Landon Donovan : The Time has Come

stuck it out for 2 1/2 years...more than Landycakes did....and Cooper will go back just as soon as the time is right....which is more than can be said for overrated, overpaid and over here Landon Gonagain.

 

Well, contrary to what most people seem to think, he is a competitor. Anybody who's been watching him play over the last 8 years can see that. He doesn't like not winning, and I'm sure this World Cup has left a sour taste in his mouth.

I'm fairly confident he'll realize - if he hasn't already - that what he needs is to be able to rise to the challenge under pressure more consistently, and playing under higher pressure more often will help him with that.

I believe he honestly thought he could perform in high pressure situations without having to be in them all the time - and to be completely honest the evidence had pretty strongly supported that up until now. The list of big games Donovan "showed up for" is as long as your arm.

Unlike most here, I don't think playing in Europe is "necessary" for all players to "get better". Brian McBride didn't need it. Eddie Pope didn't need it. I think Donovan does. (I didn't think that before this tournament.)

Once you are this age, the skill you have is pretty much all the skill you are ever going to have. You can gain fitness and tactical ability in MLS (if you've got a good coach). What MLS can't yet replicate is the constant high-pressure environment, and apparently that is something Donovan needs.

One thing that persistently drives me batty with these threads is that Donovan is getting the kind of treatment that someone like Kyle Martino - who clearly doesn't have the desire to win that Donovan does - ought to be getting.

If Donovan was really a "pu$$y" he would have stunk the joint up in 2002. But he didn't. He'd fold in MLS Cups. He doesn't. He'd fold in qualifying. He doesn't.

 

I just threw a dart at the Spanish table and picked a mid-table team that wasn't making up Spain's World Cup roster. I'm not super-familiar with Spanish football - if Bilbao will only sign Basque players, then pick another mid-table team.

 

well said Foos

 

Kirovski part II.

 

If you think his skills are set, then he has wasted some very important years from 20 to 24. I still think he can become a very good player, but mentally and from a consistentcy perspective, he is NO WHERE close.

Obviously he will see better competition in the World Cup compared to MLS or CONCACAF qualifying.

What do you think has happened to him since 02? (afraid to shoot, afraid to dribble, afraid to tackle, afraid to get the ball, afraid to run off the ball, etc..)

 

I don't think he's "afraid" to do any of those. The pressure is much higher now. Nobody expected us - and especially Donovan - to do anything then. That wasn't the case this time. I suspect he put more pressure on himself as well.

For whatever reason, he just wasn't able to grab this tournament by the scruff of the neck. These were the highest pressure games he's played in, and perhaps he just wasn't able to "turn it on". It's no secret, he's been wildly inconsistent in the past, but he (virtually) always managed to dig deep when it really counted.

As for skills, most of a player's skill development occurs in their teens. If a player enters MLS with a crappy first touch, that's most likely never going to change. But they continue to learn how to play their entire careers.

 

He has? When did he do that? When he couldn't break into Leverkusen's lineup? I'd say the case is unproven at best.

 

WC06: Biggest defeat for Donovan after his lousy German experience.

He should be defensive midfield, he can't attack.

 

ROFLMAO, which top league has Donovan excelled in? Or was I unaware of him playing in Europe and starting? Hell Clint Mathis has proven more in Europe than Donovan. Put the crackpipe down.

 

too much too read...

but did anyone notice how Landon (late in the game 88-90min) with the ball beat a def on the side of the box and dribbled the ball across the top corner of the box with lots of space and no def near and just passed it away... he should have taken the shot, its like he did not want the responsibility or was afraid

not something you wanna see from a team leader, much less the star of the team

 

the guy is neither.

 

Can Donovan Play Well in a 5 man midfield?

Please excuse, delete this thread if this has been discussed to death already. I left for the San Juan Islands an hour after the USA/Ghana game and have had no internet/TV for a few days. I tried to scan the threads for this, but it is way too overwhelming.

I was thinking that with a 5 man midfield and only 1 man in front, Donovan has way too many back and side passes available and only one forward pass. I have watched all the USA games I could over the past five years and I don't remember Donovan having a good game in a 5 man midfield, however people here have much better knowledge/memory than me. Can anyone remember him having one of his excellent performances in a 5 man midfield?

Scumby

 

I merged these threads and am bumping in case anyone wants to keep talking about LD.

 

Scumby for USMNT coach!

 

six goals against, four saves. for those keeping score, that's now zero wins, four loses, and a tie in his WC career.

He's a better keeper than that, i believe, and certainly can't be blamed for the performance, but togo's keeper covered himself in glory, and keller just played.

 

He did break in, if briefly. His ability is not the problem, never has been. everyone could see his quality at lev.
And the problem wasn't even the pool game (which was a disaster). The problem was his reaction, after which, according to kicker, he moped around on the field, head down and complaining about being homesick (as for those convinced he was always planning this, he seemed very excited about lev before this time). I don't think LD, who'd been told he was golden his entire life, protected and coddled, had ever completely and totally failed before, and i don't think he was strong enough to bounce back.
Sadly, when danger reared its ugly head he bravely turned and he bravely fled...

 

You really nailed it in your earlier posts and this one. It's a mental thing with him. I didn't buy it before, but I do now. And it sure wasn't helped by the apparent overcoaching that seemed to zombify the whole team (except Clint) most of the time.

LD's best minutes were in the second half against Italy, after a tepid beginning, in the one game where the rest of the team came out with some spark.

I think LD's and the team's second half performance against Italy resulted from "the system" being out the window once we were down to nine men.

Bruce had no choice but to trust the players to play, and they knew necessity had freed them to play intuitively. Losing the balance between the system and intuition doomed this team, and that falls on the Manager.

It's richly ironic that Bruce now calls for players to get the hell out of Dodge and play in Europe where the real pressure is. Maybe at this point in time, we need a new manager who's succeeded in that pressure cooker, too.

 

A very good point. I think Arena was great for the US program. but, at this time, here's your hat, what's your hurry...

 

I think we'll learn a lot about him in how he reacts to this WC failure. And I'm not just talking about in the next few weeks, but in the next 2-4 years. Hopefully he'll come back like David Beckham did, and not disappear on us.

 

i just want to weigh in... I'm a big fan of LD, and as much as I hate this tendency to just lash out at Beasley, Donovan, et. al. after the World Cup performance, I'd really like to see Landon take the next step. We really need him to improve to get to the next level and I really hope that he can make the jump to Europe.

 

You mean "again", as in take the next step "again". Don't forget, he's taken the step twice, and come back to the States with his tail between his legs. He might just not be euroworthy.

 

You mean "again", as in take the next step "again". Don't forget, he's taken the step twice, and come back to the States with his tail between his legs. He might just not be euroworthy.

 

it is a mental thing with him ,,,, some have the passion and fight in them other don't and he does not. he has it easy here and that is his personality.. he is allow to be invisible in games over and over in this league,, it wouldn't be tolerated in europe... so why go ????

 

Saw this quote the other day and thought of our boy.

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

Helen Keller