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Should he stay or should he go?
No, this isn't another Landon Donovan transfer question because, let's face it, the general consensus is that Donovan should move to Europe if a team is willing to pay the asking price.
No the question here is whether Donovan should really consider making another loan move this winter like he made last winter. He is coming off the busiest year of his career and while he is surely resting up right now, you have to wonder whether it would be wise for him to jump right back into action on January, with no rest for him until a year from now.
I touched on the subject in my latest Fox Soccer piece and my theory is that a longer loan move through to the summer would make more sense than another brief loan for just two months or so.
Give the story a read and feel free to offer your take. Think he should take an extended break? See another short loan to Everton making sense? Like the idea of the extended loan to the summer?
Share your thoughts below.
Typical Eurosnob response…This isn’t England
If he had won a championship in recent years, then you could say he was cruising by. Unlike most Euro Leagues, MLS is COMPETITIVE.
The best way to raise the profile of American soccer is to build the league here. Americans should want to see the best players getting regular time and making plays here. On one of the Top 6 EPL teams, he is still a possible bench player. Any team below that isn’t even as good as the Galaxy, especially with Ronaldinho coming.
The Toffees need an influx of talent. ASAP. ugh.
I’m so sick of hearing about Landycakes! It’s a no brainer to me- he should go there permenatly. It’s a higher level of play, Everton DOES need him, and it would benefit the USMNT.
Sell pienaar in January and buy donovan
It is important to remember how loans generally function in Europe. If a team has a good player who needs regular playing time but cannot crack their lineup, he gets loaned out. It is primarily used for developmental reasons.
Donovan is who he is as a player; he has no further upside. He is a great player, top 50 in the world, but probably will not be in two or three years. If he is going to play in Europe, he should make a full commitment now and quit agreeing to loans.
All of that said, this debate is rather stale. I do not sit around dictating what other people should do with their lives. Donovan will do whatever he feels like and just because I am a fan of the USMNT does not mean I have a say about his future.
I have no reservations about opining about an athlete’s past actions, however. LeBron James, for example, was an idiot to leave Cleveland the way he did. LD is a Nike guy, no? Maybe he should film a “what should I do?” commercial.
You guys are thinking too much about this, where would you most like to watch Donovan ply his trade?
In the MLS….blah.
In the EPL….YEAH!!!
i bet LA would agree to an extended loan if they got Dinho to sign
+1
Agreed Everton need him.
And not just for 2 months – what with rumors of Piennar exiting.
Really unless Donovan would lose significant sponsorship $ he should plan to stay in UK for a couple seasons. Significant being defined as at least double his wages.
And honestly I bet Donovan just grows in marketing side income, he’s already doing well with Mexican and US advertisers, I bet if he helped push Everton up the EPL league table for second season in a row he could start landing some Euro gigs too…love Dempsey buy his scruffy look will just attract tattoo parlors which are not the advertisers we’re talking about.
Wow this is a tough one. I care mostly about his performance for USA…. after readings everyone’s opinions it seems like a full time move or stay at mls is the best option. Either way he would be ready for USA games, just like Clint. 3 or 4 season with everton, then return to mls after 2014…sounds great to me. But if he stays in mls, galaxy could continue to rise to a great squad, and maybe even win concacaf…
very difficult, but either full time move has great positives!
He doesn’t have to play three straight years if he leaves MLS and gets permanently signed by a good team in Europe.
Our best players should be playing in the best leagues. It’s the best way to raise the profile of American soccer.
It’ll be more fun watching him play well in Europe against the world’s best players then watching him cruise by in MLS. That’s just the way it is.
Stay home. Take the rest. He has nothing to prove and nothing to gain. A permanent transfer should be the only ticket to europe and that seems unlikely. There is only risk with a loan: injury, decreased market value. Most importantly, he has to take care of himself if he’s going to make it to 2014 in top form. A 32-yr old body does not recover like a 28-yr old body. As much as I enjoyed watching him with Everton I really hope he doesnt do a loan.
Colin, I agree totally. The Galaxy is now at a point where there’s a signficant difference between their older players (basically, past their prime) and younger players (not quite ready, like Stephens, and Gonzalez is learning on the job). Depth has been a Galaxy problem for the past few years now.
No more loans. He needs to keep his body and mind as fit as possible for the MLS season. At this point, a loan would do nothing but put more wear and tear on his body. If another club wants to meet MLS’s price for a transfer, fine. But we saw what happened to Beckham with his loans over the past couple of years. Yes, he’s seven years older than Donovan but so what? That age difference won’t matter if Donovan suffers a major injury because his body didn’t receive enough rest.
Stay. Why should we want America’s best player to be playing all year long for 3 straight years? Also why do we want our best players to play abroad? Just to fulfill our selfish desires of seeing an American ‘do well’ in England?
We should want our stars playing the game in our country.
The man needs some rest.
I agree totally, Colin.
Maybe he just wants to play in a top league instead of MLS? I doubt Messi would come play in MLS even if he were to get all the money in the world – competing at the highest level is part of why athletes became athletes in the first place.
He has already proved himself in the EPL and MLS. Now if some big EPL teams want’s to pay big bucks, then I say move on to the the big league.
I agree, when his career is over he would be glad to look back he took every opportunity to play at the highest level. That said, the longer 4 month loan makes sense for both the Galaxy and Landon.
You’re giving far too much credit to contracts in this specific sport and who truly wields the power.
He should do whatever he wants to do, but being one of the top five American players, he belongs in one of the top leagues. It’s crazy he’s stayed in MLS as long as he has, and he doesn’t have a whole lot of years left if he truly wants to make an impact in Europe.
I think it’s a no-brainer he should get the hell over to Europe ASAP, but it’s his life.
I bet he listens to the clash while thinking about this topic.
Ives, I’d disagree with your point that the Galaxy can survive without Donovan until July if he does do a long-term deal. As a diehard Galaxy fan yet rational thinker, I just don’t think they have the talent to sustain without their top player for more than 3-4 games. You mentioned a 3rd DP could help, but that’s only if said DP comes in January. If the 3rd DP shows up in July, it’s of no use.
I want an EPL team to buy this man, they should know he’s worth the money (even if MLS made it ridiculously difficult).
Not his call- he is under contract
The huge Galaxy fan in me wants him to stay and team up with Becks, Buddle, and (fingers crossed) Ronaldinho Gaucho, and win a few more Supporters Shields and hopefully MLS Cups while being within a 30 minute drive of Casa de LNG.
The soccer fan in me wants to see him make a permanent move to Everton and play out his prime with and against some of the best players in the world, and take his game to the highest level possible, a level that can likely only be achieved in a league the caliber of the EPL.
It’s a tough deal…I’m extremely sympathetic and supportive of him wanting to take a break, and as much as I’d (selfishly) like to see him running around Goodison in a few weeks, I don’t see the utility of a short loan.
Go big or stay home Landon.
When LD is motivated/ engaged/ happy/ stimulated, he is one of my favorite players on the planet to watch. Not a Galaxy fan at all but I DVR their game each week just because I want to watch him play.
Reality is, MLS no longer brings the best out of him. We see it in flashes but not the same way we do when he is playing USMNT or even at Everton last year. As a Quakes fan, we saw the same early in his career. He went far fast but somewhere along the way took his foot off the gas as he was already at the summit. Too bad 2 Germany mis-fires steered him towards staying here.
So I want him to go where ever he can for the next few years so that we see as much of him “up for it” as we can. Could be MLS. Could be EPL. Could be any decent league where I can see a regular game each week. Just “for the love of Pete” go somewhere that motivates him to be the best he can.
I don’t see much career value to him going since he has such a lucrative contract with LA and it will only tire him out for next season. But if he wants to go and LA is fine with it then have at it. I think some people forget he might just want to go because it is fun and he can.
Should have gone years ago. MLS hand cuffed him with that contract and it’s his own dumb fault for thinking he would be able to force a move.
Brilliant.
He should take a break. MLS won’t let there marquee American player miss any of the season, and a 2 month loan is just a tease.
Well played, sir.
esta undecision me molesta
Sleep when you’re dead! Landon to Everton!
This indecision’s bugging me.
He should take some time off. He ended his last loan in spectacular circumstances and it’s the perfect way to go out on his terms. He left a conquering hero to a great set of fans in Everton.
He should never leave MLS again.
I vote no, but if he feels the need to do a loan, I’d vote for the mini-loan that serves as a super pre-season.
He’s made it clear that he wants to stay in MLS, so I don’t see a permanent transfer happening.
As for the loan, I’m of two minds about it. On the one hand, the guy’s exhausted and deserves a break. On the other hand, training camps begin in January for MLS anyways, so he could treat his time in the EPL as an extended warm-up for the MLS season.
True, but if he only has the expectations of playing 30-45 min, training is not going to be as tough if it were 90 min. But what do I know.
means nothing to who??? What kind of a teammate ditches his team for half the season for NO reason? It’s retarded. Landon Donovan, the player, has nothing to gain from this…
Sh*t or get off the pot, Landon.
Donovan is capable at playing at the highest level in arguably the best league in the world and can more than hold his own.
Everton is a great enviorment for him both personally and professionally, from what we witnessed last season.
If that is what he chooses to do, I fully support it. Whatever the reason; personal competition, higher pay day or career fulfillment.
All I ask is you make it >>> PERMANENT <<<.
I have an extreme dislike for this loan business for marquee MLS players and feel like it makes our league a bit Mickey Mouse.
I have even more of an extreme dislike when it effects the potential health of not just a US International but THE US International.
Support a move but the jumping back and forth is tiresome and seeing our league loan out stars in the offseason strikes me as simply…..extremely amatuer.
He should do what Beckham did – take the winter loan and stay to the end of the EPL season. He then gets a little more time off until the MLS transfer window opens in July (international duty not included). That gives him a bit more of a break rather than playing from January straight through to November.
MLS regular season means nothing. I like Ives point that a longer lone spell will give him a rest and he can hit the playoff run hard.
+ EPL training sessions
As much as I enjoyed watching him play at Everton, I feel if its another loan deal, short or long, he should just stay home @ LA. In my eyes, with his play last year in the EPL and at the World Cup, he has “proven” himself in my eyes and does not need to play in Europe.
He’s played a ton recently and needs the break if he’s going to be somewhat fresh for the Gold Cup.
Again, if its not a permanent move, don’t bother and stay with the Galaxy.
I understood his loan move last year for the WC, but I think Donovan lost his legs at the end of the MLS season. He proved the doubters wrong last year, but I don’t see any upside for him this year. He should take the time off just to make sure he doesn’t get injured.
A loan move for Landon makes no sense. The reason he went last year are A) to prove he could handle the EPL and market himeself to the highest bidder and B) to stay sharp for the upcoming worldcup.
He’s got nothing to gain by going this year. He already has a lucrative contract and even if he did want to move permanently overseas, this next 3 months could only hurt his cause, not help it. If there is a suitor out there, Everton or otherwise, they can already see what a quality player he is without another loan move where he could get injured or be lost on a “less good” Everton team than last year.
I definitely think the longer loan spell is the way to go – but it remains to be seen if the Galaxy is going to act like a bunch of tools again and stomp their feet and cry about it. They need to recognize the points you made in the FSC piece and stop being dumbasses.
He should come back to Everton, we need him. He doesn’t have to play 90 minutes every game, he’d be an awesome sub. So 30-45 minutes once a week? I’d say he could handle that.