the "Big Soccer Edge" crowd, however, can't come up with other candidates who were not voted on substantially by the media. Here's a dose of reality. Landon Donovan was our most skilled player during the course of 2002. He may not have led the team in scoring, he may not have led the team in assists or goals, but I challenge all of you here to find a more complete offensive player in the States. It bears multiple repeats to get through some of the thick skulls here. There is NO ONE on our roster who matches in combination Donovan's one touch passing ability, his ability to run at and beat defenders as well as his ability to put the ball in the net. Others may be as good or better at one of these skills. None possess all three in remotely the same form and combination as does Donovan. And THAT is why he won the award. Even when Donovan has an "off" game like many asserted he did against Germany in Rostock, he is still among our best players on the pitch. I recall after that game many people saying he played poorly. So I went back and watched the game again. And lo and behold almost every single U.S. attacking movement that night went directly through Landon Donovan. So either he had an off night or your expectations are just out of wack (truth probably lying in the middle). Soccer savior? Who knows. That is a mighty big price tag. Best American player this past year for the national team. Yes. And let us not forget among you "player haters" that Donovan was unbelievably humble when speaking about his winning this award. I might also add that Landon's national team teammates, those other fellows who play the game at the highest level, universally recognize that for someone his age he is well beyond where most any other American player has been in the past at the same stage of his career. The best part, there are more like Landon coming down the pipeline. He might be our best today. Who is to say if he won't just be an important cog in the wheel in five years or so.
I'm guessing that this is limited to US National Team players, but if not...... What about Chung and Twellman? They had a bigger impact on their sides this year than any other players in MLS. Will Bruce call? That's another thread.
Re: Re: Re: Re: You think LD deserved it? Berhalter beat Kahn, he just couldn't beat Frings the Longarmed.
Donovan Does LD deserve it? If not LD, who else? Mathis was better earlier in the year -- but you can't be Player of the Year in a World Cup year unless you make a big impact in the Cup. And Clint didn't. Reyna didn't quite deliver as much as LD in the Cup, and he didn't do quite as much earlier in the year, either. So no Captain America. McBride was just as good as LD in the Cup but did less otherwise. Ditto for Friedel. Ditto for Sanneh. Do this analysis over the whole 23-man roster, and LD would seem to be the last man standing.
my feeling is this: damn its great to be arguing about who deserved the usa mvp award!!!!!! who of us didnt dream of this, but thought it would never happen i say landon donovan is as good a choice as any, and we all think he has potential to be even better, and so do several other guys like mathis and hell, who even knew 5 years ago that donovan, mathis etc were gonna get far enough to make this an arguement in the first place lets all raise a glass in toast: "here's to the race for this award being even tighter & harder fought for, and the winner being more controversial next year!!"