By FRANCO PANIZO
In the months leading up to his emotional retirement last year, Landon Donovan talked plenty about his desire to help the youth develop. Donovan not only wanted to prepare kids for what they could expect on the field, but also off it.
Now, he’s down in New Zealand doing just that with the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team.
Donovan was subtly and surprisingly revealed as a member of U.S. U-20 head coach Tab Ramos’ World Cup staff in recent weeks, popping up on U.S. Soccer’s posted videos on YouTube and images on social media. There was no announcement made beforehand, no forewarning, or any inkling, but there was the retired and legendary Donovan – or clips of him – smiling and talking to the next wave of American talent.
It might have come as a pleasant shock for most to see the 33-year-old Donovan as part of Ramos’ staff, but the move has been in the works for some time. Ramos has continuously invited retired U.S. Men’s National Team players, like Brad Friedel, to join his U-20 camps over the years in order to have the next crop of talent connect to the tradition of U.S. Soccer.
Ramos extended Donovan that invitation after the latter’s much-publicized retirement in December. Donovan eventually took a step forward and told Ramos that he’d love to come in for one of the camps to impart his wisdom on the prospects, and as a result the most accomplished player in U.S. history found himself in New Zealand.
“The fact that we were able to get somebody like Landon here, who’s the best player we’ve ever had, I think it’s incredibly inspiration for the players,” Ramos told SBI. “Landon is a good person and he came here purely to help any way he can. He spoke with a few of the players, and he’s just added to who we are, and so from that end I think it’s really been, truly, an excellent experience.”
Ramos insists that there is no defined role for Donovan at the U-20 World Cup. The former LA Galaxy attacker is simply another member of the group, one who talks to the players, discusses soccer, and helps remind them, just with his presence alone, how far they can go in their careers if they work hard.
Donovan transitioned from promising prospect to U.S. star in a short span. After winning the Golden Ball at the 1999 Under-17 World Championship, Donovan found himself on the Americans’ World Cup roster three years later as a 20-year-old forward. He shone in that tournament, and his career took off from there.
For Ramos, those experiences and the ones that followed make Donovan a perfect candidate to have in camp. Ramos is keen on bridging old and new generations of U.S. talent, and this is just his latest tactic to do that.
“Over the last 3-4 years that I’ve been head coach of the Under-20s, I’ve brought in a lot of different players because I want our players to connect to the tradition that we’ve had at U.S. Soccer,” said Ramos. “They’ve had past players’ (names) up on their walls in their rooms, they have pictures of our past players in our meal rooms.”
That Donovan is serving as a mentor of sorts to players like Gedion Zelalem, Emerson Hyndman, Rubio Rubin and Bradford Jamieson should not come as much of a surprise. Donovan stated repeatedly in interviews leading up to his retirement that he wanted to stay connected to the game after he hung up his cleats.
Coaching or at least teaching was always a real possibility for him, just not at the top level because of the amount of egos that you have to deal with.
“I can’t imagine a scenario where I won’t want to be involved to some extent – maybe not at the national team level – with developing younger kids and helping them,” Donovan said last October before playing in his final U.S. game. “Not just for what happens on the soccer field, but how you deal with the other stuff off the field, which handily would’ve helped me throughout my career. I look forward to that. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Donovan added in a later interview: “I would not want to have to deal with all the things head coaches have to deal with, but maybe youth teams. I don’t want to babysit, so maybe kids in the 16- to 17- to 18-year old range.”
Having someone as prestigious as Donovan in New Zealand may be a luxury, but Ramos sees it as part of the next step in U.S. Soccer’s development. Ramos himself used to be a U.S. Men’s National Team regular, and he believes it will only benefit the American cause to have more ex-players that competed at high levels around to nurture the next batch of youngsters.
Regardless of it is by serving as a coach like him or a consultant like Donovan.
“If we can find a combination of both, I think it’s an ideal scenario for our youth national teams,” said Ramos. “I would bet over the next few years there will be more and more players (finding post-playing roles), because we’re fortunate that we’ve had not only great players but we have players who have been educated. Some have college degrees and some have taken all their coaching licenses, so we need to take advantage of that.”
I wonder if they could get someone like Jozy to come out since he is injured. As a star national team member he might do some good too.
ROLF
I will never watch US soccer again as long as Klinsmann is involved.
Not even the women’s team?
drama much?
Jesus, every single topic on Landon just turns into a slugfest about Klinsmann. I really like Donovan, as a player and a person. I love the advocacy he brings to the game, a player’s personal life, and mental health. In fact, I think he would be a great social advocate for mental health awareness. Sometimes I get the feeling he’s a person who wants to live his life, while playing professional soccer, who happens to be damn good. And I respect that. He’s had a great career, and is an absolute legend in US soccer.
HOWEVER, Landon can’t just take off for a few months to go to Cambodia and expect to be right back where he was. I understand what he was doing, it’s something that impacts all of us as people, and that’s his personal choice to be happy. Yes, he worked his way back into the picture. But then he started to falter and didn’t do what the coach wanted him to do. A coach, no matter if it’s JK, has every right to leave a player off of his/her roster if they are not adhering to the system that’s currently in place. Donovan could not be at %100 every practice, he said that. Unfortunately that’s just the reality of things, and it’s no knock on Donovan. If a player can’t contribute their all in the workplace, day in and day out, in training, then most coaches won’t include that player in their final roster. It’s not worth getting upset about.
The fact that Landon would’ve made this team so much better is shear speculation. I have no idea whether he would’ve made the team better or worse. All I know is that he did not do what was required for this assignment so the boss didn’t include him. That’s why it’s pointless to get worked up about this whole thing. I’m just glad he’s back in the fold and happy with the direction of his life.
This is too long to read.
Your mom is too long to read.
I suspect you are missing the real point. I hate agreeing with Ray Hudson, but in this case I do. Donovan’s service to the national team earned him a place on the World Cup squad even if he only carried the ball bag to practice. That the current coach failed to grasp that suggests a certain lack of class and smarts.
Ian Woodville,
So you are suggesting Donovan deserved to be named to the World Cup team regardless of what he could or could not contribute on the field?.
As long as he’s ball bag fit, all other things being equal you’ve got to give him the nod
Absolutely. The guy is the greatest (male) player in US soccer history and a great guy, someone all his teammates respect and the fans love. A class organization knows how to honor and respect the people who have made real contributions and putting Donovan on the WC squad was the right way to do that.
In any case, the 25th best player on a WC roster doesn’t actually do much more than carry the ball bag. So honoring Donovan would not have cost anything and, at the risk of re-starting a stale argument, Donovan was still capable of contributing on the field, maybe not every game or for 90 minutes, but something. And as I understand it, all the players in camp expected him to be on the team. Everyone wants to make the team, but I doubt that anyone who was familiar with US soccer would have been put out if he lost his place to Donovan.
Ian Woodville,
If Ian Woodville was manager of the USMNT and wanted to carry LD as a passenger on the roster in the way you describe I would have had no issue with it.
However, I would ask you in your role as manager, to consider the following criticisms that would surely follow:
Chances are the 23rd spot will go unused. But what if you have to use that player? Injuries are hardly unheard of in World Cups. Are you doing your job if you take any player that you don’t really believe will do the job for you?
LD did all his great things for the USMNT before you got the job. Since you have been hired, he has done everything to indicate he will only play for you if it is under his terms.
He played well in the Gold Cup but he was not alone on that team and his performance was just okay for a man of his talents and accomplishments.
You don’t audition for a super sub role by being an average starter.
There is this idea that Landon is a saint and that all the USMNT players view Landon as a god who has been kind enough to grace them with his presence. There is some evidence that this is not exactly the case:
http://worldsoccertalk.com/2009/07/15/landon-donovan-troubling-signs-of-immaturity-reappear/
You are the new guy. You want a young hungry aggressive team full of guys who would run through a brick wall to get a chance to play.
You picked Holden for the Gold Cup even though he had to be clearly rusty because more than just about anyone in recent memory he has proven that he would run through a wall for a chance to get on the field. Talk about desire.
You recycled DMB because even though he said he did not want to, he made himself into a good left back because his team needed him and he wanted to play in the World Cup.
You picked Howard because even though he was under siege at Everton with a new manager and with Brad Guzan finally mounting a serious challenge for the US job, he had the fire to fight off both challenges and play maybe the best he ever has.
You picked Clint Dempsey who went through a difficult but ultimately useful loan at Fulham to help himself round back into form for the World Cup.
These were all BB vets who knocked themselves out, did something tangible to show you, the new guy, that they had the fire, that they wanted to be part of the team.
And yet you give a free pass to a guy who is unwilling or unable to make any sort of similar gesture and clearly wants things only his way?
You are such a wussy.
.
DMB forced you into making him a starter at left back but LD just wants to ease himself into a super sub role? That’s a true demonstration of desire. Instead of negotiating a settlement for a sub role wouldn’t LD make more of an impression on you by screaming he should be a starter and only go kicking and screaming to the sub role?
Abby Wambach will tell you she thinks she should start and it kills her not to but that she will do whatever the team needs. That isn’t exactly what LD said.
You are the manager. It’s your team now and going forward. If you don’t believe this guy is on board with the program why are you enabling this entitled, privileged, royalty act?
Like I said, I’d be okay with you, Ian Woodville, USMNT manager, taking LD to Brazil as a passenger but don’t be surprised at the criticism if you do.
Wow, I can see why you identify with our current coach. Verbosity united!
Having been a coach, I know you have to live with criticism. But, why take Donovan? Because as someone who understands US soccer, I know that the players and fans respect him, that he has been important to the national team for several cycles, that his presence signals that I respect the team’s history and undoubted accomplishments, that he believes he can contribute (otherwise why did he come out for the team ) and that I know he can still contribute something on the field in the right situations. I also understand that, if you imagine that Donovan is the last player chosen, that the player he displaces is unlikely to contribute anything much. (If I recall at least one player on the WC roster did not appear in any game despite all the injuries.)
It is certainly true that the current coach seems to believe that, before his arrival, US soccer was a shambles, full of unfit, un-motivated players and so on. But the rest of us realize that he is delusional on this score, that, if anything, teams under his two predecessors over-achieved, that given the limited soccer infrastructure in the USA, their teams did remarkably well in the WC.
“the rest of us”
Speak for yourself.
The people who run the team did not agree with you and chose to hire someone to change the previous culture.
So obviously, status quo was not acceptable to them..
You like to live in the past and see it as Landon and the USMNT .
To me it is just the USMNT.
I was being generous about people’s ability to grasp reality. Nonetheless you make an important point. It does appear that USSF and Gulati don’t really understand where the US stands regarding international soccer. It is likely that they thought that Bradley (and Arena?) had not achieved enough and that they needed to bring in some wunderkind from overseas to get things right. Sadly, they are mistaken. First you have to engage with the fact that the soccer infrastructure in the US remains rudimentary. (England with a population 1/4 the size of the US has over 80 full-time professional clubs; the US has 30+?.) Second you have to accept the fact that recent national teams have done well in the WC — qualifying in every WC and several times getting into the single elimination competition. More than a few countries with bigger programs would be happy to have done as well in the WC itself. So even if you thought that Bradley had done as much as he could, it was no time to panic. The US had made good progress and needed to build on it, not act like the whole setup was a mess.
Ian Woodville,
Obviously, you have not been following the USMNT for very long. Had you been on SBI or any other website during the BB years most of you wanted BB burned at the stake and most of you were creaming in your pants when JK took over.
Your hindsight wisdom is about 5 years too late.
What’s your point? Sure, Bradley had lots of critics; I was never one of them. In fact,I have watched almost every USMNT game that counted since before the days of Bora. And, not that it matters, I have been saying all along that Gulati was in over his head.
I’m not missing the real point at all. Saying Donovan’s service to the USMNT over the years made him deserving of a world cup spot is giving someone who has felt entitled complete seniority and a certain level of privilege above other players. The fact is he did not do what the coach wanted him to do, the same as any workplace. Seniority corrupts any team, any office, anything that is supposed to function and get things done effectively. A true team player should never expect to walk into a situation where he does not have to put in as much work as other players during training and expect to still be the good old boy. Again, I respect Landon and I really wanted to see what he could do in the WC, but if he should’ve expected the consequences of not training at the level required of him.
I think you are getting sucked into the current coach’s warped personality. He picked a public fight with Donovan because it always has been about Jurgen, not about anyone else.
public fight? he challenged him early then eventually left him off the team. happens every wc cycle by every coach. the outcome was never ultimately in donovan’s hands.
Where do you come up with this stuff? Do you know him personally? This is one of the greatest soccer players of all time here, someone who has won a world cup. Why would he have a grudge against one of his own players? And a player who, he brought on loan to the last team he coached, to much criticism.
Donovan showed up fat to camp and said he didn’t want to train. It was simple.
And that’s exactly the mentality that Klinsmann is trying to change.
I don’t think you’d ever see a serious coach in any sport make a statement like that. And there are plenty of examples of coaches calling up and giving starting roles to players based solely on their reputation (especially if it is greater than that of the coach) leading to epic failures. It happens all of the time, even to players in their prime. Look at how much Barcelona improved in Guardiola’s first season because he kicked Ronaldinho out and made all of the players train hard.
Klinsmann philosophy is based on fitness and drive and Donovan didn’t have either. He is a firm believer in the power of psychology and didn’t want that type of personality in the locker room. Most of us got over it real quick after we were tremendous in the World Cup, but a lot of people are still angry about a foreigner excluding our most popular player and spam the internet with vitriolic anti-Klinsmann posts in every thread on the USNT.
So under Klinsmann we can expect more of the Wondo and Brad Davis hard working type players in the team? While more skilled players never really get a shot? Kind of seems to ring true.
Who are these “skilled players” that never get a shot?
El Nino, Spray Dan and Hat Trick Rick
Klinsmann Jr. must be quivering in his room reading these news in his pink covered ipad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-r17ecUssQ
Cool little video out of the U20 guys, you see LD there but he doesn’t really say anything
must be a show out of New Zealand
Donovan is getting laid left and right in New Zealand.
good to see him around, and in NZ.
if he is staying in shape can we add him as an overage player to the Olympic side? kidding.. kinda..
every year we seem to be building more in youth ranks, national pool, coaches, front office, tv all over.
This story makes me happy. Full Stop.
Only in America does a player who played in a glorified Division 2 is called an all time great; shows how low the standard is. If he was so great at Everton, they would have broken the bank for him like they did with Yak and Fellaini. But they didn’t because he was ordinary. What you call special, I call regular. No wonder we have never won shit in men’s football. No wonder Mexican clubs still dominate the regional in Champions League. All time great in a league that players can’t dribble to save their ass and defending is horrible; in the land of the blind the one eyed will be king any day. Where is Clint Dempsey, now that’s a baller – carried a mid table club to Europa League finals. He didn’t come home crying that Europe was too hard. He wasn’t entitled.
….and here are some free tickets for my next seminar.
Keeping the bar low.
My years as an American Soccer Star.
Foreword by Jozy Altidore.
LOL
So Landon is one of those parents who used to rock back in the day and now won’t leave the next generation alone, and he wears his high school state championship ring still and reminds anyone about that last play of the game where he became a hero, and everyone now feels sorry for him because he sells insurance and his only happiness in life is thinking he’s making a difference on these kids who are forced to act impressed by him to make him feel good.
#LandonDonovanIsBasicallyTimRiggins
#FridayNightLights
#He’sAJoke
#ButThanksForTheAlgeriaGoal
#StopCallingUpWondo
I’m fairly certain any insurance selling he will be doing will earn him more in a day on set than you or I could bring in over years of work. I assume you’ve heard of Hat-Trick Rick….
That is really reaching to try to turn this into some kind of negative. And speaking in hashmarks just makes you look foolish. Please refer to responses to Daywalker.
Landon Donovan is like the Babe Ruth of US soccer, only with a better reputation. He’s the best to ever play the sport for the US and has earned the right to do whatever he wants regarding the sport and won’t be troubled by the opinions of know nothings.
so Ryan, do you feel the same way about any athlete that retires and still helps with the youth in that sport?
Davis, Lennon, Observer & Associates I’m glad you asked that….The answer is yes. Athletes shouldn’t hang out with the youth of that sport. I believe as an American I have the right to not explain my thinking. I leave the rest of my time to the floor, thanks your honor
“I believe as an American I have the right to not explain my thinking”
Lot of that going around these days…
Yeah, mainly in FIFA though
Pretty sure Donovan didn’t win the Golden Ball at the 1999 tournament… I’m showing Seydou Keita from Mali did. http://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup/archive/nigeria1999/awards/index.html
And I’m pretty sure you’re looking at the wrong tournament (u20). LD won the golden ball at the u17 tournament.
Boom.. busted by my own lack of reading the right age group
Now, gimme twenty!
Since LD is no longer playing and pretty much out of the headlines, I’m guessing this will be a LD haters wet dream type of scenario where they can get that last parting shot in (yes, I’m referring to Daywalker)! This is a great thing for a player of that level , his wisdom and experience at all levels of US Soccer can only do wonders for those kids in this position
One of the most remarkable developments in US soccer and in the US national team in particular is the focus on the coach. Hardly any discussion can occur without, rather quickly, turning into a debate about the current coach. I really doubt that this is a healthy development now and especially in the long run. Coaches come and go. Some of us believe that the coach has remarkably little impact on a team’s chances of winning (the abilities of the players being much more important). The long term success of US soccer depends most heavily on factors a coach can’t control. But yet the personality and approach of the current coach have served to focus an amazing amount of attention on him.
i agree w/ your points generally, Ian, except to add that head coaches make the final decisions on who to bring into camps and who to actually give playing time. 1 or 2 key decisions leading up to or during a world cup often can factor heavily in a program’s development.
It is not that national team coaches have no impact. Winning might help “development” in the sense of popularity and public acceptance, but “development” in the sense of future successes has very little to do with the decisions of any one national team coach.
The current incumbent, it must be said, has wider responsibilities. What impact he will have in that area will not be apparent for some time.
The coach has a direct impact on a teams ability to win through his selection of players, the formation of a “system” in which the team plays, and through player substitutions (in game tactics).
While the US may not have the “Star” player(s) that other nations have our player pool has improved by leaps and bounds in regards to the Technical and Tactical understanding of the game over the past 20 years. As long as our players retain the US Identity of hard work and team chemistry….the continued progress in the technical and tactical aspects of the game will help the US team continue to advance.
All true, and your point is?
As I have noted before, I have been a sports fan for 60 years and have followed baseball, basketball, football and soccer. At different times I have followed each sport closely. Never I have seen a coach’s words so parsed, reviewed, analyzed, and torn apart as has been the case with Klinsmann. Also, when a coach makes a decision on who to play, rarely have a seen such debate as happens with Klinsmann. I have certainly seen a lot of controversial coaches and people urging certain coaches fired, but that is usually when results don’t measure up to expectations based on ability of players available. Never have I seen such involvement/debate by fans over minutia of coaching like what formation the coach selects, and so on as with Klinsmann. Maybe it’s a feature of the internet age,that everybody and his grandmother has to voice an opinion, but US soccer fans are often unrealistic.
This….a million times!
What is realistic and unrealistic is a matter of opinion. You have yours, others have theirs. Your opinion of what is realistic is very convenient for Jurgen Klinsmann, lets just leave it at that.
“I have certainly seen a lot of controversial coaches and people urging certain coaches fired, but that is usually when results don’t measure up to expectations” —> so since you have seen it before Gary, why are you surprised that it is happening right now with Klinsmann? Klinsmann came in with a lot of hype and made a lot of promises. He has not delivered on those promises so far. I believe that is exactly what you described above, “results don’t measure up to expectations”.
What were your expectations then going into this World Cup? To win? That is the only result that has mattered thus far under Klinsmann. The Gold Cup matters this year only insofar as it will qualify us for the Confederations Cup. In International soccer the only results that matter are the major tournaments and so far, Klinsmann has met expectations at every major tournament we have participated in imo.
I totally disagree with this – the Gold Cup is our continental championship and its importance has precisely nothing to do with the Confederations Cup, which is an overblown, fairly new, and ultimately pointless FIFA money spinner.
The Gold Cup is to Concacaf what the Euros are to UEFA or the Copa America is to South America. Do you think people who win those tournaments care about winning them because they’ll get to play in the Confederations Cup?
slowleftarm,
“Do you think people who win those tournaments care about winning them because they’ll get to play in the Confederations Cup?”
The USSF does. Actions speak louder than words.
In 2007, since they could not send their A team to both they chose to send their “B” team to Copa America because winning that Gold Cup, which got the A team, meant entry to the Confederations Cup.
In 2009, Confederations Cup qualifying was not an issue and the US sent their “B” team.
In 2011, Confederations Cup qualifying was again an issue so they sent the “A” team again and they got humiliated by Mexico and got BB fired.
In 2013, winning the Gold Cup meant only that you qualified for a playoff game to qualify for the Confederations Cup so it was kind of a halfway thing and what the US and Mexico sent was sort of halfway between their A and their B teams.
The Gold Cups before the World Cups have always been treated as B team tournaments because the Hex is played that year too.
In 2007 I think they prioritized the Gold Cup because a) it’s our continental championship and b) we could realistically win it (and did) while we couldn’t win Copa America.
I feel like the continental championships have value in their own right well beyond qualification for the Confederations Cup, which I don’t really rate that highly. I know others disagree with me on the value of the Confederations Cup though.
The primary importance of the Confederations Cup is that it is held in the same country and in some of the same stadiums that the World Cup will held in the following year.
It is hard to imagine a better dress rehearsal for the World Cup or maybe you don’t see that?
slowleftarm,
As I said, actions speak louder than words.
From Bob Bradley:
__________________________
On whether he or U.S. Soccer views either tournament as more important than the other, and its impact on the roster:
“It’s a difficult question. I think our answer in the past has always tilted towards the idea that the Gold Cup, given that it’s the championship of our region and it also gives the opportunity to play in the Confederations Cup—the winner plays in the Confederations Cup in the summer of 2009 in South Africa—perhaps holds a little bit more weight. When we say that, however, we certainly all know and understand the history and significance of Copa America. We are absolutely set on trying to compete at the highest levels in both events. We’ve had to take into account so many different factors in putting these two rosters together and our goal all along was to have the two best groups ready to go.”
Ok great, we’ve won the only Gold Cup Klinsmann has coached in so where has he failed to meet expectations?
Personally, I don’t agree that he’s failed to meet expectations but he hasn’t exceeded them either (and winning a B team Gold Cup doesn’t do much for me, the one coming up is a different story). His results are comparable to previous, far less heralded, coaches.
To me, his personal style is grating and condescending, his roster selections often puzzling and his tactics facile. I think we could do better but it would cost a lot more too.
“Ok great, we’ve won the only Gold Cup Klinsmann has coached in…”
(Thanks in large part to Landon Donovan. I still have his hat trick game on my DVR and watch it every few months. Carry on.)
UBG,
The question then is whose expectations are more realistic, yours or Gary Page’s?
GW, well that depends on:
1) What exactly are Gary’s expectations and what are mine?
2) Who is judging those expectation?
I won’t even bother going any further with this because we all know that the hardcore Jurgen fans on this site will side with Gary no matter what, and the one’s that aren’t Klinsmann fans will side with me.
I will say this though, I judge Klinsmann on what he said he would do. For example, Klinsmann said he would get the team to play a attractive/proactive style of soccer and he hasn’t. So I say he hasn’t reached the expectation. Gary ignores Klinsmann’s own words and would say something like “well what do you expect, Klinsmann can only do so much with the player pool he has”. That’s what I mean by having convenient expectations for Klinsmann.
You just nailed it dead on brother. GW and those who think like him will always make excuses. We could be eliminated in the group phase or round of 16 in 2018 and they will still find a way to applaud Jk. And for those who say the Gold Cup doesn’t matter i guess the 5-0 b slapping by Mexico in 2009 or the 4-2 ass whooping by Mexico in 2011 didn’t matter to them.
UBG,
Point out to me where Klinsmann said he would get the team to play that way. What I read said he was going to try for that style.
Very big difference.
I think the analysis is more than you see from American sports fans in other sports but it’s par for the course among soccer fans worldwide. You’ve never heard soccer fans debate which formation a team should use? That isn’t “minutia” that’s a pretty fundamental decision that fans are going to have opinions about. A national team manager’s player selections are always going to be debated. That’s part of being a fan and I can’t see why anyone would want that to go away.
It is true that soccer fans around the world spend inordinate amounts of time debating the fate of their national teams. In that regard, the US may, in fact, have some way to go to catch up to the rest.
My point was, however, that so much of the talk about the US team is about the coach. This is after all a thread about the US’s greatest male player (Mia Hamm is the greatest American soccer player ever) and yet everyone is seemingly happy arguing about the coach.
My view is that the coach’s chronic verbal dysentery and persistent narcissism has got us to this point. His every word, and there are a lot of them, reinforce his view that this is all about him and not about the team or the players or whatever. Frankly, I find it a major turn-off and I have to wonder when the players will feel the same way and stop listening (or maybe they already have). Nearly all coaches begin to repeat themselves after a while and lose their locker rooms. The same fate surely awaits our current coach, hopefully later rather than sooner.
No disrespect, because I think it is a decent and well-stated point, but I think the truth we will see in the long-term is that there will always be some poisonous topic that runs the threads as we become a bigger soccer country.
JK likes to talk. It makes for polarizing stories, same as it does with Mourinho, etc. It’d great fodder for comment boards, and the media eats it right up because it makes their lives simple.
But when he leaves (and he will one day, so everybody can relax….), do we really all imagine it will be “sunshine and lollipops” like it is with the Women’s team (mostly)?
Looking around at other top soccer countries, as well as more prominent American sports, I’d call it unlikely. As expectations grow, so will polarization. Hopefully it never gets as bad as our national politics, which have a zero percent chance of producing a leader who is reviled by any less than 48% of the audience.
I really like Ramos’s approach to coaching.
As much as I would like to see him coach an MLS team or the senior team, this is a great spot for him. Hopefully he grows with this group and coaches them or some of them at the next Olympics.
Odds that Klinisi would bring in previous players? I don’t think so. Klinismann would want all the credit and wouldn’t want a bigger figure head than him on the training ground.
Except did you see how he already does this (Bocanegra for one) and this seems to be something that he has pushed for at all levels.
Forgot about that. I take back what I said.
“Odds that Klinisi would bring in previous players? I don’t think so.”
Funny, I thought Tab Ramos was a former player brought in by Klinsmann. You might also want to look up Andy Herzog’s resume.
Or Berti Vogts or Tom Dooley or several others.
or Kasey Keller 🙂
Somewhere, Joel Klinsmann is sweating his future with the USMNT… LD’s long game is just beginning
That’s funny. Does this make LD “Littlefinger?” And JK Jr. “King Joeffrey?”
Who is Joel Klinsman? Do you mean Jonathan? If you, as an adult, are going rag on some 17/18 yr old kid for a mistaken off-hand comment he made at 16/17, then go ahead. I get when grown men jump all over kids who play sports.
I think people bring that up as evidence that JK had a personal grudge against LD and that his roster decision was based on that grudge rather than who was best suited to play in Brazil. Not that additional proof is needed given who JK selected instead of LD.
There was never any evidence of a personal grudge.
Landon quit soccer, he was allowed back into the fold, and then he showed up to a friendly two and a half months before the World Cup with a beer gut and then publicly made comments about how he couldn’t train 100% anymore. Klinsmann puts a huge amount of emphasis on fitness and desire and so it was a pretty obvious decision. He also believes very strongly in the power of psychology, and he figured it would have been better for the team chemistry to have Davis and Wondo on the bench, who were thrilled to be there, rather than an aging former star who would have been very upset at not playing 90 every match.
Even if you didn’t agree with the decision that doesn’t mean there is any reason to believe in conspiracy theories.
“an aging former star who would have been very upset at not playing 90 every match.”
OK, you identify with the current coach but you really need to confine yourself to things you actually know rather than imagine. In fact, Donovan said, if I recall correctly, that he did not expect to play all the time. And nothing about Donovan’s history as a player suggests that he is anything but a good teammate
The notion that the current coach brought a new emphasis on fitness and desire to the national team is true only in the current coach’s imaginings. In fact, about the only positive things that many European soccer pundits say about the US team is that it is always fit, plays hard and plays well as a team. And better yet the “new” “better” fitness methods the current coach allegedly introduced to the German national team and Bayern (and presumably to the US team) were developed and implemented by Americans.
It’s obvious to anyone that is familiar with Klinsmann that he places a big emphasis on fitness and psychology. What does the fact that Americans have played a big role in sports science have to do with anything? Klinsmann brought in an American fitness coach at Bayern. He is well aware of this. The issue is that even if you are American, you still have to be match fit (at least that’s Klinsmann’s philosophy). Your comments about fitness being an “American” thing suggest that what bothers you is that a foreigner is in charge.
And as far as Donovan goes, the comments he made after not making the final squad are pretty obvious. He felt entitled to a place on the team whether he was fit or not, and my guess is that this attitude is why Klinsmann decided to leave him behind. JK places a big emphasis on psychology and team spirit and strongly believes that no individual is bigger than the team, and my guess is that he preferred having a Wondo or a Davis on the bench than someone with a sense of entitlement. Of course this is just speculation, but it makes much more sense than the theory that LD was excluded because of a “grudge.”
Every coach cares about fitness and team spirit. The assertion was that this was something that the current coach brought to the American program. That is, I would suggest,complete nonsense. Being really fit has been a hallmark of US teams since before Arena, some times the only thing they had going for them.
Ian Woodville,
“The assertion was that this was something that the current coach brought to the American program. That is, I would suggest,complete nonsense.”
No it is not.
Every new manager brings their own way of doing things. JK is asking these players to play and do things differently from the previous administration so the fitness levels required are different.
And of course the players will be different so the team spirit will be different from the way it was under BB.
There were more entitled, “undroppable” players under Arena and BB.
http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1679/us-national-team/2011/06/27/2549762/united-states-star-midfielder-landon-donovan-declines-to
In the present situation no one takes their place for granted and that makes a difference, a big one.
The other coaches placed an emphasis on this, and Klinsmann does as well, which makes him a very good fit for the program. But he is MUCH more willing to drop players than Coach Bruce and Coach Bob were. And Klinsmann put his job on the line for this…had we not made it out of the group (of death), everyone would have blamed it on the Donovan decision and he would have been fired.
Donovan always was and always will be a class act. It’s great that he is willing to spend time with the younger players and I hope he finds a permanent role in soccer that taps his considerable intelligence and experience.
100% agreed. The guy is absolute class.
Thank you, Landon. You deserve a ton of credit for USA soccer success over the last 10 years.
What knowledge is he going to give them? Hey boys if it gets tough in Europe give up; I did it. Look at how I failed in Germany twice with Bayer Leverkusen and ran home crying both times. I had “illustrious loan spells” at Everton which the club never turned into a permanent move. If I’m anyone of those kids with any decent common sense, I’ll stay away from is advice. Give me a Clint Dempsey any day, that I’ll listen to.
Wow, looks like Klinsmann now posts on this site!
You forgot to mention he could give advice on how to become the all time leading goal scorer in league and for country.
That is weird you would leave that off. Fairly well known.,
You also forgot to mention the advice he could give on how to become the all time leading assists in league and for country ( triple every other player except Cobi on the nat team )
You probably didn’t realize those things. You wouldn’t have left them off to make a weak post stronger. Would you? Anyway, now you know, so you can have a more balance post next time.
+1
+2
Um, no. That would be Abby Wambach.
Yep. Stank it up at Everton. NOT. I will never forget how he repeatedly schooled an in-form Ashley Cole and sat him on his a$$ in a victory over Chelsea. One of LD’s many many finest moments.
During the 2010 loan spell, most games he was Everton’s best player. In 2012, he had maybe declined a little but was still very good. He could have had a long successful career in England and he would’ve earned a lot more money had he done so. He didn’t want to and he didn’t owe it to anyone to try to play there, or anywhere else.
Let’s see…make millions playing in MLS, live in a beach house in LA….
…OR….deal with goshawful English weather, and the psychotic English press.
Honestly, LD would have been crazy to give up the security and lifestyle he had with the Galaxy. When you’re already in a great situation, and are cemented as America’s darling and the face of both MLS and American soccer besides, why GO anywhere?
I wouldn’t. It’s a great job if you can get it…and LD owed it to nobody to give that up to go “test” himself. He did “test” himself, actually…on those two loan spells, and did quite well, especially, as pointed out, in 2010. And on both occasions, his loan spell resulted in a huge winning streak for the Toffees. They crushed EVERYBODY in 2010 once he arrived…which was why the Everton crowd was chanting “USA! USA! USA!”
I will say he got a little fat and complacent there at the end and was in wretched form right as selection time rolled around for the World Cup (bad timing, there, Landycakes), but I also won’t agree with anybody who bashes what he did accomplish. The guy was America’s best soccer player…for years.
He did very well, but they DID not crush everyone when he was there in 2010.
Looks like while he was there they won 9, drew 2 and lost 2 in the PL, although they did go out of the FA Cup and Europa League. That includes wins over Chelsea and Man U as well as two wins against Man City.
Obviously, that’s not all down to Donovan but the team certainly played well while he was there.
lol. calling him fat is like calling me skinny. he wasn’t. I’m not.
In fact, in a 50/50 challenge he broke Cole’s leg. However, when the US played England in the 2010 WC, LD wasn’t much of a factor and I think Cole must have done a good job of marking him.
Day Walker!
I know what the onset of Alzheimer’s is like as s I watched several family members tackle it and I think it’s time for an exam.
I don’t think you remember that LD was only about 16/17 when he joined BL. The fact that he made their first team a few years later and played in Bundisliga matches as well as Champinons League matches must have escaped your attention. Don’t forget that it was the MLS that paid a princely sum to get him back. This was because there was more than one Bundisliga team and more than one European team willing to take a chance on him at that time. Lets not forget that the MLS made him the Leagues highest paid player and refused to sell him to Everton, who had tendered several offers, as he was the Leagues ONLY “DP” at the time and Everton (and more than a rew EPL teams) wanted him badly
You may have missed as It was explained that, LD was the “star” and “face” of the MLS and they would keep him here because of that. This was all before Beckham and the DP.
You don’t remember that?
If you watched him in the 2002 WC take on the Portugese and Germans’s best. you could see that is the stars aligned it would have been Donovan and the US in the semi’s.
You don’t remember that?
He may have not made his mark in the Bundisliga, but the Germans saw him as a very good player. But sometimes the “away” of being away can upset the confidence of a young man. But grown up, he lit up, Everton and their competitors, the Arsenals, the Man U’s, The Chelsea’s and he played out-of-position. He played only a few games as a forward, but some as a no 10, but, because of his pace and passing, was set on the wings were he terrorized the EPL’s best fullbacks….and you didn’t see that!!! You don’t remember that?
But apparently you put down your glasses., and your vision, and could not see America’ best in his prime, terrorizing the World’s best, in the WC and the EPL.
His stay was short, yes, but well remembered by the British press and especially Everton fans who still hold him as their own. But of course, you don’t remember that.
And yes, the MLS was selfish with him, they needed him, they were building a football League in the richest economic country in the world and there was a price to pay, and Donovan paid hit with a glad heart. But you don’t remember that
Before there was a Beckham or Dempsey, or Altidore, Giovinco,or Lampard or Gerrard there was only one, Landon Donovan.
And if their was a single person that I would want to part words with the young athletes put in my charge, there would be only one…Landon Donovan. Remember That.
Excellent! I applaud your compassion for the obvious and sad memory loss by DayWalker.
However, perhaps he’s just having fun, throwing some petrol onto the embers that still burn in so many football fans here in the US that admire LD. Either way, LD’s track record and legacy is sealed, and I will state that it is likely his ommision to last year’s WC team only helped his legacy – he would not have made a positive difference on that team, I am sure of that.
Skywardo, I don’t understand why you think LD “would not have made a positive difference on the [World Cup] team.” In the year before the World Cup, Donovan was still creating goal-scoring opportunities twice as often as any of the players who went to Brazil. If he had been available to combine with Dempsey et al., particularly after Altidore went down, his creativity might well have produced some additional team goals over the four games we played. At the very least, we would have gotten out of the group with a greater margin of error.
Advocate,
That is speculation on your part.
Neither you nor Skywardo will ever be able to prove their point either way on this topic.
I think it’s a matter of statistical fact, not mere opinion, that in the year or two prior to the World Cup selection Donovan continued to create goal-scoring opportunities at twice the rate of any of the players picked to go to Brazil. That being so, it’s not unreasonable to speculate that additional goals might well have been scored had he been on the field creating (on average) at least twice the goal-scoring opportunities as the man he replaced. Yes, GW, it’s just my opinion. I can’t prove it. But why should I have to? And, in any event, the fact that I can’t prove it doesn’t mean I’m wrong.
“And, in any event, the fact that I can’t prove it doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”
Like I said neither you nor Skywardo can prove anything.
Great players having great years sometimes just fall right off a cliff and disappear in the World Cup and unknown players sometimes come out of the blue to do great things.
This is basically a he said/ he said debate.
Sometimes people will include his stay at Bayern Munich as a failure, too. He was second string there, and I can’t remember who the starters were, but I do remember this. Joining LD on the bench art that time at Bayern was Miroslav Klose, one of the best strikers in German history who was just past the prime of his career and would have started almost everywhere else. That’s how good that Bayern team was up top.
Are you saying LD’s loan at Bayern was a success?
For a very long time now Bayern’s first team has often featured some of the best players in the world and a lot of them. Certainly more so than Everton. What is the point of going to Bayern if you don’t think you can play with these big boys?
And remember it was JK who brought him in. So obviously both LD and JK thought LD had what it takes to make an impact.
If you call what happened with LD there a success I’d be curious to know what you call a failure?
I’d say it was a draw.
Trolololololo.
DayWalker – Since everyone that replied to you has already made your their bitch, i’ll just leave it that
LD for new FIFA President!
he said he didn’t want to babysit
LD Baby
!!!!!!
(hit send on accident)
This is the first I’ve heard of Donovan with the U-20’s. Good on him. Always had it in the back of my mind that the new league in India would make a push to have him come out of retirement for their 12 game season or whatever they have.