I know this is probably for USMen or the Earthquakes board, but I would rather discuss here. http://yanks-abroad.com/ I think we all thought he might go. But I think the success Beasley is having and San Jose possible move may have pushed him over the edge.
I agree that the position in San Jose helped make up his mind but Bayer were always going to recall him. I don't see a club out there who would be able to buy him in the January transfer window so I see him finishing the year out in Germany. I do wish him the best now that this move has come to fruition.
In a way, its about damn time, but then again, he has shown loyality to the MLS even nthough Leverkusen wanted him back after WC2002.
But he has said and done plenty to back the league while he's been here, rather than acting like it was the lesser of evils. So you can call that loyalty. And he had a legit problem in Germany at the time, one which no logner applies. He needed to find a level between the reserve leagues and the first team of (at the time) a CL power. The clubs of Casey, O'Brien, Simek, etc etc have all allowed loans for those players, but for some reason there was a problem with Donovan. They wanted to keep him in a league he was clearly too good for, and it's understandable he was a little upset about it. Now, MLS is the league he's clearly too good for (which has been true for about 2 years now).
After reading an article on ESPN.com, I see one of the problems he had. He was a teenager when he went in, was playing in the reserves, and was not happy. I wonder if he thought he would be in the XI right away when he first arrived. Either way, maybe Dovovan will shine or he could flop. Time will tell.
I've been waiting for this day for a long time. I'm all excited to see how Landon uses this experience to grow as a player. He'll probably ride the pine for quite a while but will he use the time in training to better himself or do what he did when he was 16 (get upset)? He's been the star since coming to MLS but he will be just another player in the Bundesliga... It's exciting - I have high hopes that this will casue Landon to take it to the next level
No, I just think he figured, youth squad ==> reserve squad ==> first team, and it doesn't quite work that way. For major European powers, there's an enormous gulf between the reserves (a 4th division squad in Landon's case) and the first team. And Leverkusen did nothing to bridge that gap until they loaned him to MLS, which worked nicely.