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Rodgers lashes out on Donovan

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Photos by ISIphotos.com

The New York Red Bulls-Los Angeles Galaxy cross-country rivalry has some added spice to it.

Major League Soccer's two high-spending, marquee-market teams played to an exciting 1-1 draw Saturday night, but the fireworks didn't stop at the final whistle. Landon Donovan took umbrage at a late challenge by Thierry Henry and refused to shake the Red Bulls' captain's hand after the game.

Free-speaking New York forward Luke Rodgers called out the Galaxy captain on Monday, referring to him with colorful language and alluding to the fact that the U.S. national team star spends too much time complaining to referees about calls.

"In this league, he's a respected person, but he's telling (Henry) to (screw) off," Rodgers told the New York Post. "The kid's a d—head. I don't care. I just think the kid's a (expletive).

"After Henry scored he's running the whole length of the pitch to shout at the linesman. He must have eyes like a hawk to tell if he's offsides. I tackled the keeper, he's running whole length of the field to tell the ref I should be sent off.

"Is it one rule for him and one rule for the rest of us? He needs to be a bit more humble. He's just a bit annoying. Just a bit annoying when it's like you’ve got two referees on the pitch. He's running up to the referees telling him what decisions make. I’ve never ever seen nothing like that."

Donovan's sole response to the comments came via his Twitter account.

"I'm confused, who is Luke Rogers?" Donovan tweeted on Monday. It's up for debate whether he spelled Rodgers' last name incorrectly on purpose.

The regular-season rematch between the Galaxy and Red Bulls is slated for Aug. 28 at Red Bull Arena.

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What do you think of the mini war of words? Think Rodgers was out of line considering he's only played against Donovan once? Does he have a point? What'd you make of Donovan's response? What did you think of Donovan's actions during the game?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I love how some English guy from the 2nd and 3rd divisions of England comes over here, talks trash about Landon Donovan and everyone is on his side. Especially when it is the pot calling the kettle black.

    This reminds me of when John Carver quit before getting fired. He complained about MLS on his way out. Because he was English, he was right. Yet, before he came to MLS, he was a nothing. And, since his return to England, he is still nothing.

    Prior to MLS, Luke Rodgers has been nothing. He has scored a couple of goals my Grandmother could have finished. If I was playing alongside Thierry Henry, I would look good too.

    F#@k Luke Rodgers! I would rather see Agudelo play than him.

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  2. If you want entertainment, watch how much vitriol and ridiculous statements This Guy spews whenever any RBNY story comes up. Oh yeah, “0 professionalism” ha what a freaking cartoon you are. Why don’t you google Henry inviting a Pennsylvania youth player to Red Bull Arena to talk to him after he heard the kid was told to go back to Africa on the field. There are some hearts of gold on this team.

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  3. “Luke, I’m your daddy,” Darth Donovan.

    Luke says he never see players hounding the officials in England. He either has missed Chelsea games for the past 10 years or he’s a liar.

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  4. Isn’t this guy from England? doesn’t he see what EPL players do to ref’s on a daily basis? Donovan’s antics towards refs, which I don’t particularly care for, are NOT outrageous compared to other professionals in the world….

    Now Donovan not shaking Henry’s hand after the game is lame. Henry took him out b/c after Donovan’s goal he was talking Sh!t to the entire Galaxy team, so he got touched up a bit. No big deal, and he shouldn’t have reacted like that…

    The twitter stuff was funny, but why is LD trying to big dog people??? Seriously, he’s great for this league, but honestly, who is LD??? I’m a huge fan of his, and think he would be a star in EPL, but he’s not, he hasn’t done it, and maybe never will. That’s not a knock on him, its just a fact.

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  5. Landon being whiny is in no way an indictment of his fighting spirit; he always gives it 100% and on that we are agreed.

    Anything can be rationalized but for most of us there is an indisputable fact that in many top divisions in the world, there is an unsavory element of elite players and coaches constantly screaming at officials and this is less common here. Yes, Landon and Bruce are two of the bigger culprits.

    When did I or anyone say that Landon is undeserving of our respect? He’s possibly the greatest American player of all time and has given me some great memories. Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba are worthy of respect as well but are certainly open to criticisms of some of their on field antics. I didn’t see LD doing any of this with Everton and I’m sure it has to do with the ego of being who he is in MLS.

    This isn’t some super serious issue, anyway. We have a player who is CLEARLY annoying and constantly yaps to get this team an edge (which is all good, but be ready for people to call you out on it even if the officials won’t do anything because of your stature) and another player who’s a big enough a-hole to call him out on it.

    I agree that refereeing in this league is a problem at times and disagree that Landon becoming a player/referee is doing the league a huge service or helping the cause one bit.

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  6. honestly, given that LD, for pretty much his entire career, has had people say, “who the F is Landon Donovan,” I’m kind of surprised he went to that level. and then there is always the “he plays in the same league as you” argument against LD’s comment.

    idk, i thought it was funny. but at the same time i think LD should have a little more respect to Henry. after scoring, dude went straight to him and said something.

    he says that’s his way to fire everyone up. but idk. and this coming from a Madrid/USA/LA fan.

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  7. Great to see Landon talking smack with Henry. Henry seems to enjoy the banter, but you can’t let him get away with those late step ons that he brings.

    Rodgers could play for another century and still be miles behind both players.

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  8. Agree with Jack. He should NOT be playing in Europe. He should play where he WANTS to play.

    He wants to play in MLS, where he lives, where he was born, not his fault MLS doesn’t measure up (according to Hopper, not me )

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  9. He is Landon when he is on the USMNT.

    He is Landycakes when is playing MLS.

    The guy needs to keep his mouth shut more. I know he’s the captain, but does he need to argue about a foul that Ricketts and Rodgers laughed off?

    Like someone said earlier, it’s pretty common knowledge that he’s a whiner. Wished he would focus more on the game and not on the ref.

    This whole “the refs are out to get us” excuse is starting to wear thin in my opinion.

    Can’t wait for Aug 28 in RBA.

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  10. This rivalry is GREAT for MLS as evidenced by this EPIC thread. Ives – Is this comment trail some kind of record for a non-USMNT related post?

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  11. rodgers is correct; ladycakes is a little girl and needs to have his arse kicked. i’m tired of the league and the officials bending over backwards for him, he is a diver and they always give him pk’s so he can run up his low goal totals cause he can’t score on his own. he is not as good as the uneducated americans think he is; his wife figured that out and left, now I wish he would do the same.

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  12. I’ve seen Donovan play live with and without the arm band. He whines every match. Everyone in the stadium groans when he does it. I thought this was common knowledge…..

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  13. It’s unfortunate, but you’re right — complaining to the referee is a part of professional sports. I wasn’t aware that Donovan complained to the referee more than the captains of other teams do. Frankly, I’m glad the Galaxy don’t surround the referee and all complain at once. I hate that. I’m okay with the captain talking to the ref. If the ref is sick of it, he knows what to do.

    I did laugh when Rodgers did his little ‘yak-yak-yak’ gesture to Donovan after the incident with the goalkeeper. That was hilarious. He should have left it at that. Calling Donovan a d—head and saying that he’s “never ever seen nothing like” Donovan’s complaining is just ridiculous. It makes it hard(er) to take Rodgers seriously.

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  14. Yep apples and apples comparison there…. Killing millions of people execution style is exactly the same as getting drunk and throwing firecrackers at someone….

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  15. Yeah except the officials who give bans to the managers….. Look at Furgie this year, he complained and the banned him for a few games, but your right no one cares in England.

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  16. In typical New York fashion, they have absolutely zero class in bringing scumbag thugs like Rodgers and Marquez to MLS. Add to that Hans Backe who cant even pretend to respect the league he earns his pay in and I cant avoid hating NY even if I wanted to. Landon has more class in his shoelace than Rodgers and Marquez combined.

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  17. Well Donovan was right about the offside call. NY’s goal should have been disallowed, as Rodgers was offside in the buildup and interfered with play that led directly to the goal. As a Galaxy fan I was ticked too.

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  18. I love this. Its perfect for the league. A great game played on Saturday night and now a little more tension thrown in and we could have a nice rivalry on our hands.

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  19. Someone above referred to Donovan as “a spoiled 12 year old girl”… if so I guess the positive thing to take away form all this is at least this time Rodgers only used METAPHORICAL fireworks on a little girl’s face.

    Reply

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