Yall can kill this thread whenever I just wanted to officially say laters to Mr. Landon and good luck in Alemania! See ya!
Wow. A YA I actually won't be able to root for. That whiny puss is back within 18 months, mark my words.
I'm with you. Landon's going to get his ass kicked in the Bundesliga on a weekly basis. Well, at least for the first two or three weeks until he fakes an injury to avoid going on the field with the big, scary European dudes.
It's spelled Donovan, not Donavan. We should be so lucky to have a "whiner" like him on every MLS team. I'm going to miss having him in MLS. He was a big reason to show up for the Quakes vs Galaxy at the HDC. Hopefully those of us USMNT fans who admire Donovan's game will have plenty of opportunity to see him on FSW and with the National team. Here's hoping he thrives in Germany & learns to be a world-beater by 2006! Hope, hope, hope. That's what we have for our teams & our players. Here's to the future.
People are really getting ahead of themselves. The odds of getting regular 1. Bundesliga playing time are completely unknown. This is just like the high school valedictorian going to a top university. Regardless of the available performance indicators, this is the next level. Players who dominated the Argentine and Brazilian leagues have fizzled in Europe. Players who stood out on the Continent have failed in England. It's an amazing opportunity, but he will have to make his own luck. He's got the record contract. Now "all" he's got to do is bang out some hits. I think excitement and hope are definitely appropriate, but not even Leverkusen can guarantee he will be a regular starter at some point. Maybe they plan that, but they probably also plan to win all their games. The ball is round.
The fact that he stands out as being a little on the short side in a country where soccer is a lower-priority sport is the basis for that argument. He'll play against a world-wide talent pool from countries where this game is almost the be-all-end-all of sports. But such disadvantages have been more than overcome in the past.
Nice post. Klaus Augenthaler, the coach for Bayer04 Leverkusen, had this to say: "I'll be happy when he actually joins us. I'll be really sure of his presence when I see him." There is still resentment about the kid that came and did not produce and then left. The move was not even mentioned on the Bayer04 website or any of the major German newspapers, other than to list him as a transfer. Leverkusen has a decent line-up and Donovan has his work cut out for him. The biggest challenge will be the much higher level of physical play that requires stamina and the ability to go 90 minutes at a much higher pace than he is used to from MLS.
It's not like Landon has only proven himself in MLS or at the youth level, but has proven himself on the International level. I agree that we are all of course simply speculating, but it's ok to be optimistic and hope someone is going to do well. Donovan has all the tools needed, he simply needs to work hard, and keep his head in the right place. I think his biggest problem is going to be "missing" california, the same as it was last time; however moving away from your parents and living half way across the world when you're 16 is a hell of a lot different then doing the same thing when you're 22 years old. If he can suck it up and get past the lonely first few months I think he'll thrive, but if he gets depressed, he maybe be in for a long stay. When you're away from home, and you do miss things, the best thing you can do is keep busy and work hard at things to keep your mind off of it, so lets home Donovan, perhaps with the help of some of the other YA's in Germany can get settled. All that being said, I'll stick with my assertion that he will be a regular by the end of the season.
I won't prophecy anything, but as a Galaxy fan, I will say it is something of a relief to see him go, which may be the ultimate compliment of all. Donovan was very good, and he was especially good against us on more occasions than I care to recall. Have fun in Europe, Landon. Work hard and kick some tail. BTW, since you're coming back to MLS one day, or so you say, put the Galaxy on the top of your list. A return to MLS justifies an improvement in California real estate, nearer family and closer to where the gf (who might be wifey by then) works. Best wishes. Don't let the door hit you on the way out - or maybe just a little.
I'll make only one prediction: This should cut down on the number of "look at those abs" posts on one MLS team's message board.
He'll be fine in this department. He's young and the guy ran circles around his German opposition in the WC, and is probably one of our most "in shape" athletes on an international team known to grind down opposition with stamina. Hopefully, all you guys wishing for Donovan to fail are being a little tongue-in-cheek. The US National team will not benefit from a benched Donovan. My wish is that LD takes over a starting role, has a great time, makes an immediate impact, and forgets his first trip to Germany.
Despite my doom and gloom prediction for Donovan, I root for him with the USMNT and will root for him to succeed in Germany. Obviously, USMNT players succeeding in stronger leagues can only help our Nats get stronger. It's just hard to let to of the Smurf hatred. Give me a few weeks to adjust.
Landon will definately get his chance, but I have to stand on the side of I'm not sure if he'll make it yet or not by the end of next season or any time for that manner. If Landon is going to make something out of himself he is going to have to get it through his head early on that this is not MLS or even the US NATS for that matter. He is going to be a small fish in a very big pond rather that vica-versa. As we have all seen, Landon's work ethic can be poor. In fact he has had the tendancy to "phone in" entire performances in the past. The following week he'll show up and perform brilliantly. Because of this San Jose and the US to a lessor extant could forgive him those times when he simply would dissappear. The same cannnot be said for Leverkusen. Augentaler is a taskmaster and with the German's tendancy to put emphasis on discipline, tactics and hard work, if Landon thinks he can sleepwalk through even a single training session he will be finished early on. Likewise if he bears down and works hard he could easily become indispensable. I am excited to see what he choses to do.
Believe me when I say that I do not wish failure upon LD. The worst thing that could happen is a repeat of the Clint Mathis transfer to 96. I see Landon much more as a Beasley than Mathis and wish him well. He does have a stigma attached for leaving in the first place and the 1. Bundesliga can be a rough place to play. All the best and see you when you come back.
his last game was in week 6 (we're now in week 16), he came in the 81.minute and scored the game winner in the 83., after that he yelled at the coach and never played again...