Roughly a year removed from his retirement, Landon Donovan has watched from afar as the U.S. Men’s National Team has struggled in recent months.
After limping through this summer’s Gold Cup en route to a fourth-place finish, the U.S. squandered a chance to go to the Confederations Cup with a CONCACAF Cup loss to Mexico. The pair of losses have sent many into panic mode, while others question where exactly the U.S. sits on a global scale.
Looking in from the outside, Donovan insists that nothing has changed since the team advance through the Group of Death at last summer’s World Cup. At the end of the day, many of the players are the same, but there is just a bit lacking when it comes to chemistry and flow.
“Obviously I talk to a lot of the players still but I think what’s probably happened is there’s a little too much inconsistency within the team and the players in terms of who’s playing,” Donovan told Goal USA. “When you come from your club team you play one way and when you come to a national team, it’s inevitable that you’re going to play a different way based on what the coach thinks or based on other players you’re playing with, so you need some semblance of continuity and the ability to get to know the people around you.
“I think there’s just been a little too much mixing and matching of players and positions. Our players are definitely good enough and they know they’re good enough but I think they need to be put in positions to succeed and then have some time to jell together.”
Donovan went on to state his belief that Clint Dempsey should be a focal point as the team heads into World Cup qualifying.
Recently, Dempsey was left off of Jurgen Klinsmann’s World Cup qualifying roster, as the USMNT prepared to face St. Vincent and the Grenadines as well as Trinidad & Tobago. In favor of younger and more inexperienced options, Dempsey was left behind, which is something Donovan says he does not necessarily agree with.
“Only Jurgen really knows that or maybe Clint but if I’m the manager, I want Clint to be part of what we’re doing – period, end of story,” Donovan said. “Maybe if it’s a friendly game that’s different and you can start to look at other players but in a World Cup qualifier, there’s no room for error. This round of qualifying on paper isn’t as difficult as the final round of qualifying but there are only six games. If you throw away a game or two games you might not even advance to the next round.
“I didn’t agree with it. I think most of the U.S. soccer community didn’t agree with it. But it is what it is. Clint accepted it and did a good job at least publicly of dealing with it, but I would still want him on my team. If I’m a guy in that camp, I’m saying ‘I want Clint on this team.’”
What do you think of Donovan’s comments? Agree with his points? Would you have included Dempsey?
Share your thoughts below.
Ovan is sounding like those women’s NT players who still expect to get called up when they are pushing 40
Donovan does himself no favors when he talks about the national team, as it looks like sour grapes. Get over it, man. No matter how much you puff, what is done is done. Time to move on.
Actually, if you look at FIFA ranking as of June, 2014, Ghana was not the top rated African squad. The were ranked fourth among African nations behind Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, and Egypt. And during the WC, they were mostly preoccupied with getting their bonuses, not soccer. Portugal, with half-fit Ronaldo, was nowhere near the team it could be. There is a reason why Belgium so thoroughly dominated the US in the round of 16, while Algeria gave Germany quite a run for their money.
And Germany won the whole thing and destroyed host Brazil so is Algeria better than Brazil. Yes, Ronaldo was injured and Pepe went nuts, but CR at half his best was still better than most of the players at the tournament and the US was without Altidore and Johanson. There wasn’t a tougher group at the WC sorry, equal maybe but not any tougher.
Again, look at the games of the round of 16. US performance against Belgium was as big of an embarassment as I’ve seen in many years. It it wasn’t for Howard, the score could’ve easily been approaching the double digits.
And look at how tough Algeria played Germany, attacking, creating many chances (to remind, the US didn’t have a single shot on goal and not a single threat till the 90th minute against Germany). And you’re going to tell me that group G was any tougher than group H?
I’m really sick and tired of hearing about the alleged Group of Death the US advanced out of in Brazil. It was not considered the group of death anywhere in the world but the US! And judging by the crossover games in the next round (USA-Belgium and Germany-Algeria), the Belgium, Algeria, Russia, Korea group was more of a group of death (which of course it wasn’t either).
YEAH, PORTUGAL AND GHANA ARE GARBAGE!!!!!! WE SHOULD EASILY BEAT TEAMS LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!! BELGIUM TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
to be fair, portugal with an injured ronaldo and no pepe aren’t very good.
Kyle your caps lock is stuck. Its that long skinny key, right above the shift, shifts the one with arrow on it.
3rd and 4th place teams from 2012 Euro Championship, Concacaf Champion, and Ghana the top rated African squad. No, no one outside the US said it was the group of death.
IF IT WASN’T FOR THAT KRAUT LANDON DONOVAN WOULD STILL BE PLAYING SOCCER. WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS CUTTING DONOVAN FROM THE TEAM I DON’T CARE HOW FAT OR OUT OF SHAPE HE WAS HE IS LANDON DONOVAN AND GETS TO PLAY FOR THE USMNT AS LONG AS HE WANTS JUST LIKE MARADONA. I DONT CARE IF KLINSMANN WINS A WORLD CUP HE WILL NEVER BE WHAT LANDON DONOVAN WAS FOR US. HE IS THE WORST COACH WE HAVE EVER HAD LOOK AT THESE LINEUPS HE PICKS THEY ARE A COMPLETE JOKE AND WAY DIFFERENT THAN THE LINEUPS YOU SEE THE POSTERS HERE PICK. WE NEED TO BRING BACK DONOVAN AS A PLAYER-COACH AND WE WILL DOMINATE IN RUSSIA 2018. FIRE KLINSMANN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree with Donovan. I think Dempsey should be on the squad even if we are not going to start him. I just wish we would stop playing players out of position. Also it doesn’t seem like there is a tactical plan before each match.
Tactical plans are useless if you don’t know your personnel and what they can/can’t do. Who cares if Klinsmann wants his team to play out of the back, when some of his first choice CB’s natural instincts are to clear the ball under pressure (Gonzalez and Besler); the CB’s who did grow up learning to play out under pressure, are too green to takeover as starters (Brooks and Alvarado). Only Cameron, who is reliable on both sides of the ball, has cemented his position as RCB.
We aren’t Germany/Spain/France etc. who have an established philosophy and approach to how they want to play the game, with a steady pipeline of players to pick and chose from. Ozil is no longer first choice? Slot in Gotze. He gets injured, put Draxler in. Die Mannschaft would hardly skips a beat against 95% of the world. Lose Dempsey and you throw in… Wood…Morris? Neither plays the SS/CAM role; we have no direct replacement what so ever. No current USMNTer can play with the control, creativity, and reliability of Dempsey. Aron is the closest, but is not consistent enough at the USMNT; here’s to hoping that translates from the club level. We have to widen our pool and figure who we have to work with before we can worry about our ideal tactical approach.
Widening also doesn’t mean calling in all new players. Playing players out of position is not always a bad thing. Sometimes, certain players are not given the opportunity at club to play certain positions. Just because a player has never played that position before, does NOT mean they cannot. It is not a ridiculous notion to try Bedoya, who has decent defensive qualities, and a great range of passing, at DM; just like you HAVE to try and see if you can convert Jones to CB, if only to provide more competition to the position.
It is not about whether Donovan is right or wrong, he should just pick his words more carefully. It’s transition times, there is a lot of impatience flying around and he, as the indisputable great of American soccer, should be above that. Yes someone asked him the question, but there are plenty of honest answers he could give that aren’t aimed to raise controversy. I think he was very smart on the field but not so much off it.
Actually the US decline occurred after Dempsey had the captaincy taken away and Bradley became the captain. Think about it. Yeah I’m poking the bear and it’s fun.
Okay — yeah I thought about it, and that is a really stupid suggestion.
The US was 4-2-1 in 2015 and had just beaten Mexico, Germany, and Netherlands in its last three games. Dempsey rips up the notebook and loses the armband. The US goes 4 wins and a draw against the cupcakes, then 1-4-1 against real competition. And everyone agrees looks lost and disorganized, whose job on the field is it to keep the team motivated and organized, the captain. The one win by the way was when Bradley stayed with Toronto. Its not as stupid as you might think.
Of course Bradley captained some of those early year wins because Clint was out and Jozy captained several as well.
johnny,
not going to put too much thought into this (because i think you’re just troIIng 🙂 ), but i’m pretty sure that dividing line was also right around the time when klinsmann wasn’t able to use 6 subs anymore, which is prooooobably a little more impactful than who’s captain.
Nate- I’ll give you its a bit of a troll, as I admitted in the first post. However, I think there is a little bit of truth to it. As I said because of injuries and club schedules Jozy, Clint, MB, and I even think JJ have captained the time over the last two year so I am not sure if being the first choice captain is all that important in the international game. The captain does need to do a little bit more than simply exchange gifts and I haven’t seen a lot of leadership on the field from MB in those games in which the US has looked lost. The captain should be the link between coaching staff and players, if a player is confused because they are playing a new position or are recently new to the team its the captains job during the game to be correcting that.
I agree with him! Since the World Cup we have been poor, and I believe continuity is a big factor. I am just tired of watching the same group look unmotivated. Put the kids in for friendlies and see what you got. Please stop ignoring the some of the kids in MLS. They not play in Europe, but I believe they would come in hungry.
Donovan’s weakness has always been that he’s honest to a fault. For which I thank him. Wish everyone could speak there minds so honestly and unabashedly. Any criticism he ever has towards the Nats will be perceived as sour grapes, but he’s pretty much right, whether he’s mad at Klinsmann or not. I actually think I like LD more in retirement than I ever did when he was a player.
Landon is 100% right. Dempsey is the best striker and grant it Bradley might be the best player on the team but Klinsmann has no continuity and mixes and matches to damn much. He needs to find a team and stick with it. I was a big supporter of him but he has dailed me as a fan. When he left Donavan off the world cup squad that was the beginning if the end for me. Donavan had the skills to help left in the tank and when Altidore went down in the first part of the first match it was more obvious he blew it. They pay him$3,000,000 a year. For that kind of money we can do better.
Landon, Keller, Friedel, Lalas, Wynalda… they all have opinions and I like hearing them. Donovan is not the only one questioning Klinsmann and if the soccer media had any guts, they should be ripping him to shreds after the last few outings. If he was coach on any other team, he’d have been fired by now. So keep the heat on the great one, Question everything and don’t let JK spin his way out of every blunder he makes
I’m not a Donovan fan and I’m okay with his comments. His comments aren’t profound-they are reasoned and make sense. They also align with what many people have said for quite sometime. That’s the view of this former Klinsmann fanboy.
Where was this focus on continuity in the squad when Donovan quit on the USMNT, missing very important World Cup qualifiers to take a vacation?
Altidore and Gordon were already out, and, should have been left out permanently of the USMNT roster! One guy (Gordon) is too old, and the other guy (Altidore) plays like he is too old.
Your mom and I got pretty lazy last night. If you catch my drift
I bet Dempsey asked off, before Seattle got knocked out, thinking they’d go through. That wouldn’t have been a great look with other playoff guys there, so JK is covering for him. It ended up not mattering but the roster had to be in. Altidore, and Gordon were already out so no risk there. JK was probably trying to help Dempsey out and still gets bashed for it.
I assumed that as well. Clint isn’t young and a week off would do him well in getting ready for a semi final game.
He looked beat dead by the end of 120 minutes vs Dallas.
I was surprised when Clint was left off the roster, but I don’t see anything wrong with that. In the first round of qualifying last time Altidore was left off for all the games, but now is rarely left off. We need to find someone to take Dempsey’s place and games against minnows, even qualifiers, is a good place to start. All we need is to win at home and draw on the road and we should win at St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Only away at T&T should be of any difficulty.Qualifying from this group should be as close to a slam dunk as possible, so we should integrate some new players.
“All we need is to win at home and draw on the road ” That’s a great strategy… if you’re Panama!
That’s been the strategy under the last three US coaches, and it was draw on the road and hope to steal one late at home before that so let’s not pretend its something new.
If nothing else Clint should be there just because he can teach the young ones how it was back in the day when this team played with guts and a sense of pride.
We are almost four and a half years into the Klinsmann era and while his results have been on par with the two previous USMNT coaches, he currently has no clear plan in place. The player pool depth chart seems non-existent, tactically none of the formations are and it would be extremely difficult to project the starting XI for Russia 2018. Klinsmann has had more than an entire cycle to execute his major innovations in the US setup, but there is no discernible change for the better.
Yeah, but why has lazy/Jozy Altidore on the team. Much worse than Dempsey. No hustle, no skills!!! And Alan Gordon??? Please, isn’t he like 100yrs. old? Why is he on roster? JK is on crack!
I’m pretty sure LD isn’t going out of his way to criticize the team or JK, he’s honest, always has been, and to a fault in some peoples opinion but i don’t think he is necessarily wrong with regards to his opinion on deuce or the state of the team. The people who don’t like LD will continue to say he’s being petty and has a grudge against JK and that’s fine, while LD supporters will say the opposite but no one in their right mind, who knows anything about this game can overlook the fact that this team has regressed tremendously at the hands of a manager that seems out of his depth and short on ideas. This isn’t the uber talented GNT or Bayern Munich, where you can just let the players play and get results most of the time, but a US team clearly in transition and need the guidance of a manager that has a plan and more importantly a clue. LD is in essence a soccer analyst of sorts so i’m guessing he was asked about the state of US Soccer and what he thought about the first WCQ roster thus the quotables, so can we please stop acting like he’s trolling the team and its manager?! I do think one thing was really telling though and that is the comment about how he stills talks to the players and the notion amongst the players that there is little continuity in their approach.
Donovan has forgotten more about soccer than most of us will ever know. I respect his opinion, but I’m also tired of his obvious agenda towards the topic.
He’s just stirring the pot and people are eating it up.
Old School, is he trying to stir the pot, or is he just saying what he actually believes?? There are many people out there that have said the exact same things that Donovan just said, and none of them were left off the world cup squad by Klinsmann. In other words, although convenient, you can’t assume its all about sour grapes.
He was asked his opinion in an interview so what should he say? In England, for instance, former national team players are always chiming in with their opinion and it’s not always rah-rah positive either – actually quite the opposite.
Any serious manager wants to create a stable framework for his team — a style/formation and at least a core of players to carry it out. Every coach experiments in the beginning but fairly soon you have to make basic choices. A central defensive pairing and a defensive midfielder in front of them would always be one of my first priorities and so on throughout the team. A few positions may remain in flux — where you have several players with very similar skills and abilities. I don’t see Jurgen doing any of this. He is more like some indecisive shopper rummaging through a bargain bin and alternately picking players and discarding them.
I don’t buy the argument that the national team pool has real gaps. It may seem that way but it is because Jurgen continued to select some players (Bocanegra for one) long after their sell by date had passed and also toyed with all sorts of players who were at best hot prospects, who might be ready in a few years (think Julian Green, but there are lots of others). My view is that national team coaches need to experiment and give new players a shot — but only players who conceivably move into starting positions within the year, not two or three years down the road. After five years of Jurgen fiddling with lineups, the national pool seems screwed but it’s not because there aren’t players out there who deserve a chance.
“I don’t see Jurgen doing any of this. He is more like some indecisive shopper rummaging through a bargain bin and alternately picking players and discarding them.”
That’s not a belt Jurgen, it’s a necklace.
Ja, well, I will put it around the waist anyway…or make it into a headband.
Bargain bin is exactly what our team is, mostly junk. You can find some decent stuff in there but you have to be creative.
Agree with this analysis 100%.
You must be pretty ignorant if you do not think that there are any gaps in the US talent pool. Are you serious? There is a big talent in the 24/25 – 28 age group. Jozy, Mix, AJo all look underwhelming right now, and they are all 25/26. Omar is 27 (and has had a bad year as well). They should be in their peak right now. Jurgen had to give young players a shot because the World Cup is only 3 years away and our current group of starters are too old for Russia 2018. The problem is the Jozy generation is too weak and the younger guys have not made the positions theirs. It is said that the ideal average age for a World Cup team is 27. You have very few teams with guys 32+ starting (or even 30+ yr olds). Clint is 32 and will be 35 in Russia, we should be blooding his replacement now. Geoff Cameron is 30! Besler & Bedoya are 28, FJ is 27. All will be over 30. Of the players that started in the last World Cup (or played significantly) only Jozy, AJ, Yedlin, Brooks would be under 30 at the next World Cup and ALL have been slammed on this board this year. On the bench, Mixx who has been ugh.
If you kept starting these players, nearly our entire lineup would be 30+ during the next World Cup. THAT CAN NOT HAPPEN. JK directive is the World Cup. That is it. He needs to do what he can to find a young starting lineup.
People complain when JK looks for young players and plays them again and again until they find their footing then they complain because he does not bring in new players. He cannot win in this board. You do not have to like him or criticize his tactical approach, but stop whinging.
Donovan=website clicks. I highly doubt that he ever says anything positive towards JK, even if they were to begin having more success. I was not as surprised with Deuce being left out as I was for Beckerman and Jones being included…Beckerman because there seems to be a few younger versions that should get a clear shot, and Jones because of his blowup in the playoffs and need to move on from him sometime as well.
I think Beckerman and Jones are there so that Klinnsman can give some opportunities to some younger attacking players. The young players will have the freedom to be creative, attack, take some risks, and try and make something happen knowing that if they make a mistake there are some defensive stalwarts behind them to clean up.
He wasn’t as harsh as I thought it was going to be from the writer’s intro, but its just time to move on. If Landon was out doing analyst stuff on a weekly basis talking about MLS or Europe it would be one thing, but he seems just to crop up to criticize JK whenever international dates occur. Is that LDs fault or the media’s fault I don’t know maybe no one calls him the rest of the time. He isn’t really very polished on TV compared to say Stu Holden.
the comments were from a sit-down interview with goal.com for a ussf sponsor. the timing probably wasn’t his idea, but even if it was, why should he decline when (a) he gets paid, and (b) people apparently still care what he thinks?
i don’t consider him some tactical genius, but it is nice to hear a rare dissenting opinion from a respected public figure in u.s. soccer (who isn’t just a contrary blowhard like lalas).
“Ar rare dissenting opinion?” How about Twellman, Lalas, often Wynalda, and a host of other TV commentators?
gary,
i said “from a respected public figure in u.s. soccer”. i’m sure twellman is a swell guy, but he (or even wynalda) doesn’t exactly command the respect that landon, deuce, boca, etc do. i really only mentioned lalas because i can’t stand that clown.
He’s a legend. People will always ask his opinion. Just like Pele and Maradona get asked about their national teams all the time. Better just get used to it, bc you will be hearing his opinion for the next 50 years.
I think you’re overrating Landon Donovan a little bit there.
concorde,
no he’s not. for better or worse, what pele is to brasil and maradona is to argentina, landon is to the u.s. (but without all the drugs, probably).
No, Donovan was MORE to the USMNT than Maradona was to Argentina or Pele to Brazil (or Hamm to the USWNT). Argentina and Brazil had lots of other great players. Messi, Ronaldo, etc. Wambach for the USWNT. But no one even comes close to Landon for the USMNT. He was 1000X better than any other American player we have had (or will ever have).
The difference is that when Maradona and Pele make comments about their respective national teams, no one takes them seriously.
Soccer Kyle- No, he was not that much better than Dempsey, or Tim Howardl. Yes, he is the best NT team player and best MLS career, Dempsey was a better European Professional, Howard and was rated at his position internationally than LD ever was.
LD scored on the NT level at a rate of 1 goal every 2.75 games Dempsey scores at a rate of 1 goal every 2.5 games. Yes, LD has plenty of more assists, but he played as midfielder much of his career and midfielders should have more assists.
So when he is asked in an interview…
“It’s been a rough 2015 for the U.S. national team, especially these last few months. What has the U.S. been doing wrong and what do they need to do to get out of this rut?”
His answer should be:
“Rut? Rut??? What rut?”
I have to agree. If he posted something like this on Twttiter, that would be a bitter move. But if a journalist asks you a question, what can you do?
If you had to rank the current player pool in order, where would you put Dempsey?
Yeah, exactly, so how do you leave the best player in the pool home from World Cup qualifying???
I think Dempsey is behind Bradley and Johnson, but your point still stands.
Behind Bradley? Maybe the Bradely of 2013…..not even close. Currently Bradley is not even an impact player in MLS
Because he is not really needed at this point. When we get to the next round, the Hex, unless some other striker has had a breakout, we will probably see him if he’s healthy. If we need him for anything other than a late sub in the 2018 WC, we are probably in real trouble and Klinsmann has to plan for that.
Hes right about Clint but im still tired of him talking.
And we’re tired of you commenting. The only difference is the media actually asks him to talk.
LOL
I didnt know Landons wife posted here.
Of course LD is correct. The most obvious feature of the Klinsmann era, of late anyway, has been his complete and utter inability to stabilize the team. In fact, IMHO, JK bears responsibility for de-stabilizing the team, making it look awful and play worse. World Cup qualifiers should never be used to have a look-see at new players, especially when there is no stable baseline team against which comparisons of TEAM performance can be made.
I commented on an above post my theory about why Klinnsman is forced to blood in new players during these qualifiers and I think it stems from having to use Sept. friendlies to prep for the CONCACAF final. I think it is an unintended consequence of playing in that final.
Except JK did the EXACT SAME THING last WCQs. In 2012, he was trying to find replacements for Boca and Gooch; trying to transform a winger into a competent LB (Beasley); trying to find a replacement for Cherundolo when he went injured/retired; and figuring out the Jones/Bradley pivot.
Friendlies only tell you so much. Eventually you have to challenge new players, try new tactical approaches, find alternate formations against real opponents, in real games. If you think we can really come from behind from the likes of Netherlands and Germany in REAL games, not friendlies, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. You have to learn a players strengths, weaknesses, where they can play, and where they cannot.
From 2012 to about March 2013 (the Costa Rica snow game), we also were playing terribly, morale was low, and the story about the locker room mutiny came out. and what ended up happening? Our BEST YEAR EVER, playing RIDICULOUS attacking soccer. For anyone who questions when we are going to get that attacking, proactive soccer, go back and watch pretty much the all games from about April 2013 to the World Cup. How easy some people forget.
THANK YOU. The thing is that because the sport is so new, the majority of USNT fans have been only watching for a few years and don’t have a good point of comparison. They aren’t exactly soccer experts, either. The noobs’ lack of understanding of the game becomes apparent when they can’t recognize the massive strides the USNT made that year. We have never in our history played as attractively as we did during that period. The 2013 Gold Cup was simply light years ahead of anything I’ve seen from this team stylistically (I’ve been watching since the late 90’s, and so I think that would be said for our entire history), and that was with our B team. (Yes, the opposition wasn’t that tough, but when did we play like that in the dozens of CONCACAF matches we’ve had over the last decade or two?) So when we had to play teams like Portugal and Belgium and needed to come from behind, we were actually able to put together really nice attacking sequences (and even score goals), the likes of which we never saw under Coach Bob or Arena. I don’t mean to knock on those two as coaches, they did a great job in serving us, but Gulati made the right call in extending Klinsmann’s contract even before the World Cup. The very chance that he can get us playing like that again is reason enough to want him to stick around (the whole record winning percentage thing and fantastic world cup, too) rather than going back to MLS tactics and hoping to score on set pieces.
Are we every going to stop publishing everything Landon Donovan ever says about the USMNT? Today’s Landon is tomorrows Wynalda.
it’s pretty simple: as long as people care (i.e. click/comment), they’ll keep publishing.
“Today’s Landon is tomorrows Wynalda.”
That’s about right. I will quote you from now on.
look, i love Landon. as a nurse who works in mental health, i thought it was great that he recognized that he needed to take a break in his career despite the criticism. i wish everyone was so lucky to be able to step away from “things” when they are mentally breaking down. who knows what metaphorical demons he was facing. he very well could have been at his breaking point. good on him for stopping to take care of himself.
that said, if he is truly happy with his decision to take a break, AND HE SHOULD BE, then he can’t be unhappy about the outcomes of his decision. the Gals, as his employer, had every obligation to support him – his absence was most likely listed as medical leave. good on them for following through with their responsibilities.
USMNT had no such obligation.
I”m not sure if I made a point with this post. Guess it’s just my two cents.
That’s a great story except that dropping someone because they had a mental health issue in the past doesn’t really make any sense. Anyway, JK kept picking him once he came back until he decided scrubs like Wondo, Davis and Green were better.
Right and the fact that the USMNT has been on a steady decline since his departure tells you what? The fact that after bleeding for this team he gets dropped, after doing all the work to get to the world cup….the world cup, for a new player who is not even a current front runner for the senior team, who isn’t even playing at a high level tells you what?
If he has something to say he has the full right to say it because unless you are secretly Mcbride or Beasley or Coby Jones etc., his opinion matters more than people on here
He wasn’t dropped for mental health reasons, he was dropped because he showed up to a friendly a couple months before the World Cup with a beer belly and publicly stated he couldn’t train 100% anymore. It’s Landon’s fault that he didn’t go that World Cup, not Klinsmann’s.
Not only would I want Clint on the team, I would still want Donovan on my team. And maybe Hat Trick Rick
Oooooooo!!!!!!
seriously when does Rick and El Nino get the call up they so deserve. Commercial cracks me up even though I’ve seen it 100x
I am not a huge fan of Klinsmann, but I think you have to start looking for younger players to fill-in as Clint ages out. There is no replacement for him at the moment and we need that scoring. It would have been better if we had done this more with friendlies, but here we are. These guys need experience in must win games. This is a good low pressure must win.
What Donovan says makes sense in principal but isn’t really a fair criticism at the moment given the NATS situation. The U.S. is in a major transition right now. There is a lack of experienced players int he pool that are in the prime age group right now: 26/27-30. Really just MB,Cameron,Johnson, Jozy (seriously flawed player),Besler. This core is just not that amazing… they don’t represent a big improvement in talent of the core over the last 10-15 years of the player pool. So, if Klinsmann is to experiment and try to work around this issue, NOW is the time to do it. These means there is going to be a lack of continuity, but if the US is to be better, or even stay at the same level, it must be done.
I think this might be a bit of an unintended consequence of the new CONCACAF final. Instead of having September friendly games to experiment with new players and blood in some young guys, we were instead focused on fixing what went wrong in the Gold Cup and preparing for the Oct. final. It is a major lost opportunity to get some young players some experience before this first round of qualifiers. Now we are kind of stuck in no man’s land where we lost the final with older players and didn’t get to blood in some new players during the friendlies.
fortunately, we’ll have the Copa America Centario to maybe do some of that.
Stop talking , everybody knows what u think. GET OVER IT
What’s wrong with what he said? People are going to ask him what his opinion is about the US forever. That is the way it works with legends. Maybe you need to get over the fact that he will be answering questions like this for the rest of his life. It’s part of the deal, so you might want to come to grips with it – especially when what he says is fairly benign and obvious.
Donovan is a pri madona baby who is still mad about being left of the roster for wc.
out with the old,
Donovan is one of the best players who has ever….EVER represented the stars and stripes. How about you get over that fact and realize that unlike you his opinion will ALWAYS matter
Out w Old – sounds like you are the one who is mad. Donovan was answering a question that someone asked him. He gave an opinion that many many others share. He happens to be a little bit closer to the situation, so…. You might want to get used to it.
What exactly is wrong with what he said? The continuity criticism is completely warranted.
Landon Donovan (still) has more to offer this team than Klinsmann does.
So since Donovan was unceremoniously by Klinsmann he isn’t allowed to ever have an opinion on the national team program? Sorry that’s not how it works. Also, his opinion is pretty much spot on as far as I’m concerned.
Totally agree. Everything he said was accurate, mainly the lack of chemistry from too much tinkering. As a legend he is always going to be asked for his opinion. Look at Pele and Maradona, they are always asked for their opinions about their national teams. Nothing out of the ordinary here and Landon’s analysis was spot on.
Its not spot on, his answer is obvious, rational and logical.
It’s not that he isn’t allowed to have an opinion, it’s just that it’s unprofessional to publicly criticize other players/managers. If he’s seriously considering coaching, it’s something he has to learn.
What the hell is your problem? Hes just answering a simple question and he has the right to say whatever he wants. Pele, ballack, maradona, ronaldo, etc.. they all get asked about their formal teams because they were a big part of it. So get over it
I would surmise that you are under the age of 30 and have no real idea about what LD has done for the sport in our country bc only a young person who doesn’t realize his significance to the sport would say something like that.
Thank you
Found Jugen’s kid
Dangit, not you. Meant for”out with old”. What is up with comments on this site now