After watching a couple of the quakes games this season, and the most recent Nat game against mehico, I clearly think that he would have the most success in Itlay. He is suited very well to play a catenaccio type of game (hey, the US seems to play this often), his athleticism is incredible, and his skill talent is also potentially world class. He reminds me of del piero. Opinions?
Totally agree. He is suited to play in Italy or Spain and not so well in Germany. Playing in Germany for Landon is total waste of talent. I hope some team from abroad or MLS buy out his contract.
I prefer if he goes to Spain or even England, Italian soccer does not attack enough. He has less freedom to roam the field.
And for more selfish reasons why I wouldn't him to play there I'd never get the chance to see him play anymore
Re: Re: Donovan to Italy (speculation/opinion) It seems that many of our new generation of skill players are not so suited for physical leagues....Beas, Convey, Quaranta, Donovan, Gonzalez, Adu, etc........Holland obviously isn't such a bad choice to get a foot in the door either. I mean Makay is leading La Liga with 27 goals scored this year...
Re: Re: Re: Donovan to Italy (speculation/opinion) Interesting turnabout ... used to be that American players were physical enough, but not skilled enough. Now ... I like this tendency though! I think that Landon would do well in Italy and possibly in Spain. How about France?
Im pretty sure that everyone here would be disappointed if Donovan couldnt go to France and succeed. I know i would like to think that he is above the level of the french league. I think I remember reading somewhere that Valencia was keeping track of Justin Mapp. Was there any basis to that or was i just dreaming it up?
You greatly underestimate the level of the French league IMHO. Even Vanney, who played on one of MLS' best teams(Galaxy), commented on how much faster mentall the game was over there. And he can barely get off the bench of a lower mid table team...Donovan COULD adapt, but to think he'd light the league on fire right away is probably wishful thinking IMHO.. Just curious, how much soccer do some of you people watch?
Re: Re: Donovan to Italy (speculation/opinion) Yes, it does seem like there is a mentality on BS that England, Italy and Spain are the only true "top" leagues, and the rest are 2nd tier.
Re: Re: Donovan to Italy (speculation/opinion) I agree. It's not like Donovan is on a scoring tear year in and year out like a Van Nistelrooy. He hasn't even been able yet to FULLY dominate MLS, so why would he be so awesome in the French League with the likes of Ronaldinho, Pauleta, Sonny Anderson, etc.?
Re: Re: Re: Donovan to Italy (speculation/opinion) He has been the most influential player in MLS this season. Does that count as dominating? Statistics mean nothing in soccer
Re: Re: Donovan to Italy (speculation/opinion) having watched more of LaLiga on FSW recently - I would agree with you about Spain primarily. So much of what I am seeing is very creative entertaining ball - less emphasis on killing the opponent physically and more emphasis on moving the ball quickly and with creativity - directly suiting Donovan's abilities. Plus IIRC he is pretty comfortable with the Hispanic language. Barcelona/Madrid or the Costa Brava or Mallorca could be pretty nice places to live and play.
Re: Re: Donovan to Italy (speculation/opinion) Ah, the "you don't watch soccer" insult. Always well-informed. It's not just BigSoccer that thinks the French league isn't as good as England, Spain, and Italy. It's also a pretty high percentage of French players and fans.
Re: Re: Re: Donovan to Italy (speculation/opinion) Well, if France and Holland are 2nd tier, then what does that make MLS? Feyenoord declined to offer Bocanegra because he wasn't advanced enough tactically, and Vanney's glued to the bench for a lower mid table team. These are guys IN our national team pool, with Bocanegra being a future starter. France and Holland are perfectly fine destinations for developing players.
Re: Re: Re: Donovan to Italy (speculation/opinion) The comparison is not between France and the other three leagues. The comparison is between France and MLS. The French league is a notch above MLS, for obvious reasons.
50% taxes on French wages is a huge reason why many players decide to take their game elsewhere. Not the only reason, but one majore one. greg
Reportedly they're just as high in England and Germany. England and Germany have more money in their leagues, they are the two richest countries in the EU...
This is quite interesting... the never ending debate of which leagues are the best. Instead of turning into that, what leagues could Landon go to and have a better experience than MLS? In no particular order.... Spain Italy England Germany Netherlands France And a big maybe on Scotland. Thoughts from others?
hmm. dont know about the other two. maybe someone on these boards can enlighten me about taxes in italy, spain, england, and germany.
Bryan, I would switch France and the Dutch only because after the big 3 you see a huge drop in talent in that league. France is a bit more competitve but I would have to agree that the best teams in Dutch football are better than the best teams in French football IMHO. greg