Donovan Speaks (Again)

Discussion in 'Yanks Abroad' started by Martin Fischer, Sep 3, 2002.

  1. Martin Fischer

    Martin Fischer Member+

    Feb 23, 1999
    Kampala. Uganda
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  2. Selecao2002

    Selecao2002 New Member

    Oct 20, 2000
    MA
    Another LD-Bayer thread -- let the fun and games begin!!!!
     
  3. Nutmeg

    Nutmeg Member+

    Aug 24, 1999
    With Donovan's list of requirements, some Spanish teams might want to think about a bid. At the same time, I admire Landon's reasons for wanting to stay in the States, and I think he'll continue to be a star player no matter where he ends up.
     
  4. Kelso2Utd

    Kelso2Utd New Member

    Aug 12, 2002
    New England, USA
    good article/interview...

    but if I have to her another girl squeal...about her love for him...I'm going to vomit.
     
  5. Kobranzilla

    Kobranzilla Member

    Sep 6, 2001
    NY F'in City
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    "I don't know if you can print this," Landon says, "but when she had her period, my stomach ached all night."

    Dude, talk to your publicist before doing/saying these things.

    Save this for your interview in Tiger Beat.
     
  6. profiled

    profiled Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 7, 2000
    slightly north of a mile high
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    WTF?
     
  7. dheck

    dheck Member

    Sep 20, 1999
    Chapel Hill, NC, USA
    Get over it. Landon is a sensitive kind of guy, a new breed of stud for the new millenium, and he doesn't care who knows it.

    He does homoerotic poses with water fountains. He has sympathetic cramps. He wears a bra. He's the American soccer superstar.
     
  8. Kobranzilla

    Kobranzilla Member

    Sep 6, 2001
    NY F'in City
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That NY Times piece is by far one of the greatest photo shoots of all time. Landon and the water fountain and Pablo bending over a bench killed me!!
     
  9. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I've said it before.

    There's something vaguely creepy about Tristan'n'Landon. Landon needs to tone it down a bit.

    I thought the statement in the article that it was Tim pushing Landon to sign with BL, while his mom wanted him to wait, is interesting, in light of Tim's contributions here.
     
  10. seraph

    seraph New Member

    Apr 1, 2002
    LA
    That was pretty far out there.
     
  11. flanoverseas

    flanoverseas New Member

    Mar 2, 2002
    Xandria
    nothing compared to Tiger's dad, or the Williams sisters' pop, or Stephi Graf, or whatever that French chicks name is...or the hockey dad who beat someone to DEATH...
     
  12. Qdog

    Qdog Member

    May 8, 2002
    Andalusia
    Club:
    Sevilla FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The article didn't say he pushed him to sign with BL. It said he checked out the situation and recommended it. At the time it seemed like a good idea for a very cofident 16 year old competitor.

    Spain would be a good fit for him. I was hoping the rumor of him being loaned to Huelva came true. Just 60 miles for me to travel to see him play. That would be great!
     
  13. profiled

    profiled Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 7, 2000
    slightly north of a mile high
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    You really need to learn how to read between the lines.

    "The driving force".

    "convinned it was a move Landon should make"
     
  14. kjksccr

    kjksccr Member

    Feb 25, 1999
    San Carlos, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I read the article and concluded that someone was pretty stupid if they thought the Germans would be warm and friendly and say "nice try" a lot. So what if he scored a hat trick and nobody was nice to him, he is the friggen' striker. Should center backs get a pat on the back everytime they shut a team out? They don't. Ask me how I now.

    I would NOT recommend it for a young player vs. a Dutch club like Ajax or any English club. He made a mistake and the only thing I would like to see is some token of accepting responsibility. So far, it has been someone else's fault. There are lots of athletes that we criticize for not living up to their contracts.
     
  15. Qdog

    Qdog Member

    May 8, 2002
    Andalusia
    Club:
    Sevilla FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    ""I -don't think it's any secret I -didn't want him to go," says Donna Donovan. "He negotiated with me for about a year. It pretty much negated any chance of college and that was the goal."

    Reading between the lines says Landon wanted to go and got Daddy's support.
     
  16. M

    M Member+

    Feb 18, 2000
    Via Ventisette
    Reading between the lines of this and other threads it seems like Donovan might well be better off without the 'advice' of his overweaning dad. Additionally, did Donovan really expect to be playing in the Bundesliga at the age he was when he went over there? The number of players of that age who are playing in the top European leagues is really incredibly small. The chances of Donovan doing it were minute, particularly when you take into account the quality of Leverkusen's squad ath the time.
     
  17. cpwilson80

    cpwilson80 Member+

    Mar 20, 2001
    Boston
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    San Fran Chronicle magazine is one of those insert mags in the Sunday paper. I'd guess the vast majority of people who read it every week are not soccer fans, so this wasn't going to be an in-depth article. However, it captured the situation well, and it's nice to see a positive article about the future of soccer.
     
  18. irvine

    irvine Member

    Nov 24, 1998
    S. Portland, ME
    They're twins, right? The twin thing is what it is. Mine are only a year old and I can already tell that they can communicate with each other in different ways than you'd expect from their interactions with other people.

    And God forbid that a young athletic superstar should express closeness to his sister. There was something weird about Angelina Jolie and her brother; I don't see it with the Donovans.
     
  19. GoHawks4

    GoHawks4 Member

    Apr 24, 2002
    Chicago
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    After reading that article, I became very disturbed. What I long said about Landon has been true all along. I wish he would go to Germany now, and just stay there. I think we all know the real reason why Landon doesn't want to go back to Leverkusen! Although they say, Bayer is good for the heart... maybe being away from his sister that long will break is heart.

    Let's see what kind of crock the LDALS can come up with defend him here.

    And I think his Dad wanted him to go and guided him into going by "not wanting him to go". Sort of like a "prove me wrong" mentallity. I've seen it with my own parents and my sister.
     
  20. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Just wanted to highlight this.

    kjk...read the article again. Landon's complaint centered around Bayer trying to stifle his creativity.
     
  21. olafgb

    olafgb New Member

    Jun 6, 2001
    Germany
    In fact I wouldn't wonder if the writer of this article has never met Landon. The quotes sound a little like a collection of former interviews. The knowledge about soccer either is hardly existing or at least it is very naive, proven by:

    - the line that he's too small for German soccer as you have to be tall too play there - what a stupid sentence, Bastürk is 5'6", Neuville is 5'7" and Schneider is 5'8" and this is only Leverkusen. Some of Germany's greatest players were Thomas Häßler and Pierre Litbarski, both 5'6" - I mean, sure with 5'7" they wouldn't buy a goalie, a central defender or a center, but for every other position a team - also in Germany - couldn't care less for the size.

    - the line that he scored a hattrick in D3 or D4 and despite of that didn't get a shot at the pros - we would have roster of a giant size if every hattrick scorer of a D3 or D4 team has to get playing time with some pro team.

    - the line that he was outstanding at the U17 WC and didn't get a shot at the pros despite of that. U17 is a youth tournament, many outstanding players from youth tournaments never make a jump to the pro teams. Playing there merely means that you've got plenty of talent. And this is not German or soccer specific btw; look at the NHL rookie draft, most of the drafted players are 17 or 18 and usually only the top picks directly make it to their team - and this just because they are drafted by the worst clubs. Regularly they do not enter the NHL roster before becoming 20 and also there many first round picks never play NHL. And speaking of unrealistic expectations I can just repeat one sentence on and on:

    IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE TO A FOREIGN CLUB, YOU NEED A PLAYER AGENT OF THIS COUNTRY TO ADVICE YOU. A GOOD AGENT OF YOUR HOME COUNTRY WOULDN'T EVEN ASK FOR IT AND DIRECTLY CALL ONE OF HIS COLLEAGUES. This is not because your agents are bad, but for a REAL advice you need someone who is deep in the matter and knows his market - from a foreign perspective you can't have the needed insight.
     
  22. diablodelsol

    diablodelsol Member+

    Jan 10, 2001
    New Jersey
    Olaf,

    How many German agents would have negotiated a cheap buyout clause for a 19 year old American?
     
  23. dheck

    dheck Member

    Sep 20, 1999
    Chapel Hill, NC, USA
    I would hope not, since Bundesliga rules prohibit players under 18 from playing in the league. The article kind of missed that important bit of information. Landon couldn't have been on the first team until he turned 18. After that, he may have had some complaints and wanted his chance. Before that, the point was moot.
     
  24. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    olaf, note the blurb about a "farm team." This is an article written for people who are wholly ignorant of how European club soccer operates.

    But about the size issue...I wonder if this is something the writer threw in on his own, or something he got from a more soccer-savvy colleague, or something he got from Landon. I hope it's not the latter. Here at bigsoccer, I'm always defending the Bundesliga from attacks about a supposed lack of skill or emphasis on brute strength. I hope Landon didn't say this, because if he did, it sounds about 90% like a weak excuse for why he's here and not there. I hope it's something the writer got on his own.

    Also, about the hat trick...the quote is "no reaction." Coming after the assessments of the friendliness of the German people, I never took that, on first reading, to refer to Landon getting time with the Bayer seniors. I immediately thought that Landon expected an "attaboy." I also get the vague sense that one thing Landon wanted, and didn't get from the management, was a clear idea of how Landon fit in with their plans. Further, I think Landon wanted to know what he needed to do in order to move up in the playing rotation. It's been frequently mentioned about how Landon never even got to the matchday 18, which was supposedly promised to him on one occasion.

    Think about it...this piece, to me, is Landon giving his side of the story. And what disturbs him is a) the friendliness of the people there (does he mean the townspeople, Bayer management, or both?) b) that he's getting no feedback about his play and c) (in another portion I didn't quote here) he is upset about getting booed when he tried something creative that didn't work.

    Add in Tim's comments about Landon be willing to go so long as he was going to be in the matchday 18 and have a fair chance at the first XI...what does that sound like? It sounds like Landon is thinking like an employee in a typical American business. He's upset that they didn't follow through on a promise to get a shot in the squad. He wants the Bayer mgt. to "promote" him, give him new responsibilities, because he thinks he's earned them. Further, he wants Bayer to continually evaluate his performance against an objective standard, to see if a further growth in his responsibilities is warranted.

    Am I stretching here? Do you guys agree? Anyway, on the one hand, I question how realistic it is for Landon to be treated that way by Bayer. On the other hand, he likes how the San Jose mgt. treats him.

    In any event, alot of what I see as a source of trouble is the culture clash. Pro sports here don't have, in general, as much competition for playing time as European soccer, esp. at big clubs. The business model is different. And Landon is accustomed to a certain level of personal and professional friendliness that he didn't get there.

    I also wonder if Landon's defense of the level of play in MLS is a sort of psychological compensation...he's trying to defend his choice and his accomplishments here.
     
  25. olafgb

    olafgb New Member

    Jun 6, 2001
    Germany
    Every agent if his client insists on that. A good agent is not only characterized by the amount of money he's getting for his client (and himself). You've got a legal component - do you think Motzkin has a clue about German law? You've got an advising function - do you think Motzkin has any DEEP insight into Bundesliga or Bayer Leverkusen? Obviously not, otherwise the problems - which are evidently basing on unrealistic assumptions - wouldn't exist. If I was an agent and had a client with a MLS offer, I'd immediately contact an US agent (and this though I'm familiar with conflict of laws and wouldn't really have difficulties regarding the legal aspect).
     

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