a Play-By-Play thread. Where a person sits infront of a TV and reports whats happening in the game in a thread for those who can't get to a TV or radio
O.K then I´m terrible PBP with german accent. Difficult to understand my comments greeting your bltleo leverkusen
On the other hand, a lot of people reminded us not to panic when Tim Howard was benched -- the first AND the second time. He hasn't exactly locked up the starting job at Man U for years to come, but should we be panicking now? If Landon plays in MLS in 2005, I'll change my sig file to "I am a worthless poseur" for the rest of the year.
Well the question as you ohrase it is loaded and unfair to those you disagree with here. If you simply phrased the same question as "Do you think it's important for Donovan to get regular playing time or is it okay for him to spen some time on the bench or in the reserves?" He'd unequivocally tell you that what's best for Donovan is to be playing regularly. He currently is not.
Been said a million times...nothing that happens this season is likely to make or break the guy in Germany. If he's still not playing at the end of next year, well then all bets are off. You'd think patience was a dirty word around here.
That would qualify as an unmitigated disaster -- to miss 18 months of playing time in the prime of one's career. No way I'd counsel a national team player of the year to go to a situation where there was a realistic possibility that he'd collect splinters for 18 months as a 23/24 year old. That's a career-threatening move, particularly for an attacking player (unlike, say, Howard as a goalkeeper, who will likely mature later.) Patience, hell. There's no time for patience. A professional soccer player has a the lifespan of a firefly.
I only ask it because people in this discussion have made that very suggestion -- Landon back here in June.
In some ways, this is a very good response (and civil, too). On the other hand, the two situations strike me as being fundamentally different. Timmie was immediately handed a job and given 40+ games to play himself out of it. Landon has been begging for scraps ever since arriving at his "70% to 80%" situation. You will not find me stating that Tim Howard might have made a mistake in coming to England, or complaining about his being benched. Timmie has been treated damn fair. I don't think that's been the case with Landon.
Don't you think your question is a little loaded as well? Again, I think you're narrowing the scope too much. Of course players should get regular playing time. But does that mean they should only ever go to places where they will automatically have a spot? That I'm not so sure of.
What does LD have to prove in MLS? Why would he return? lower level of soccer, less money, less prestige, fewer professional challenges, less interesting competitions. He's done MLS, and done it like its back ain't got no bone. He's also good enough that he's going to be penciled in with the USMNT even if he continues to fight for playing time for a while. If he can't cut it after a couple years, it's time to rethink his career, become a domestic player. But if he's got international star quality (and among those convinced he does are the folks at Lev), he's better off staying and proving it. The only reason to return, that I can see, would be Mexican restaurants. They're just horrible over here. Course, others have argued peanut butter.
What about Chinese? The real stuff, or brown sauce chop suey? I can handle any city with good Chinee food ...
My neighborhood has two pretty good Chinese restaurants and about 10 mediocre ones (which is about the normal ratio) but much better vietnamese, indian, italian, portuguese, Greek and turkish. But, and I hope this came through, my point was that it's just wrong to glop corn, carrots and gorgonzola on a burrito. Thinking about this, maybe he should pack it in.