For the statue, I nominate that moment when he leaped over that sliding Chivas USA player for a breakaway. Anyone have the link to the highlights for that one? It was breathtaking.
And the fourth best US Coach since 1990. No wonder, with his fat salary, he always projects his insecurities on others about them "having to earn it."
As much as JK has acted like a classless jerk and I dislike how he is running the NT itself (not necessarily the other stuff he is tasked with), legacy is not ever going to be a problem for him, in all honesty. He has absolutely made a huge mark on the game in his career as a player and manager, that's indisputable. Of course we have yet to see what the post-player phase of LD is, let's hope it is so spectacular that it eclipses JK... like say, leading the US to our first WC champion as coach, 20 years down the line.
Landon (and Becks) is who drew me to MLS. I wouldn't be the soccer fan I am today without him. #10 in your program, #1 in our hearts. Thank you for everything. I wanna see you win another MLS Cup! Let's goooooooo!
I too was fine watching the interview until Bruce got emotional, then my eyes got a little misty. Players retire all the time, but LD is different. We can never replace him at the Galaxy, even with a high caliber player from Europe.
I am happy for LD who, I suspect, has a better handle on what he needs to do to be happy than most people have. I wish I had some hope that the front office will not use the opening DP slot to sign Dan Gargan.
Same here, I took a trip to Munich Germany for spring break in high school. After that I followed Michael Ballack and Bayern for years. Then when Beckham came to LA and I watched the Americans in the world cup, I wanted an American team to root for that played great soccer. Watching Donovan in LA made me feel like I was watching the USMNT since he was the face of U.S. soccer. I guess you could say soccer is the only one sport that I've never had total allegiance to my whole life. In all other sports I've been a Chicago Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, and Cubs fan my whole life because of my dad. But he never watched soccer so I never connected with the Fire. I'm not originally from Maryland either so I never cared for D.C. United. When it came to soccer I went to the team that I wanted to watch the most, and that happens to be the Galaxy. I've come to love them now and have seen them win 2 championships. I've got deep connections with many players now after watching them for years including AJ Delagarza and Omar Gonzalez who went to my school University of Maryland. Now after Landon leaves I guess Omar will be my favorite player... Any how yea I wouldn't have been a Galaxy fan without becks and Donovan. Seeing those two gone now will def be an end or an era for me.
After seeing the Bruce interview, I take back any criticism I may have had over his hiatus. For Bruce to break down like that and say the guy can finally be happy again, Landon must have been going through more than a little melancholy, or self-focus. I apologise to him if I was harsh during that period.
....and because I feel the above sentiment needs to stand on his own, I didn't include this in the post, however it needs to be said: Jurgen Klinsmann, We hear about your supposedly progressive mentality that you apparently think the US needs to improve. You talk about training, tactics, style and players challenging themselves. You talk about players doing what it takes to be great and stepping outside their comfort zone. Yet you took a guy who recognised his own mental state and openly took the steps he required to get himself together. He did this with the critics watching and people like you passing judgement. If you knew anything about mental health, you would understand that it is far more of a departure from any "comfort zone" to face those problems period, let alone with the world scrutinising and opinionating, than something as mundane as a simple career choice. You punished him for having more balls than you've shown in three years with your condescending platitudes on the state of US soccer, that you roundly contradicted by taking the team to WC 2014 and playing like Bob Bradley. Good luck replacing the man whose last hurrah you stole. If the USMNT isn't playing tiki-taka by 2018, I suggest that you piss off to cambodia.
This doesn't belong here, but I think we all could use something funny right about now. TED LASSO is back!!! Hilarious... The new Ted Lasso video is a worthy sequel http://t.co/P9PGHjlAjO pic.twitter.com/J1SEyQR8BP— Brooks Peck (@BrooksDT) August 8, 2014
He should probably have retired at the end of 2013. In retrospect it seems events conspired against him with the upcoming World Cup and his contract ending he convinced himself to ignore his gut. Selfishly I’m glad he did so we can send him on his way in an appropriate manner, but I’d bet dollars to donuts if the World Cup had been 2 or 3 years away Landon would have retired quietly at the end of 2013.
In the Premier League when a team has clinched the title but there are games remaining it’s traditional for the champion’s opponents to form a guard of honor and applaud them on to the pitch. It has also been done from time to time to honor individuals, most recently Alex Ferguson on his retirement. Considering all Landon has done for the league it’d be classy for away game opponents to do the same for LD.
Dan Gargan is running a contest on Twitter: if you retweet his post, you get a chance to take Landon's DP spot. HaHa.
That's what got me: when Bruce said something like "to see what he's suffered during his career..." I just thought wow, we don't know the half of it.
I still like the drinking fountain one. I insist though, that any water that springs forth from it is fed directly from Northern California.
Besides a trailblazer & embassador for for soccer in #USA, @ThierryHenry sez people don't recognize HOW GOOD @landondonovan plays the game!— Tina Cervasio (@TinaCervasio) August 8, 2014
They should just relocate the real drinking fountain to a main area outside of the stadium, but in a very obvious place. It would be a great talking point for future generations and would be a less flashy way of honoring LD. Plus, he would probably get a kick out of it.