Seriously, the dude acts like he doesn't even care. He works hard one minute and then shrugs his shoulders and poses the next. He is now a marked man and does not deal with it well. At least de-Ro runs his a$$ off.
i beg to differ...give the guy more time to regroup...and another thing, he's not perfect, you know. he'll inevitably have poor game-performances...and please, the quakes do not lose a game because he couldn't produce...
I was seriously surprised to see him play in the Cup tie. I've said all along that the kid's out of gas and needs to sit and recharge. He came back from Korea too fast, he had too big an adrenaline rush, and coming down's a beeatch. After the All-Star game Frank should have sent him home and said "don't come back until we start training for DC United". Will a week's rest be enough for him at this point?
He's right, you know. Landon should just be allowed to go to practice and after that just hang out, do nothing and not be bothered by all the bull-crap; keep all the agents, fans and just about everyone else away from him. I think it would help the rest of the team too (to do the same thing).
I honestly say you give him a break. After the World Cup, the media tour, and all the MLS action he's seen lately, he needs some time off. Let him go home for a while, down to so cal to see his family or at the very least give him a breather to get his act together for the playoffs when it really matters for the Quakes. We've all seen what he's capable of when he gives everything he has, and we need to get that back!
I must agree! I thought that Frank wasn't going to play Landon on Wednesday to allow him to rest, because he definately needs all the rest he can get!!
Few touches ... make Landon invisible in the game. He needs the ball at his feet running at defenders. No chasing balls into corners and crossing. He's not Rudiger Abramcik (old German reference! ouch! ) feeding crosses to Klaus Fischer. There were several periods during the cup game where he went 6 minutes plus without a touch on the ball. Hard to get involved when you don't have a feel for the ball in the game. Or are only chasing. DeRo is the only Quake (IMO) that seems to do this with success (chasing/forechecking ... of course, he is from Ontario, eh?). Seems like he never got warmed up - and really was out-of-sync with the other players.
Are you guys sugesting that a profesional soccer player (probably in as good shape as anybody in out country) cant play 2 games a week? Hes 20, not 50... maybe the post-world-cup pressure is catching up to him, but not fatigue.
No. Us guys are not suggesting the first part of what you say, we said the same thing as you said in the second part. He needs to get away from all of the hullabaloo, the agents, the commercials, the Letterman-type crap. To decompress a bit.
That's not what i'm saying, of course he can play 2 games a week, but anybody whether 10 or 20 years old needs rest!! Ever since he got back from the world cup he hasn't gotten a chance to breathe!! I mean we have to hand it to him for how well he's handled things already. He really hasn't gotten any descent sleep upon his return, and i know that when his schedual isn't as hectic and he goes home to rest for some time, he'll come back and be on top of his game once again!!
I think we all have experience at some point in our lives with burning the candle at both ends, and I think that this is what his happening to LD. He presents himself as somewhat of an introverted personality anyhow, which means that attention from people, and lots of them, wears him out, and he has been said to be a homebody, so that would seem to lend credence to that. He has also said that what he does in his spare time is basically sleep or play video games. You could say those are forms of escapism (which everyone needs to have). He needs to go on a solo camping expedition or something similar to get away from everything at the end of the season, recharge himself physically and spiritually (not necessarily religious, but definitely the inner self), and then evaluate what he is going to do next. I would venture to say that if he does get called off to Europe at the end of the season, he would probably be largely ineffective because he won't get an off-season. There is a reason for off-seasons, you know. (Sorry, it's the pastoral counselor coming out in me.)
That and the double-teams and he hasn't yet gotten on the same page as Graziani like he was before he left for WC.
I agree with most of you. I was not so much saying that he is not a good player- he has proven on the biggest stage that he is world-class. I am just saying that right now, he appears confused.
But the two closest people to him, the coach and Landon himself, both do not think that a rest was waranted. Are we sure that is the problem? This isn't the first time Landon has played like this, even before the World Cup. Maybe his play in last year's playoffs and against Portugal and Mexico have blinded us to the fact that the guy disappears often.
This is very true. We were discussing the same thing at the beginning of the Season. My take, the kid is only 20, been through a lot and is having a slight dip in form. He is being double teamed, which causes him a problem to figure out...if he's as good as we think he is he should be able to figure it out...I actually think he needs playing time to get through this slump, concentrating on his game, working with his teammates not rest -Richard
Um, should I rename this "Official Bench Landon Thread" for parallel effect? j/k Anyway, the kid gets 10 days off, so I hope that's enough rest for him. I presume now that they're at the long break, FY is giving them some serious down time. Hopefully the MLS/Leverkusen crap isn't stressing him out too much.
You have to be kidding me about the need for a break? This is a guy that wants either a guaranteed starting spot or nearly that on a top European club? Clubs that have reserve players trying to take your spot every week? He is a great player but he isn't that great. He play through it but not from the bench. However, I think it is not great for player development to know you play every game no matter what. On a top team, if you ask for a break the guy that replaces you might start bagging some goals and the coach will just let you keep sitting. I do agree he needs balls to his feet on the offensive end but he needs to pressure the ball more. Even if he doesn't win it he forces a bad pass or at least a worse pass. That is mandatory at the highest level and no top team will tolerate that passive of a player. The defenders at that level can pass and if you give them that kind of time they will cut teams up. Plus, with his quickness coming back more for the ball would really make things tough on the defenders. There is a lack of synch between him and Graziana. You can really tell they don't anticipate the other player's intentions. I guess they just need to play more together.
Totally. He hasn't been himself since the WC. Performing beyond expectations on the national stage and truly becoming US soccer's poster boy has overwhelmed his level of maturity and humility. An older Landon would have reacted differently. Can he please stop complaining to the refs? He use to do it only when he was directly involved. Not anymore. Shut up and leave it up to Agoos. It hurts more than it helps the situation. On the flip side, Agoos has recovered well after his appalling WC. He's a horrible WC defender and only adequate in CONCACAF but he can play on my MLS team anyday. Good to see him back in form.