Donovan in the media

Discussion in 'LA Galaxy' started by StillKickin, Jun 29, 2010.

  1. 7E23

    7E23 Member+

    Jul 7, 2008
    Long Beach
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I read that earlier. It was horrible. To think we will be a better team/program without Landon is nuts. Eventually, yes, but not now when he can still give to the team and program.

    Klinsmann's motto "There is no I in team, but there is me."
     
  2. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Combined with the sponsor reaction, Sunil is hating JK with every email he sends back.

    And thanks for the responses on the article. I pretty much had the same response @skydog had. Lost credibility the minute I realized he hadn't watched a second of LA Galaxy soccer and pretty much had read only media articles. Peace out putz!

    More annoyed at the people that read this bullcrap and think he's the savior to enlighten the masses - which if you look at the tweets, that's exactly the reaction from some. Then again, I probably don't want them supporting my team any way, so there is that.
     
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  3. Geneva

    Geneva LA for Life

    Feb 5, 2003
    Southern Cal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd like to read your letters! I'll post mine - it was probably relatively short and to the point.

    And Sunil's response:

     
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  4. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Alright, I'm feeling like I need to compose one of these too. Will send mine after the game on Saturday.
     
  5. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    That was an asinine and smug response from Sunil to you Geneva. Very unprofessional in my opinion. Sadly I don't expect anything good from Sunil after the WC.

    I will post my overly long emails to Sunil tomorrow.
     
  6. AmericanKaka

    AmericanKaka Member+

    Dec 30, 2006
    It's pretty amazing that Sunil is even semi-personally responding... even if he's just having his minions cherry-pick the ones that would make a canned response look worst, which is a shrewd way to avoid some kind of viral social-media backlash.

    Unfortunately, that doesn't so much suggest to me that he feels the imperative for hands-on damage control, as it does that in reality the number of people who care enough to write to him is small enough that he can afford to be a bit hands-on.

    If JK goes down, it could very well cost Sunil his job too, but how he handles individual irate emails from nobodies like us is not going to be a factor in any of that.
     
  7. StillKickin

    StillKickin Member+

    Austin FC
    Dec 17, 2002
    Texas
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    @Geneva, I admire your letter. Very well articulated! I'm afraid mine was too emotional, but so be it.

    Here goes:

    And here was his reponse, as posted before:

     
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  8. Geneva

    Geneva LA for Life

    Feb 5, 2003
    Southern Cal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I didn't mind his response (much). My opening paragraph was a bit rude. I agree with @AmericanKaka that it's amazing that he's responding at all. I hope the pressure is getting to him a bit.
     
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  9. Geneva

    Geneva LA for Life

    Feb 5, 2003
    Southern Cal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Your letter was from the heart, and you made very good points. It makes me sad to read it!

    You know, it's not like we can look forward to winning the world cup. Why take away one of the best things about our program, deliberately? What a bastard our coach is.
     
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  10. barroldinho

    barroldinho Member+

    Man Utd and LA Galaxy
    England
    Aug 13, 2007
    US/UK dual citizen in HB, CA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    His reply to me:

     
  11. JuiceBox

    JuiceBox Member

    Mar 27, 2006
    Riverside, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    474315055014477824 is not a valid tweet id


    [​IMG]
     
  12. Grumpy in LA

    Grumpy in LA Bringing It Since 1807™

    Sep 10, 2007
    Chicago
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Okay, so here's my letter to Sunil Gulati. Not that it'll do much good or that any of y'all actually need to read it. Just because I'm still seething and sending it once didn't feel like enough.

    Dear Mr. Gulati,

    I'm sure you winced when you saw the title to this email. And, yes, I am writing to add my voice to the chorus of people telling you how dismayed we are by Jürgen Klinsmann's decision to leave Landon Donovan off the World Cup squad.

    I know that you don't control team selection. But you do have an important say in selecting and retaining the manager and building the UNMNT. And Klinsmann's exclusion of Donovan raises some serious questions about Klinsmann's suitability as a manager and about his value to the US team.

    Bluntly, it was an appalling decision and a poorly handled one at that. From a financial standpoint, as you of course know, it cost the team casual viewers and therefore important sponsors. And it has dampened enthusiasm among even diehard fans like me (which is especially bad in the run-up to a World Cup during which there has been so much bad press about the particular Cup, about future Cups, and about FIFA generally). I can tell you that I was excited about overpaying Nike for some US merchandise until I heard about this decision. Now that excitement is gone. I'll make do with the jerseys and scarves I already have. From a soccer standpoint, it's hard to find anyone who can say with a straight face that Brad Davis or Julian Green (among others) has more to offer at this moment than Donovan does. From a locker-room standpoint, it's pretty much impossible to argue that this is about commitment and attitude when Klinsmann also opted to bring in Timmy Chandler. (Don't get me wrong--I'm glad Chandler's on the squad. I just chuckle at the idea that Donovan has been less committed to the team over the past cycle than Chandler.)

    In the end it's pretty clear that Klinsmann was driven at least in part by the sort of personal feelings that have no place in roster selection. And the snotty tweet from Jonathan Klinsmann (theoretically a US pool player, right?) confirmed that for me. No way Klinsmann's kid develops that kind of animus toward Donovan without having heard his dad badmouthing Donovan at home.

    So I'll still watch the World Cup. I am a diehard. But I'll do it with some unnecessary frustration and regret. And I'll probably do it without spending any money on US merchandise--not out of some deliberate boycott but simply because Klinsmann's decisions have alienated me to the point where spending money US gear no longer sounds fun.

    Sincerely,​
     
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  13. skydog

    skydog Member+

    Aug 1, 1999
    Durham, NC
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nice letter. Well done.
     
  14. Berks

    Berks Member+

    Dec 22, 2010
    NorCal
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  15. Grumpy in LA

    Grumpy in LA Bringing It Since 1807™

    Sep 10, 2007
    Chicago
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I have to say, he gave me a quick and polite reply. And he said in the PS, "I don't wince that easily." So fair play to him on that one.

    Klinsmann's decision is still unbelievably maddening, but Gulati didn't make it. And, if I had to guess, he probably doesn't like it much more than I do.
     
  16. The Cadaver

    The Cadaver It's very quiet here.

    Oct 24, 2000
    La Cañada, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't care if he likes it. He put Jurgen there so he has a lot to answer for if this goes bad.
     
  17. klpv82

    klpv82 Member+

    Mar 8, 2011
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The problem is that no matter what happens in Brazil, people are gonna believe that Landon wouldn't have had a huge impact either way. If we do incredibly well, Klinsmann is gonna look like a genius. If we crash out in the group stage, it's probably gonna be on our defense. It would've been great to have Landon there, but it's gonna be hard to say that his exclusion is gonna have a huge effect on how the team performs.
     
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  18. lplaksina

    lplaksina Member

    Jan 5, 2002
    @Grumpy in "LA Klinsmann's decision is still unbelievably maddening, but Gulati didn't make it. And, if I had to guess, he probably doesn't like it much more than I do."

    I believe that Sunil knew exactly what JK planned to do.
    But, having given him the car keys, his only option was to go along for the ride.
    The most difficult part for me has been the total disrespect that both of them exhibited in the process.
    As we say in sports, "bush league".
    Landon deserved better.
     
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  19. Grumpy in LA

    Grumpy in LA Bringing It Since 1807™

    Sep 10, 2007
    Chicago
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    @lplaksina -- Agreed that Donovan deserved much better. So did the team and its fans. But I doubt Gulati had much advance notice of JK's plans. And now he's in a tough spot, and not just in a CYA sense. Until the World Cup is over, there's nothing he can do publicly that would be better for the team than staying quiet. It's not like there's a Commissioner's pick he can use to add Donovan to the team.

    @The Cadaver -- Agreed that Gulati's picking JK will leave him a lot to answer for it if goes wrong. That's why I'm guessing that Gulati doesn't like the choice--because it's so likely to go wrong. We'll see how it plays out on the field, but it's already been a mess in the media and, apparently, already pissed off a lot of important sponsors.
     
  20. GalaxyOne

    GalaxyOne Member+

    Dec 6, 2005
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I can't help but think Landon will have regrets about not doing and saying the right things to make this US team. Bottom line is he took it too casually, assuming that he was (as we all believed) untouchable. His lax attitude and willingness (and sort of naivety) to express it publicly has cost him. It has made me shake my head for years, thinking "what could have been" if Landon had been more of a strong leader type personality in addition to being a great player. It's a shame for the team, its fans, and Landon. I think JK failed by not somehow figuring out a way to integrate a motivated Landon onto his team, but from Landon's perspective, he has no one to blame but himself. I'm sure we'll eventually hear this from him as another of his many lessons learned that he likes to state publicly.
     
  21. StillKickin

    StillKickin Member+

    Austin FC
    Dec 17, 2002
    Texas
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    @GalaxyOne You are very entitled to your opinion, but I think you are dead wrong on this one.
     
  22. forie

    forie Member+

    Sep 14, 2007
    Costa Mesa
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    LD doesn't have to say anything. Let his play speak for him. He came back from his sabbatical, worked his way back onto the Nats, won the Golden Boot AND MVP at the Gold Cup (outperforming guys who did make the WC team), and according to him and teammates performed well in the Nats training. I will take play over talk every time..wouldn't you???
     
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  23. bbbmmmlll

    bbbmmmlll Member

    Feb 9, 2007
    Palo Alto, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    @GalaxyOne This isn't in any way Donovan's fault. LD did and said what he thought was right, he always has. Regret comes from not being true to yourself.

    I'm feeling like JK isn't mentally stable so expecting him to respond to a "changed" Donovan in a rational manner is foolish. Dovovan's cut could have been because of deep rooted Bayern Munich issues (Donovan failed me at BM, he'll fail me at the WC), leadership issues (Why does Donovan keep asking why I play everyone out of position and change formations every game? He's undermining my leadership) or a statement (This will show everyone that I'm in charge, shake things up and force everyone to step up).
     
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  24. Baysider

    Baysider Member+

    Jul 16, 2004
    Santa Monica
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    I agree with this. Klinsmann's decision was wrong on the merits and done for petty reasons but he was pretty clear on signalling what he wanted. When Landon needed to go to Cambodia to rejuvenate it cost the Galaxy. Bruce handled it the right way by ignoring it because he knew Landon was still a great player and there's no point in trying to make him something that he's not. Klinsmann doesn't understand that and so tries to motivate Donovan in ways that don't work. But if you have an unreasonable boss, you should try to do the things he wants you to do, fair or not.
     
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  25. lplaksina

    lplaksina Member

    Jan 5, 2002
    @bbbmmmlll

    leadership issues (Why does Donovan keep asking why I play everyone out of position and change formations every game? He's undermining my leadership)

    You nailed it.
     

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