News: Donovan and Dempsey to miss Jamaica prep to attend family weddings

So Donovan didn't leave the wedding until after 11pm (2 am EST) with a 3 pm game the next day...what a joke that boy is

 

What are you referring to dude? and how does this have anything to do with the subject at hand?

 

Lannycakes!!! This is why he couldn't hack it in Germany with a real club.

 

7am? Stayed there 11? This is our confederation tourney and its an elimination game. Disrespecting the shirt.

 

Disclosure: I can't spell Sascha Klestjen and spell chech doesn't help.

 

Apparently there were weather delays on the flight.

 

"Chech" mate. Google's cool.

Edit: Google's cool. You should "chech" it out.

 

My point is that if people took the time to think out what they are trying to express instead of writing the first thing that comes in their head (stream of consciousness bullshiat), there wouldn't be as much garbage to sort through around here.

It's called editing.

 

Your generalization is "I sincerely hope you'd put career over family" etc.
I see where you're going but the statement is too general. So ... Sometimes yes sometimes no.

I actually think my question is still the most useful way to go about this debate:

Where do you draw the line?

What round of what tournament? What genealogical relation?

I think you have to answer this concretely in order to maintain the position that Donovan and Dempsey were in the right.

As an aside, the fact that Donovan missed 2/3 of the match would seem to me, at least, to show that his choice was wrong ipso facto.

 

Did you have an early lineup that we didn't see?

And who gets the egg if they both get good minutes and one of them scores?
Also, who says that they get to choose when their sisters get married? Perhaps those sisters have lives, or maybe the finaces have lives or responsibilities or the location they wanted was only available those days.
Are you the one with the egg?

 

That goal celebration was epic. It was like, "Yeah bitches, now what?"

 

Agreed. I do wonder, though, what's going on with Donovan. He's been our best and most consistent player for what, 8 years or so and has really been out of sorts recently.

I do wish he'd gotten over to Europe a couple of years ago, though. You can see the difference between him and Dempsey. They're the same age, right? But Clint keeps adding to his game and looking more dangerous every year, while Donovan seems to be stuck in place. Clearly getting over to England and working his ass off has paid off for Dempsey, while Donovan staying in his comfort zone has had predictable results.

 

I completely disagree with this. Donovan and Dempsey are two very different players. Their style of play is completely different, and the way that they contribute to the team is different.

Over the last 4 years or so, Dempsey went from being a fringe player with a lot of upside to being one of our best. He learned to pick his spots better and to be smarter about contributing off the ball... but he is still, primarily, driven by a desire to beat people and score goals.

Over the last 4 years or so, Donovan has gone from being a front-line flier (our most dangerous attacker) who had trouble staying in the match as a midfielder to being our most consistent player and our primary play-maker. He went from being the flashy guy, to the quiet steady contributor who does all the dirty work (incidentally, this is the role that he played at Everton as well... which is why he is so beloved by their fans). In spite of that, he STILL was the big star at the WC.

So both guys have improved, but Dempsey started at a lower level, and improved in different directions than Donovan.

 

Exactly. These are guys who have shown up over and over again to play tough games in miserable environments with long travel times. They had piss, batteries, and the rest thrown at them. Dempsey flies across the ocean on a regular basis to play for the US. Donovan went the full ninety in the high-altitude smog bowl of the Azteca when he had f*cking swine flu. To question their commitment to the team because they missed practice to attend their sister's weddings is just goofy.

Realy, I wouldn't have begrudged either of them missing the game to go to his sister's wedding. (And US Soccer has said that neither would have done so.) They're both very close to their sisters, and a wedding is a pretty big deal. My hunch is that people wouldn't be freaking out about this if it had only been one or the other going. It was only because our two best field players had to leave at the same time that people got worried about the consequences and therefore made it into an issue of ethics or dedication. My feeling is that if you'd forgive one of them, you should probably forgive both of them. (What were they supposed to do? Play rock-paper-scissors to see who says, "Sorry, sis. Gotta keep our internet fans happy.")

As far as I'm concerned, if you want to bemoan their lack of commitment, you'll have to wait till one of them skips a consequential USMNT game to attend Malia Obama's wedding or Greg Berhalter's testimonial match.

 

I suspect the reaction was less to their going to the wedding than it was to us playing like dog doo in the group....

 

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_...empsey-reflect-on-whirlwind-weekend.html#more

The team made the right decision. The team was also lucky they didn't have to explain it away after a loss. Props to Dempsey for exorcising his shooting demons and to Donovan for taking a new role and doing it well despite probably lacking for sleep and not being the most sharp.

 

Sorry, but there's simply no way to argue that Donovan wouldn't have been better off having more ambition and moving to a tougher league and testing himself. He is what he is, but as good as he is, he'll go down as the guy who wasn't willing to test himself at the very highest level. It's nice in L.A. and all that, but he made his choice, and it wasn't all about the football.

 

From a purely soccer standpoint, I guess you are right. It is selfish for me to want what is best for me out of another soccer player. We all make choices in life to lead a fulfilling life, and he doesn't have anything to prove to anyone but himself. I like your perspective, and you are right - he made his choice and it wasn't all about the football.

 

Yeah. As it is, he's probably the best player we've ever produced, and I'm not knocking the guy. I just wonder what he could've been if he'd gone the Dempsey route.

 

There's no way of knowing that. He might have taken "the Dempsey route" and thrived. But he might not have. He could've gone to Europe, stuck with Bayer Leverkusen, and blown an ACL, ending his career at age 20. Or stuck it out and transferred to a bottom-half Premiership team and gotten banged around and/or run into the ground so that he gave up on playing for the Nats in 2009 to make sure that he could play professionally until he turned 30, etc., etc.

It's also worth pointing out that some people are homebodies. A lot of them are, in fact. English, German, Spanish, and Italian players have the luxury of being homebodies and still playing in great leagues. A lot of other European players have the luxury of playing in their domestic leagues until they're twenty or twenty-four before they go to a great league 400 miles away from home rather than 6,000 miles away. So they can do it in stages that make it easier for them to blend ambition and comfort. In contrast, consider the Brazilian or Argentine players--some of them stars--who go to Europe, hate it, and return home--or at least try. (Robinho and Tevez come to mind.) And look at all the Brazilian and Argentine players who go only to Portugal, Spain, or Italy if they do go abroad. If Donovan had gone to England instead of Germany (and done so at 23 like Dempsey), he might have found his environs familiar enough to stick it out.

But Donovan went to Germany as a teenager, hated it, found it hard to play well, and came home. Maybe that decision cost the US its first true soccer star, or maybe--compared to staying in Germany--it kept him comfortable and productive enough to keep playing and learning and well as he did.

 

I posted this in the other thread, but I hope this thread just dies a death now.

He's back, he'll be well-rested for Wednesday, and then we can finally make judgments based on a player who hasn't played 9 games in a month and finally got some god-damned sleep.

Rest well LD. See you Wednesday.

 

I think you're seeing what you want to see, not what is really there. I'll concede Landon has not played well in this tournament.

But just last summer, in a bigger tournament, he was brilliant. And he drew great praise for his set piece delivery, an element of his game he's worked on and improved. Finally, it's not much commented on, but Landon's defensive play has gotten much, much better in the last few years.

 

And please, let us not forget. It took Landon setting up the last play perfectly for Dempsey to get his goal. A goal he had been trying to score for the entire game.

Landon's play has changed and grown over the years. He hasn't stagnated at all. He is currently out of form. That is all. Has nothing whatsoever to do with playing his career in MLS.

 

I thought it was Agudelo or did Landon set up Agudelo and that's what you mean.

 

This reminds me of the time I almost missed a national team game because of a wedding. My cousin was getting married in Chicago, so we went to the wedding, then left immediately so my wife 6-months pregnant wife and I could make it to the Honduras WC qualifying game. Thankfully, we made it in time. And we won! Good times!