I think it's plausible that Landon is staying away in part due to JK and the turmoil. I'll say this though. Every other player is showing up and attempting to deal with it. I doubt Clint and Mikey are thrilled at this point, or Boca, or Chero, or any number of players. But, they show up when/if called. They represent our nation despite the turmoil. Pressure will ramp up on Landon if we don't get more than a point in the next two, and deservedly so. That comes with the territory of being at the top of our player pool. I thought Landon was "itching" to get back. Couldn't wait. Well, then he went to Cambodia to soul search or whatever, went to Vegas, went to Florida, went to Michigan. I mean, even after going to Cambodia he had time to come back and get fit for these games yet chose not to. Apparently not itching enough to get back as people like ipsinka suggest. And sure he has the right to do his own thing. No one disputes that. But if he earned that right, it's due to being one of our best, and when you're one of our best people will question why you're not here if everyone else is. And if it's because you'd rather party in Vegas and kick a ball around in Michigan while our country faces two must win games, it doesn't look good. Basically, earning the right to do something doesn't absolve someone from criticism and responsibility. Obama has earned the right to go play golf for a week in Hawaii, but he'll be criticized like hell for it.
Perhaps keeping away was for the good of the team, though. If it's true it's breaking into factions, Landon would have been pushed into the leader role in one of those factions. Considering he's not in the right mental space (his personal stuff we don't need to discuss, but that must be fairly obvious, considering when he announced his need for a break), perhaps he's done the best he can do. Let things sort themselves out, and don't bother the guy still grieving. The rest of the team can do it.
Leaders don't pick and choose when to be a leader. You're either there and leading, or you're not and not a leader. Kobe doesn't decide to not be a leader because he isn't feeling into it at any given time. That's part of being a leader, stepping up when others won't. Stepping up when the going gets tough. Not going on vacation and avoiding the issue. And that's separate from does Landon have the right to step away. Of course he does. But he's not currently a leader on the NT.
I don't think LD likes being a leader. He never seemed attached to the role of captain, and has been quiet and self-effacing time and again. He comes across more as annoyed by attention than anything else. If I have personal stuff going on, the whole mess developing in the locker room would seem to be quite idiotic, and much rather walk away and let it get sorted out, than explode right then and there and tell the guys with issues to grow up (perhaps including the coach).
The truth has been revealed, the locker room is cancerous. Lannycakes doesn't want to be a part of this negativity, I doubt he cares if JK calls him back in or not.
He is not currently a leader on the NT - I agree with that, and he even said something to that extent during an interview, something like he hasn't been able to be there as much as he would have liked. But that doesn't suddenly equal he doesn't step up when the going gets tough. He did that for 10+ years. He's been gone 5 months. I count since October since he actually tried to be at those qualifiers. 10 years of stepping up when the going gets tough > 5 months Fair enough to say that we might need him the most right now, and that things are pretty dire, and that he must have heard rumblings from the locker room. Ultimately he decided he still needed the time off and yes, as GRUNT with his weed whacker analogy says, you deal with those ramifications and that includes the ill will. But I fully expect him to once again be one of the leaders in the locker room once he's back. In looking at the posts in this thread, we (yes, even me and sarcasmo) actually might be saying the same thing really in terms of how useful he'd be. It's just a question of how pissed off we are for what he's doing right now. I personally think we should be more pissed at Jurgen.
He picked a pretty big fight with a certain British national over it. And he was LA's captain for quite some time, and embraced being vice captain on the USMNT. But I catch your overall drift on the petty crap.
- Sam Borden article in the NY Times: U.S. Soccer’s Missing Piece Includes quotes from Arena, Lalas, and a few others.
Edit: Good find Grumpy! Arena's a prick some times...and I don't blame him for going hard at donovan even if he did the same. He knows how important he is to the team, and he was being selfish when telling him that...scared for his job. Nice article! It essentially puts more focus on what many were thinking, and got testimonials about it. His mental state. that's the biggest issue. Will he come back the same? Will he be up to take the challange of carrying the USMNT on his back again like in the past? Is he mentally ready/strong like he was before and able to do it? Or will one bad game make him retire from the NT? Who knows.....
Solid article. Also, looks like he was itching to play, so he moved his original time table up. Answers some questions earlier in the thread. Thank god that timetable was moved up. We'll need him in June.
What in the article made you think he was itching to play? I read it as his being talked into moving the schedule up.
Donovan is not a leader in the rah-rah sense, but he is a leader in the sense that his influence gave direction and organization to the group as a whole. From 2009 (at the latest) through June, 2012, the attack went through him. Goal after important goal during that time came from Donovan running at defenders and picking out the right pass, or interchanging with Dempsey: vs. Mexico (twice), Honduras (twice), T&T (twice), and El Salvador in the '09 Hex; Egypt and Brazil in the Confederations Cup; Slovenia, Algeria, and Ghana at the World Cup; Panama and Mexico at the Gold Cup; Antigua and Barbuda in 2012 WCQ. The sad fact is that the team still just doesn't know what to do in his absence. Jozy Altidore in particular, and Clint Dempsey to a much lesser degree, are shadows of the players they were with Donovan on the field.
I like how Lalas likes to have it both ways - I did it, but Landon, he picked a bad time, and sometimes you just want to slap him around. Man.
I can only guess at conversations, but I think it's safe to say he leads by example. Sure, there have been bad days, but he is generally the last player anyone would accuse of not giving his all. That kind of player rubs off on those around him. I am guessing we have all experienced that, in whatever sport and at whatever level any of us played.
He also can be a leader off the field... but not in the traditional way. For example, he has been instrumental in labor negotiations, and before the 2006 WC he had a potluck at his house for the USMNT. The linked article above also has this example: He's just not your average player, which has some good points, and some bad points.
Was a previous comment in this thread from another poster. And no one forced him to move the date up, ultimately, his call.