Rob Stone and Eric Wynalda did bring it up again during today's game. Landon seemed to have resigned to his fate in exile in Leverkusen.
he'll only get better playing for a cl german side, and if he impresses there, maybe an upper table english side down the road...
if he really dislikes euro lifestlye, then he should just play out his 2 1/2 yr contract with bayer and come back to mls in 2007... he'll still be 25 and got pretty of legs left in him.
????? upper-table english side > Bayer Leverkusen?? you do realize that Leverkusen were an astonishing Zidane volley goal, and an Iker Cassilas pulling a superman from claiming the Champions League trophy the year of the world cup right?
I agree that Leverkusen is a quality side, but I suspect the EPL reference was not only about soccer quality, but also about language, culture, comfort zone. It seems that LD does not have that adventuresome, curious mindset that a Wade Barrett has, for example, which would make an overseas move much more desirable. But then again, WB is no threat to get to Leverkusen or anywhere near the EPL.
One of the great American soccer myths. Playing in a real league made a world of difference back in the dark days before MLS but now gains to be made in a players development are marginal. The logic that some plugger will show marked improvement by being repeatedly beaten like a gong in the EPL is rubbish. A top side and league might be able to put a final polish on an existing skillset but it wont turn a turd into a diamond. As for Landon: His good and bad are what they are. His game will not improve if he doesn't want to be there and BS poster wishful thinking aside all indications are he don't want to go back. If they can't or won't come to terms he will mail it in.
Not that it means a damn thing, but Landon stated (again) that it was 50/50 that he would go in January in an interview last night on local TV.
that is a really crappy argument because one could mention how they were so close to relegation the following year. not that i disagree though, bayer is better than all english teams save for the top 3 probably.
Yeah, Hiddink wears one that says, "He was bigger in Korea." Note: That was a DMB reference, for those who were wondering.
EPL is not the top skill teaching league anyway as much of its "skill" is imported from other places. English national team is fairly notorious for having no dribblers on its roster sans Rooney and a rarely seen Joe Cole. When Jose Morinho first took over Chelsea, he was unpleasantly surprised how little time the EPL teams spend on improving players' individual skills. On the other hand, Holland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Portugal, former Yugoslavia with all its splinter states and even West Germany of old (some of us still remember Grabowski, Held, Magath, Littbarski, Hölzenbein, Uli Höness, et al., whose personal skills have all but vanished from the modern German game) are excellent for the required improvement. Of course, there's no reason why the same skills can not be taught in the US but they usually aren't.
Yes. He should be in the Bundesliga. He speaks German, and he's worthy of a spot in the starting 11 at Leverkusen. He needs to make the next jump in his development, and I think he's not going to improve at the same rate in the MLS as he will in Germany.
Landon's Agent: What do you think about playing for BL in January. Landon: If that happens, you're fired.
Landon's future is in his hand, ... exactly ! .. by the way it's time for him to go because we now have Bundesliga games on FSW. so we can track his progress.