Is Landon Donovan a Tweener? A player without a true position? I think so. When Landon plays forward, defenders don't have to worry about him scoring from distance. They can just back off him and wait for him to come to them. Think about Wayne Rooney. The kid is absolutly deadly from distance and thats what makes him impossible to defend. Defenders are forced to come up on him where he makes them look stupid while taking them 1v1. Donovan has absolutly no range. If he wants to score he either has to do it on the break, or beating 3 people off the dribble, while the defeders are back-pedaling. Yet when he is in the midfield, he doesn't play like a midfielder. He only has one mind-set: attack, attack, attack. As a result he always ends up playing to fast and forcing the issue. Always trying to play 1 touch passes,through balls, and give and goes, rather than just hold, make the easy pass and wait for the opening. I once said that Landon is a top 10 talent (which I still hold to, and my god did I get a lot of flak for that comment). And I still think he will end up there. But before he does that he either has to learn some patience, or learn to score from distance. Disagree? Agree?
Yes. I disagree. Landon has a good shot from either foot from top of the box in. He just needs to be more consistent with it. Example: left footed shot from outside the 18 on the right against LA, he beat Hartman to far post.
If he has it fine. How come he never puts it on display then? I think I remember that shot, it was in MLS Cup right? He has neevr even tried something like that for ths US National Team.
I agree that he's 1-dimensional but I still think he can be very effective in a counter-attacking system like we used in the WC. Landon Donovan is deadly when using his speed, vision, and explosiveness in the open field.
I don't think LD is a tweener in terms of skills, but he may be so mentally. By that, I mean he does not have the mindset of a pure scorer or of a midfield general. His skill level is such that he can play both, but he has not yet fully developed the instincts for either.
LD a tweener? this is an interesting topic. LD seems to be a tweener right now, and he also seems to have hit a plateau. this may be a combination of inexperience (as opposed to a veteran) and the fact that he is now a marked man. he possesses the necessary physical and instinctual tools but must learn to impose his will on the game <i>at the right time</i>, which will come with more big games and better competition.
MLS Cup was with his right foot, 1/2 volley from the top left of the box to far post, beating Hartman again. I was talking regular season. He "displayed" it against Poland, scoring with his left foot on a volley, and against Germany, almost beating Kahn from outside the box with his left foot.
Landon can shoot, but I don't think that he looks to from outside the box... he would rather try a wall pass or something to get closer before shooting. I really think that his best place is on the right wing, though he hasn't played there much. He is a good forward, but Mathis, Buddle and EJ look better to me long term. He CAN play withdrawn or even as the playmaker, but I think that we have better options. Basically when I look at the guy and watch him play, it occurs to me that he would be a great winger... Excellent speed and fitness, a good first and last touch, and a good cross. I think that he is the kind of player who needs to get the ball at his feet and run with it. The best position for that is wing. If Beasley can play on the left, Donovan can certainly play on the right. He would need a little time to get used to the position, but he would be very effective there. IIRC, Bruce put him out there for a go during J/K and it went pretty well. Obviously Landon needs to be on the field somewhere, but where? He IS a tweener at the international level, and Bruce still isn't sure what to do with him. I am guessing that he will end up as a withdrawn forward/a-mid, but I would rather see Mathis there with Buddle and EJ or maybe even Twellman (if he ever gets around to showing something) or McBride. The upside here is that we have a versatile player who can basically play anywhere in the midfield or up top. Maybe he needs to work on his outside shooting, (not as much as Beas) and I would never think of him as a prolific goal-scorer, but he is extremely dedicated and hard-working, and he usually puts the ball away when he gets the opportunity. He is more like a Gaza with more speed than a Michael Owen who is a little slower.
I think he needs time playing against more talented players. As much as I want to see the MLS to well and move up the sports food chain in the US, I think Landon needs to move onto Germany or England where he will play against teams and players that, on average, have more talent and are better than those in the MLS. He would then be forced to develop all aspects of his game and not just the attack portion. Also, he is 20, which means inconsistency, in all aspects of his game.
the arguement of we have here of where he should play is my worry about Landon. He has the skill set to play many positions, but is he skilled enough to EXCEL at one position? Right now, as a 20 year old, the answer is no. He isn't capable enough defensivly yet to be a winger, he isn't patient enough on the ball to be in the middle of the midfield (nor is he good enough defensivly), and he isn't prolific enough to be a forward. But I think I am among those who think he'll be an outstanding winger. A wing defender just has to be able to track back effectivly and make yourself a nuisance to anybody who tries to cross from there.
not really. with the exception of cocu most players have only one true position, it just happens they happen to have the skills to play other positions. look at overmars, he is a true winger but could play forward or hell even right back (if zenden can, marc can) if needed (and both sides of the field). only some of the defenders switch positions a lot.
I think his field vision, which is excellent, would be wasted at an outside position. He should play forward or withdrawn from the top striker(s). He can both set up and finish. Against Mexico, he played withdrawn and scored on a winger's cross which he probably wouldn't have scored had he been playing on the opposite wing. I think the wing role is too one dimensional for him. Not only is he fast and fit, he also sees things very well. Among US players, the only others who see as well are Claudio and Clint.
Great topic. I could see Donovan in Stewart's role from the later stages of WC Qualifying: line up on the right, but play as an attacking mid. This may be a video game lineup, but something like this might work: -----------McBride--------------- ------------------Wolff---------- --------------------------------- -----Mathis------------Donovan--- --------------------------------- --------------------------------- -------O'Brien---Mastroeni-------
It seems a great forward prodigy often shows his color at age of 20 or even before, like Ronaldo, Raul, Owen, Del Piero, etc. LD is not in that category. For a winger or midfielder, he needs to work on his defense. However, at age of 20, he has plenty of time to work on it. I think once he realizes that his playing time/role on USMNT may be hinged on how well he plays defense, he will be OK.
This isn't true. Josh Wolff was subbed off and Landon Donovan pushed into his forward spot. It was as a pure striker that Donovan scores against Mexico on the counter.
Yup, Landon's somwehere between a forward and a mid, not enough defense for a pure midfield player, not enough finishing prowess for a true forward. But, he's got all the skills he needs to play either place and a great attacking outlook. In fact, he's really got a quite complete package of skills, which is why he is able to be successful all over the field, including the wing. Thing is, it doesn't really matter if he'd be a better wing, which may be true if he played for a country with a deeper group of central players than the US. What matters is that the US has a lack of players, especially when we have to leave out our European guys or when every single guy we have isn't healthy, who can play well in the middle of the field. Until we develop more players who can hold the ball and generate some sort of possesion in the middle, that's where he's going to find himself quite a lot. Without Euros like O'Brien and Reyna, both hurt by the way, and until someone like Convey or Martino steps it up a little, we need Landon's game in the middle. Mathis is another option, but he's not the runner Landon is, and until he gets to the point where he is, we're stuck with leaving him up front. And, by the way, wasn't it printed somewhere that Landon idolized Baggio, another tweener that's had quite a career, playing both up front and in the midfield. I'm not saying Donovan's at that level, but he's comparitively that strong taken in context of the US team.
Did anyone see Barca-Inter on Tuesday? The way Saviola played...that's what I want to see Donovan do in San Jose this year. The highlight for me was the third goal where he had the assist on Kluivert's goal. A great run in from wide left about 35 yards out going straight to goal, a good cutback, sticks with the ball and has the presence to pick on Kluivert charging in on the near post. Another thing that caught my attention is how much Saviola initiates contact. He's not a big guy, but knows there will be contact and he gets in a position where he can still control the ball and fight off the man. This is one aspect of Donovan's game that could improve; he did it on the 80 yard run against Argentina, but he needs to chill out after getting the call. The eventual trip to Europe will toughen up his game in that regard.
Good discussion here. From the time he was 17 I thought his best position was as an attacking mid-fielder. And watching him droppping perfect passes on the foot of Manny Llagos a half-dozen times his first year with the Quakes convinced me that I was right. But that aside, I think he has two problems. One is that he has the best vision and is the quickest thinker in the American game. He always sees opportunites (frequently ones that his teammates are not up to capitializing on) and this creates problems in defining his position. I think Arena would like him to be a striker, but sees how effective he is in the middle. As I said in another thread, I think his biggest problem with the Quakes is that he doesn't have Landon Donovan feeding him the ball. (Maybe in 2006 he'll get the benfit of Edu feeding him the ball!) The other problem is that he is not selfish enough. He might not have the ego that great strikers have. I think until he gets to the position where he thinks he is entirely responsible for the team's goal scoring, he is not going to attack the goal the way I would like to see him. Fortuntately (or unfortunately as a Quake fan) that is likely to be the case this year.
If you want him in the midfield than he can't just worry about attacking the goal on his own. He must learn patience and learn how to hold the ball every now and then. He has to learn how to play solid defense if he wants to play in the midfield. Too many times we play frenetic soccer that just leads to a turnover. That was a problem with Argentina. NO ONE waited for thing to develop. Our players just attacked like mindless drones. As much as I dislike to say this...A comparison between Donovan the Striker and Saviola the striker is really no comparison at all. He doesn't have nearly the finishing capability that Saviola does, even though he might have been able to produce that assist.
Hahaha, no, I am not comparing Saviola to Donovan (I think the world of Saviola), but I am saying that Donovan is capable of a similar type of performance as Saviola's last Tuesday, especially in MLS. I have no idea where Donovan will be playing this year with San Jose, but clearly, (as mentioned above) he will be asked to carry a greater burden in offensive production. What will be interesting to see is if Donovan can create more goal opportunities for himself this year, which will be more difficult if he is playing in the midfield. If he is a striker with San Jose, though, look for the attacking mentality and finishing ability becoming more refined this season.
As strikers, Saviola played a lot more and tougher defense (in the Barcelona-Inter match) than what I have ever seen LD played. Saviola also worked much harder to get himself open. I am not convinced that LD will improve dramatically these two aspects of his game by playing in MLS.
Everyone knows LD cannot improve much more while in the MLS, I think he just wants to wait for an English club to buy his rights from Leverkusin (sp?).