I find the LD fans to be despicable human beings. They will absolutely trash any player that isn't LD, and can defend any other player being left off. I guess the emulate their hero while he is throwing a temper tantrum...
No cause it's Landon. And to admit not taking Landon would be like getting a man to change his religion.
It is not a religion to think it is ok to cut a player who abandons his team. It is not a religion when to think it is ok to cut a player for undermining the coach publicly. There were tons of reasons all on their own to cut that that little prick. When you add them all together, it would have been a risk for a coach to actually take him. Again, there are tons of rational reasons why he was cut. You guys are the religious ones on this topic.
I personally feel really bad for Wondo. He plays his whole career in MLS where fans don't care and then MLS fans turn on him because LD got cut. If he had come along 8 years later, Berhalter would have probably made him an iron man.
You're posts have no value. Even people who largely agree with you about JK and MLS won't come to your support. You've completely lost the ability to communicate intelligently. Get help!
Since we are sharing thoughts. I think you are absolutely useless. I couldn't imagine moving to another country and telling others about their culture with limited understanding that you have. I'm perfectly fine btw.
I'm confused by the revisionist history in Jurgen Klinsmann's interview on Kickin' It. Let me run through the history here: Landon took his sabbatical from January - March 2013, during which time he missed our first 3 Hex matches (loss @Honduras, Snow Clasico, draw @ Mexico). He returned to playing in March, was left off the WCQ squad for our 3 June matches (win @jamaica, win home against Panama, win home against Honduras). He was recalled to the national team with our B-team for the 2013 Gold Cup, which he dominated, winning the Golden Ball, tying for Golden Boot, and guiding the US to a Gold Cup trophy. He was recalled to the A-team for the duration of WCQ, starting our next 3 Hex matches as we stormed to the top of the table and clinched a World Cup berth (loss @costa Rica, wins at home against Mexico and Jamaica). So, Donovan was already back with our A-team starting official matches nearly a year before the World Cup, and playing well in MLS (10 goals and 9 assists in 22 matches in 2013). Klinsmann and even Clint Dempsey talking in this interview like Donovan was a bench player is delusional to me. Let's put Brad Davis and Julian Green (backup wingers on our WC squad) to the side - there shouldn't even be a debate on the better player here, but at least I can understand people saying there was value in taking out a flyer on 17-year old Green given how hyped he was). But does anyone really believe Alejandro Bedoya and Graham Zusi were better than 32-year old Landon Donovan in 2014? Winger was our weakest position on that WC squad; Bedoya worked really hard and was a solid defensive winger, but offered zero goal threat. Zusi offered great service and had 2 assists in the tournament, but both were pretty average players overall at the international level. They would not have started on any prior USMNT WC squad dating back to 1994. It's absolutely crazy revisionist history to me to think that these guys were superior players than Donovan, even in 2014. When people talk about Landon Donovan could've "helped us off the bench" in the 2014 squad, I don't get it. Donovan was still a top-5 player in our entire pool even at 32-years old and should have been a lock starter on the A-team, even if he wasn't a 90-minute player every match by then. The only guys who were arguably superior players to Donovan at that stage were Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, and maybe Fabian Johnson. Donovan was still a cut above Bedoya and Zusi and should have had his name written in pen at winger on the starting line-up of that squad.
I think you don't get it because you don't want to like the other guys. What happened to LD in late 2013? What was his role with team in March 2014? What his fitness like and how to he play just a couple months before the pre-WC camp? The answers to questions should help you understand if you are actually interested. I would also be happy to connect some dots for you if you aren't getting it. I dont know if this is you, but I have found that people who claim that can't understand why LD was left off, can provide what they view as an open and shut case to leaving off Brooks, Pepi, Tillman, etc. I find this fascinating.
Not really - I'm actually not a hater USMNT fan, and I like and root for ALL of our players. There has never been a USMNT player I've disliked, with the possible exception of Timmy Chandler. I'm also a John Brooks fan and don't agree with him getting blackballed by Berhalter, and also believe that Pepi should've been on our WC squad ahead of Jesus Ferreira. Can you help enlighten me on Donovan's fitness and form in March 2014? And what happened in late-2013? He had a goal and an assist in our Sept 2013 dos-a-cero win against Mexico. He assisted in our 2-0 friendly win against South Korea in January 2014. He had 2 assists in 7 MLS matches to start the 2014 regular season before the squad was announced (admittedly a bit of a slow start by his standards, but he came on strong and finished the year with 10 goals and 19 assists in 31 matches -- career highs for assists and games played), and his team won MLS Cup (3 goals, 2 assists in 5 playoff matches). He also had 2 assists in 2 Concacaf Champions Cup matches in the spring 2014. Please make the case for me why any of those 4 wingers (Bedoya, Zusi, Davis, Green) were superior players to Donovan and more impactful. I'll even give you a pass on Green because I can genuinely understand the argument for taking a flyer on a 17-year old highly touted prospect.
Not forgeting that Donovan was Everton's player of the month in January 2010 and January 2012, proving that he could perform at the highest level.
Good to hear. Hopefully we can have more conversations then. Why the animosity to Chandler? I misspoke and meant April. Let's start by going back to October 2013. LD is pulled at halftime of the first game of the window. He is not called to the November camp due to a lingering ankle injury. LD played in the January camp game, but was left of the March roster and used as a sub in an April friendly against Mexico w/only MLS players. He looked slow, heavy and disinterested in a game that was about a month before the pre-WC. My recollection was that he had tendinitis* shortly after the January camp. I was having a hard time finding a source, but it is discussed in the second article I linked. JK talks about how he trained, that the choice was easy to have him off the bench, and LD talked like he was almost done. https://www.trentonian.com/2013/11/11/landon-donovan-others-left-off-us-soccer-roster-with-injuries/ https://www.si.com/soccer/2014/04/03/landon-donovan-bench-role-mexico-usmnt *tendinitis would bring up some other possible issues
Good ole Paul with some irrelevant information. He had proved Herold play at a high level before that. Never an issue and absolutely has nothing to do with this discussion. Thanks for sidetracking us. Did you do crap like this when you used to live in your home country or did you learn from these MLS fans.
None of what you said .makes sense considering his club form that Phill pointed out. He is using stats, you are using your opinion (slow and disinterested). Your are giving an emotional answer to a logical and statiscal question. Not that it will matter to you.
Good luck with the KDS. "There was a simple decision based on the way he was the last couple of days," Klinsmann explained following the game. "He told me also [Wednesday] morning that he had some issues with his left knee. He didn't train well. He had no tempo in his training sessions. He had no higher pace, higher rhythm. He didn’t take people on. So I sat him down [Wednesday] morning ... and [told him] based what I saw the last three days, I can’t leave [Chris Wondolowski] out because Wondo deserves [to start] after two goals against South Korea [in January]. He's working so hard, that guy."
Oh yes Klinsman own words, what can be more proof. The man says we played a back and forth game with Belgium so pardon me if his assessments aren't on the up and up. Again, he is tearing it up in league but the guy that cut him said he looked poor. Got it.
It is clear you will never accept reality on this, but I will respond to correct all this nonsense you wrote. Lets first start with play in MLS dont mean shit when it comes to international play. Then we can come back to reality and acknowledge LD was in fact not tearing up prior to the WC camp. His play in MLS prior to the WC camp was significantly worse than when he came back motivated (we all know the guys motivation is like a roller coaster). I guess it is convenient to be able to disregard what anybody says that don't like. If you pay attention to the conversation you butted into, an individual was asking why whether LD was a starter or not. I was politely trying to explain that he had lingering injuries from the fall of 2013 all the way up to the pre-WC. These injuries caused him to miss camps and hinder his fitness. Everything Klinsmann said about LD's training was what we saw in that game. LD looked slow and out of shape. My comment thepat he looked disinterested was due to him not tracking back at all one play. I'm pretty sure Julian Green outplayed him in those 31 minutes. LD had plenty of poor games where floated around having no impact, but this was much worse. The only time I recall him possibly playing worse was the epic disaster he had in the Champions League.
Poster's views of players and the actual players are very different. LD and Clint hated each other on the squad.
Please review LD's stats before the WC cut. "He was not tearing it up", in fact he was ice cold having scored 0 G and 1 in the 7 matches before the WC camp. https://www.transfermarkt.us/landon...erein=1061&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=&trainer_id= At least he got to camp. EJ also started the MLS season with his new club and was also scoreless and was not selected to the 30 person roster. EJ's snub turned out to be much bigger mistake than LD's
You see you called LD supporters scum and then claim Jurgen derangement but then I saw what JK said in that game. Because surely you wouldn't see anything that conflicted with that.
He had 2 assists in the first 7 games. I was just picking up on Phil's point that he had a great season that year and yet there was no room on the roster for him cause Ale Bedoya and Grahamn zusi were better. I doubt they had better stats with their MLS CLUBS or the Nats but I am sure they didn't look disinterested according to JK.
Wondo's chance was more difficult than some think. I think he got distracted by Courtois. In the end, high and wide. People also forget that Clint bottled the free kick JK made a mistake not bringing LD. He could have been a super sub.