Photo by ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
The 2014 MLS All-Star Game saw Landon Donovan come off the bench and score the game-winning goal. It was also the last time he will play in that event.
Donovan, 32, has announced he will retire at the conclusion of the 2014 season, ending a legendary 14-year career in which he became the MLS and U.S. Men’s National Team all-time leading scorer. The announcement comes a day after Donovan netted the winner in the MLS All-Stars’ 2-1 triumph against Bayern Munich in Portland, Oregon, as a substitute.
“After careful deliberation and many conversations with those closest to me, I have decided that this will be my last year as a professional soccer player,” said Donovan in a statement. “It has been more than anything I could have dreamed of to represent the LA Galaxy, the San Jose Earthquakes, Everton, U.S. Soccer and Major League Soccer throughout my career. There are so many people I want to thank who have inspired me, guided me and helped me on this incredible journey.
“I simply could not have accomplished what I did during my playing career without an overwhelming amount of support from my family, my friends and many others. I plan to express my gratitude to everyone in a more detailed manner at a later date; however, for now, I want to single out the fans. You are the lifeblood of this sport and, without you, none of us would be fortunate to call ourselves professional soccer players in MLS.”
Donovan currently has an MLS record 138 goals and has won five MLS Cups, two MLS Supporters’ Shields and one Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. He was named to 14 consecutive MLS All-Star games and the MLS Best XI six times, crowned MLS MVP in 2009 and won the Golden Boot a year later. Additionally, he twice won the MLS Cup MVP award.
“Landon Donovan is one of the most significant figures in the history of soccer in the United States,” said LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena in a statement. “His influence on MLS and soccer in this country will continue to be felt for many years to come. As both a player and a person, Landon has been an incredible representative of the LA Galaxy, MLS and the U.S. Men’s National Team and it has been my honor coaching him.
“We respect his decision to retire at the end of the season and look forward to competing for another MLS Cup and celebrating his outstanding career.”
Donovan missed out on this summer’s World Cup, but still has notable accomplishments in the tournament and with the U.S. Men’s National Team. He is first all-time in goals scored and assisted for the U.S. and second all-time in number of caps earned. His last-gasp winner against Algeria at the 2010 World Cup remains one of the more memorable moments in U.S. Soccer history.
He intends to remain in soccer after his retirement.
“I feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have played a role in the remarkable growth of MLS and US Soccer during my playing career, and while my career as a player will soon be over, rest assured I will stay connected on many levels to the beautiful game,” said Donovan. “As we enter a transformative time for the sport, I will do everything I can to help the continued growth of soccer in the United States.”
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What do you think of Donovan’s decision to retire at season’s end? Surprised? What’s your favorite Donovan moment?
Share your thoughts below.
Thanks Landon.
Seems to me that there are two types of commentors in regards to Landon’s retirement announcement. Those who feel he was a failure because he did not test himself in Europe and those who appear to give him credit (some more than others) to what he means to US Soccer. To those who think Landon’s career is a bust because he did not reach storied heights in Europe you are also implying that he does have exceptional talent when it comes to a US outfield player. He was voted the player of the tournament at the U-17 1999 FIFA World Championship, he did represent the Senior US MNT at the 2002 World Cup where he was voted the Best Young Player Award. He did not show well for Bayer Leverkusen and came home to play for San Jose. He became the US soccer savior by the media. He did countless interviews in both English and Spanish. He stayed in America to help grow the game while others went over seas. What I am trying to say to all of you that belittle what Landon has accomplished and done for the sport over the whole of his career is something that is transformative. No one has done what he has done on and off the field and because of what he has done others (Dempsey & Bradley) are standing on his shoulders to grow the game even more in the years to come. For all that he has done both on and off the field he will always be a legend.
Kojo,
What people miss about Donovan is that he grew up thinking the ultimate in soccer was to play in the World Cup, not playing in Europe and winning the Champion’s League.
Those who slam him for not validating their own fantasies about an American superhero in Europe don’t get that he was never all that interested in playing in Europe.
And he was smart enough to realize that if your heart isn’t in it, you won’t succeed at it.
A perfect example of someone following his vision and actually achieving it.
His entire career was centered around the USMNT and playing in the World Cup. That was his child hood dream according to him, and in that regard he was a fantastic success.
Once it became clear that he no longer had a future with the USMNT he retired. This pretty much says it all.
WHAT IS YELDIN DOING TOADY
You guys sicken me Enough with the rivalry crap. Why can’t we all accept nobody is perfect. LD was and IS still a great influence on US Soccer His career had way more UP’s than downs
. Deuce is a totally diff person but he too has made a great mark on US Soccer period, and while he is not ready to hang it up I salute him as well for what he has done for US Soccer!
I suppose it’s fitting that LD calls it a day at a time where he’s every bit as polarizing a figure as he’s ever been. His legacy will attract two camps: those who celebrate all he did for US Soccer and MLS, and those who wonder if he truly reached his potential as a world class footballer. We’ll be talking about this gor many years to come, and that in and of itself is reason enough to call him the greatest American soccer celebrity. He is truly a one of a kind and will be missed.
In sum: everyone is petty, no one likes Landon/Klinsmann, everyone needs to get over being petty about not liking Landon/Klinsmann, Europe is better than America, America is better than Europe, everyone knows everything about soccer, and no one knows anything about futball.
Did I miss anything?
In other news, congratulations on the legendary career Landon! Good luck in the booth.
Big clip for Landon. How lingbefore klinsi says Donovon deservs a big compliment for what hes donefor the game in the us bla blah.
LD is the greatest American ever. Klinsi took his WC away for pettiness. Klinsis egomania is well documentdc see Phillip Lahm.
Will misd seeing LD on the field. Hope he gets ahot scoring streak and scores 15 games in a ros and wins championship.
Flopped in Germany
Did well during 2 short loans in England
Exceptional (almost GODLIKE against world beaters like Panama and Cuba)
what a LEGEND. Oh and he could score hat tricks against Chivas usa
wake me up when a real LEGEND like Dempsey retires. He scored 57 PL goals in 6.5 years
5 World Cup goals, less than 10 active players have that many and maybe 50 players in history.
in 12 WC games. Dempsey has 4 goals in 10 matches.
SO WHAT?
Quatrer final run?
I couldn’t disagree more. Some fans will never forgive him for not going back to Europe permanently to potentially transcend from a very good player to a truly great player. Was he perfect, no. But to simply disregard his accomplishments and not appreciate the player he was/still is just doesn’t make any sense to me. US Soccer and MLS would not be what it is today without his contributions both on and off the field.
I agree with the likes of beachbum and A-team in believe the Legend and best US player ever produced is the way he should be remembers rather than a flop.
has dempsey EVER had a world cup that compared with Landon’s 2002 OR 2010 World Cups? Has Dempsey ever even scored against Mexico?
What does a quater final run (team stat) have to do with the comparrison of individual players?…
One could easily say how many Europa league runs has Donovan had…..
See makes no sense…
There’s nothing to really say to these people. It’s ridiculous.
Legend.
Best American ever
Two things make this situation really weird:
1. Donovan’s form is still very good, and his contract is lucrative, 6.5 million a year.
2. Usually when someone is burned out by something (job/sport) they want nothing to do with it. Why did he work as an analyst for ESPN during the World Cup? He could have used that time to avoid soccer all together.
Let’s hope he doesn’t start commentating b/c the last thing I want to hear is a smug inflection combined with what sounds like a mouth full of runny turds.
Do you think Landon asked Pep how he should handle the Klinsmann situation?
He’s the best player in the history of MLS, which to me encapsulates the positive and negative aspects of his career.
I feel like I should go place a wager on whether he’ll make an mls comeback in the next 3 years.
comeback MJ style in a few years!
i doubt it!
Landon, you make lovin’ the Galaxy fun. I’ll genuinely miss singing, “Oh, Landon Donovan! Oh, Landon Donovan! Oh, Landon Donovan! Oh, Landon Donovan!” Not a creative song, but it brought so much joy to so many. Here’s hoping for more goals and one last trophy before you call it a career.
Landon Donovan will be missed. He is our biggest star and provided many great memories for US Soccer fans. His stint with Everton was fantastic and his MLS career unmatched. His true legacy is with the USMNT and 2010 in particular. His early 2nd half goal against Slovenia doesn’t get as much run as the Algeria goal but was huge. I agree that a testimonial match would be great although a 2014 World Cup moment would’ve been much better. Shame on you Klinsi!
Donovan was never my favorite player but that goal against Slovenia was my favorite goal ever. It was so in your face and showed Landy could bring it when needed in the best possible way.
LEGEND he was but bring on Julian Green.
a world class player in the makin
Maybe. Or maybe he’ll never reach Landon’s level. Guess we’ll see but I’d like him to actually do something before we label him world class. And no the goal against Belgium isn’t enough.
You people want to know why he was left off the USMNT? Now you know. He complained about training too much….etc. His head was not fully in the game. Next step, retirement.
What an incredible player though. Wow, we were lucky to have him.
Explain why Timothy Chandler was called in then. I’m sick of hearing the excuse that Landon’s head/heart wasn’t in it. If that were the case, Chandler would’ve been dismissed long before the WC. It was personal between coach and player.
Will never be able to forget that the best US player ever was loudly and publicly and humiliatingly cut from the USMNT roster for World Cup 2014, stolen from us for one last WC when he could have helped the team move to the quarter-finals and likely the semi-finals and will never be able to forgive the POS who made up silly excuses to justify it simply to satisfy his overblown ego while calling in players who were not good enough and/or who did not deserve it.
Go away! Why can’t you see that US had NO DEPTH at left fullback, but had some depth at forward.
It’s amazing to me that people are all like SEE THIS THIS IS WHY JK DIDN’T PICK HIM rather than considering the far more likely possibility that the fact that JK didn’t pick him contributed to this decision to retire fairly early.
Agree 100%
I think it is way more complicated than just the WC.
I’m sure it is. But I’m also sure it was a factor.
If that contributed, then he is mentally weak. Honestly. What is this? You didn’t choose me, so I am taking my ball and quitting. Give the guy more credit. He said he has been think about for a while.
I’m sure he’s been thinking about it for a while. But if the guy cares about the nats, and isn’t going to be a part of it going forward, then why shouldn’t that contribute to his decision?
I’ve always been a big soccer fan, but my fandom went to the next level in 2002, watching Landon Donovan. Since then he’s always been there, greatness, unquestioned. I feel like a part of me just announced that it’s dying.
I think one of the things that frustrates us is that we think he could have reached a higher ceiling than he did, at least in Europe.
Guys like Reyna, Dempsey, Cherundolo, McBride (I’m sure there are more examples) were able to maximize their potential in Europe. With Landon, whether he didn’t have the right mental focus, wsa homesick, wasn’t given a fair shake at Leverkusen, played out of position as a forward instead of a winger, or whatever reasons have been debated in the past, there’s this feeling that he could have achieved more.
I’m pretty surprise with the change between 2013 and 2014 Landon. Just seems like he lost that top-end speed.
Another reason to add was that MLS did not let him leave to go to Everton
Blame Bianca. She was in his head his whole career. He chose her over making the most out of his career. Now they are divorced.
My favorite LD goal is and apparently now always will be the 2010 WC vs Slovenia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UV-E8YqjlI
Jedi mind tricked the defender into falling down, brings the ball to the corner of the 6 looking up twice for a pass and “well if no one is going to make a run I’ll just have to drill it at the keeper’s face”. Turned the game completely around and the USA got 1 point for winning the game 3-2. Loved it, Loved it, Loved it. Thank you LD!!
That was a World Class goal too, my favorite as well.
Gotta post this one too, one of Donovans greatest games of all time, even if it was just a friendly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2SSZfLiO70
U.S. vs. Mexico LD tribute match! Bring in Blanco, McBride, Cobi!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH DONOVAN HAHAHAHAHAH I DIDNT EVEN NOTICE HE RETIRED UNTIL MY PHONE NOTIFIED ME HAHA
alright.. can this be the last Jon Klinsmann joke about Landon
when Jon gets cut ten years from now we can revive it.
Yes we can
I was waiting for this trolololololol and was surprised it took this long to appear here.
Enough is enough! I’ve had it with these m-f Jon Klinsy jokes on m-f SBI!!
A legend and certainly the greatest US player ever, I can’t imagine that there is any US soccer fan who wouldn’t wish him all the best. One of my favorite things about him is his honesty in terms of his answers to the press. Sad that some of the fanboys on this site are even now continuing to trash him for whatever petty reasons they have. He probably would have retired a year or two ago but probably stuck around to play at the world cup. Unfortunately JK cheated us by allowing personal vendettas to affect his roster selection.
We got out of the group of death? Not sure as a US fan how i feel cheated
Maybe could’ve gone further with our best players there. Problem is we’ll never know.
Hypothetical statements definitely dont make me feel cheated
No hypothetical needed, Wondoloski cost a spot in the Quarters. 99% of the USMNT fan base knew that Wondo should not have made it on the roster. Feel cheated now?
Lol thats quite the exaggeration. 99%??? Back during the days of the 30 man roster. People were debating between Boyd and Wondo, whether it was on soccerbyives or mlssoccer.com, it was roughly split in half, although i found more wondo fans on the MLS site. So it helps to not pull random numbers out of your @$$
P.s. I was for Boyd over Wondo
I was for Boyd over Johannsson even.
Made it over LD*. LD was listed as a forward so they were competition.
I feel bad for being so hard on Wondo, but he literally did zero things correctly on that shot. It’s hard to cut him any slack when he shot the ball like a high school baseball player who last played soccer in the town’s kindergarten league.
Would have rather had donovan over untested world cup rookies davis, wondo, mix, and bedoya. None of those guys made a difference, which was entirely foreseeable.
Can you please stop with this group of death nonsense already?! It was a group, just like any other. Given that Belgium completely dominated the US in the round of 16, and Algeria played Germany much tougher than the US did, creating numerous chances, one might argue that the Belgium-Russia-Algeria-Korea group was more of a group of death.
How is it nonsense? It was arguably the toughest group in the world cup with very good teams. Algeria has some pretty good playes so im not too surprised at the way they played Germany. And pretty sure close to zero people will agree with that last statement
Billed as group of death but Ghana team imploded and Portugal was what many here called them before the games began, soft and fragile like they always are. Nice to make it out of group stage anyway of course but hardly cause for deep praise imo. Bowing out how they did was hardly inspiring tho Howard was awesome
Ghana imploded means nothing for our match against them. Ghana was significantly better than us when we played them. And portugal was only soft because of red cards and injuries
I would have agreed with you up to the point where the ball falls to Wondo’s feet with only the goalie in front of him. That’s when Donovan could have been the difference.
I think it was impressive to get out of the group but I think it’s appropriate to speculate whether we may have gone further if JK had selected the best players rather than letting petty personal squabbles affect his roster selection. Is it ultimately speculation though because we don’t know how the team would’ve done with Landon there.
Here is what I have to say about Donovan not being a part of the 2014 World Cup. I would not have left him off the squad, but Jurgen did. Maybe it hurt us a little this World Cup, but the good thing about it is it throws away the question of “Can the US win without Donovan for the next World Cup?”
In the long term hopefully it will help the US to achieve more in 2018.
why didn’t he move to Everton all those years ago?
MLS should have let him go
Who cares?
Many do.
who cares what you achieve in MLS if it’s akin to League 1 in England. who cares? It only matters if you get it done during the world cup or champions league or la liga/EPL
Says who? And also MLS is a lot better than League 1. And I’ve actually sat through many league one games in my day.
Thanks Landon. You’re a Legend. Win one more Cup for L.A.
I’m sad. But, I kinda knew.
So, any word on Sacha or was this the big Galaxy announcement.
yeah, for hours now we’ve know he isn’t coming to LA. both Seltzer and Goff have confirmed this and Arena himself.
Donovan, you are a LEGEND.
But I do wonder what might have been had you not come home to MLS. Could you have been a starter for Leverkusen and challenged for the Bundesliga and CL every year? Would you have made it into the running for top 20 player in the world? Would your success in Europe have helped other young Yanks? Would you put club before country and give less than 100% for the NT in world cups or gold cups?
I mean sure you won some Gold Cups, but these are Gold Cups. You were a BEAST at 2002 and 2010 World Cup. You’ll always have ALGERIA.
but most of all you are a question mark. would have loved to see how you could have aided Everton as they fought for a CL spot.
Top 20 player? Lol no. But i did think he could have been a starter for just about every Europa league team and definitely for some champions league. A consistent player for Leverkusen seems very realistic
We’ll always wonder how good he could have been if he really pushed himself won’t we? If he only had that Texas swag mentality, I’m gonna beat you sucka and I don’t care how you “feel” about it or what kinda “place” your in right now type mentality instead of the budda loving “its so zen man” type mentality. This is football, I hope our next big prospects have more of a competitive killer instinct. Its the same attitude Jurgen keeps talking about, we need more edge and more a “I don’t give a f–k” attitude instead of all this emotional crying and zen bs. Drop the mic I’m out.
That wouldn’t have been him then. He wasn’t a mystical creature. He is and always was “human” with the positives and negatives that accompany that title.
What drove him isn’t what might have driven any of us if we were blessed with his talent. His personality that was sometimes a quitter, also had a knack for knowing how to be relevant when the moments needed a star.
Sure some will question what he could have been, but in the same context you have to ask if MLS would be as successful if he never returned. He helped raise the quality of play and build credibility for the league. Sure there were plenty of other contributors, but he was THE guy over an extended period of time. This wasn’t a retirement league or payday for him. He believed in the growth of the league and committed to helping it success. I think any US/MLS fan has to respect and thank him for his dedication, even if you think it was at the expense of reaching another level of individual greatness. The future of the league and US soccer are better for it.
+1
have to imagine what MLS would look like with out him? would it even be around still? would younger players have been able to watch players like him up close and develop their games?
ya, we still have yet to have a US player with a long history of big Euro club success and you have to wonder if LD could have been that player.. but that will come at some point.
For now you have to admire the work LD has done raising the level of play here in the States.
He left out his stints in Bayern with both Leverkusen and Munich.
It’s Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich…two different places. Leverkusen and Munich.
well given the comment says “in Bayern,” which isn’t a real place, one can see what his point was. two clubs with “Bayern” leading the city name.
well, to be honest, “Bayern” is the “Free State of Bavaria” so he’s right in that sense. LD was in Bavaria, “with both Leverkusen and Munich.”
Bayern *is* a place; it is another way to say Bavaria, Munich’s province – similar to the way Borussia is the province that contains Dortmund and Moenchengladbach, and Eintracht is the province that contains Frankfurt and Braunschweig. Not all Bundesliga teams have this naming custom. The Bayer in front of Leverkusen is their sponsor (or owner) Bayer, as in the pharmaceutical company that produces Aspirin. I don’t think Munich and Leverkusen are close geographically either.
yeah yeah yeah, i corrected myself 15 minutes prior to your comment.
good note about the Bayer v. Bayern difference. looked right over that!
Thanks to all for the geography lesson. Maybe now you can tell me where you can stick your snarky comments?
i can only imagine this should be directed at Brian I….?
By talking about provinces (not sure if this was the right english term for ‘Regionalländer’): Munich is in Bavaria and Leverkusen in North Rhine-Westfalia.
‘Borussia’ and ‘Eintracht’ aren’t names of the provinces as the term Borussia comes from ‘Prussia’ and Eintracht from ‘concord’.
Dortmund is also in North Rhine-Westfalia and Frankfurt-on-Main is in Hesse. Braunschweig by constrast is in Lower Saxony.
Perhaps this article about the 16 states of Germany might slightly help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_of_Germany .
FLOPPED AT both places regardless
Actually he didn’t……he was loaned back to MLS to get games, then he decided to stay! He’s def shown signs that he hasn’t always been the toughest but you cannot question what he’s done on the field, MLS or not and that proof is in his performances on the international level(and Everton, albeit for loans).
On the flip side….that will leave a DP opening. Who do the Galaxy go after? Lionel Messi or bust!!!!!
Looks like Jones will get his wish to stay in LA.
Love him or hate him, he was a great player for the US and MLS. I am on the side that regrets him not being selected to the WC team, but I can see it both ways. Thanks for the great years in MLS and for the Nats. As a player and coach, I respected Landon because I got to live through him. I only made it to semi pro before destroying my ACL. As I watched this WC, that is all I could think of. These guys arent just playing for themselves. They are playing for everyone that dreamed of being there and didnt make it for whatever reason. That is why I respect Landon. I couldnt be on the field in MLS or for the Nats, but he represented this country and his team the way I would have wanted him to. Not to even think he personally cares, but just my opinion.
Best comment on this board.
Wow. That’s a surprise. Heck of a career.
I beg of him though: Please go get some sort of broadcast journalism training before you take that ESPN or FOX money. It will still be there tomorrow.
The great majority of US soccer fans understand what Donovan has done for US soccer. The snide remarks the few tell us nothing about Donovan and alot about thier immaturity, lack of knowledge, gracelessness. Donovan has been pure class as a player and a person, one of the most honset sports figures I have ever seen. That his honset gets him maligned by people who won’t accomplish anything in their lives on a par with what he has done is simply thier problem.
Perfect.
Well said. I tried to express similar sentiments below but failed to do it as well as you did.
Thanks
+1
Listen, I think most people, like myself, agree that he is the best outfield player that the US has produced to date. However, instead of just congratulating the guy or wishing the guy kept playing, people started taking swipes at Klinsman and failing to realize that LD’s head and heart were not really in it. It is clear from this decision that he has been pondering retirement for quite a while. He was checked out. Let it go.
He is number on the US pantheon of soccer players,but hopefully he gets surpassed by world class talents in the future. He was an excellent player, but he is not world class because he was not considered one the best players in his position (arguably 2-5 in each position) in the world at his peak. Here’s to hoping we have world class players.
Can you provide this so called list of World Class players form position to position that Landon isn’t on?? I hate to say it but Anthony you really go out of your way to hate on LD, and it’s really pathetic. Whether he was pondering retirement or not, if you are any type of good manager, one who could manage various types of players, you don’t pass on the country’s best player ever for WC novices that were not WC level or that you had no intentions of playing. Face it, Klinsmann got it wrong with a host of roster exclusions and the sooner people own up to it instead of celebrating Landons omission the better!
His goal against Algeria is one of my all-time favorite sports moments, but I think he’s making a mistake. What’s he going to do? He stinks on TV commentary, doesn’t have the right mindset for coaching, and has never done anything else.
Dancin witha starzz.. book it.
Oh god. You’re right.
this is a big bummer.
Wow definitely unexpected. Contrary to those above me, I think that this is more of a repercussion of Klinsmann leaving him off the World Cup roster, rather than leaving him off because he didn’t have anything left in the tank.
Donovan leaves the game as arguably the best U.S. outfield player of all time and it was a pleasure to have him play for us. It was also cool to see him play in person a few times. He will be missed and I am not sure we see another player like him play for the U.S. in the foreseeable future. I hope Green can continue to develop and he may or may not end up being our next big thing but until then Donovan was a once in a generation talent for us Americans. I wish Donovan all the best in the next phase of his life and give respect to a American soccer legend.
It’s easy to say he wasn’t good enough. However you can really only compare that to the other guys on the team. Donovan is better then Wondo, Davis, Diskerud, and probably just as good Zusi and Bedoya right now.
Were you at the camp leading up to the WC? Did you see if LD was better/worse than anyone you listed? Did you see how LD fit into the team’s chemistry?
The truth is, we will never know what impact, if any, he could have had.
exactly, which is why people need to MOVE ON.
Bryan, we would love it if you would just stop commenting then. If it is so easy to move on, why haven’t you?
what are you even talking about? i didn’t bring it up and i left one comment saying i agree with SJ and they should get over it.
i’ve been over it since May. prove me wrong, otherwise move along.
I’ve proven you wrong. There are like 20 different articles with threads about it. I’m not going to rehash it all for you again. Short of it, Jurgen is extremely hypocritical (countless examples). Don’t tell everyone to move on if you open up an article about LD and make a bunch of comments about the World Cup.
seriously Jesse, what are you talking about? i said to prove me wrong that i haven’t “gotten over it.” that was incredibly obvious. are you just arguing for the sake of arguing?
i know you’re just making things up because i AGREE LD should have been on the team over Davis or Wondo and i have made that very clear. but i got over it and haven’t complained about it since i’d say 3-5 days removed from the final cuts.
so no, you haven’t proven me wrong about anything and i haven’t “open up an article about LD and make a bunch of comments about the World Cup.”
i made two comments about LD prior to you coming in and spouting nonsense. one comment said this was a “big bummer” and the other was agreeing with SJ people need to get over the fact that LD didn’t go to the WC. it sucks, but it is what it is. everyone has spoken their piece about it.
other than that, my comments on this thread literally have nothing to do with LD being on or off the WC team.
you just proved it. Your commenting on it. If you don’t care, then leave me alone and stop going out of your way to stop others from doing so.
Jesse – you didn’t prove anything. you accused me of something i didn’t do, so obviously i’m going to call you out for it. in other words, my comments have literally nothing to do with what you accused me of…which was “not letting it go” myself.
i didn’t prevent ANYONE from doing anything and i responded to someone i AGREED with and not someone i disagreed with. you started this conversation, not me.
you have issues man. cheers.
haha. That dismissive juvenile thing you just did… classy!
I don’t know anything about you, but coming in here and being a punk, telling other people “just let it go” was extremely uncalled for. You don’t get to control other peoples thoughts or emotions, I’m sorry that you feel entitled to.
Jesse – the only “punk” here is you my man.
“You don’t get to control other peoples thoughts or emotions, I’m sorry that you feel entitled to.”
no, apparently only you do and the fact that you HONESTLY think i attempted to do that tells me you are either incredibly stupid or just tr011ing. especially given your 42 comments about why your opinion is right. take your own advice. i made one comment on the issue which i have every right to do. i didn’t force s!&t down anyone’s throat…that has been you.
get a grip man. not everyone is out to get you.
were you? Yet you felt entitled to imply Jurgen made the call based on form and chemistry, when the facts say differently.
If LD retired from professional soccer because “of a repercussion of Klinsmann leaving him off the World Cup roster”, then he is really mentally weaker than I originally thought.
Who’s to say, maybe your right. But all I know is that I would definitely be emotional if I missed out on my last chance to play in the biggest tournament there is. At the end of the day athletes are humans too.
Really, this guy is a roller coaster of emotions.
Why not retire after winning the champions league which is possible with the galaxy.
He could of gone to Mexico and play libertadores or gone to Europe for a last time.
Wtf is wrong with you Donovan.
You need a scenery change, and maybe another MLS team could have have change his mind, like nycfc, sounders, red bull, Toronto.
Look at Henry, Beckham, pirlo, rafa Marquez, keane, Cahill, and many more playing way after their age.
It’s a shame Donovan will not continue to play after the World Cup has given MLS new fans and attention.
Now the question is, will galaxy end up with 2 DP slots next year season, once Gonzalez and Donovan leave. Will ronaldinho finally gets his wish and play at galaxy? What is going on with galaxy and red bull?
Leave us out of this, bro. This is between you and Landycakes!!
You don’t know NASL to El Paso. Him and Ronaldinho have a special relationship.
His handle should be “NASL to El Paso for Ronaldinho in MLS”
We went out for a while 🙂 but his soccer career was bigger than me 🙂 jk lol
Spicy
Man, this makes me feel old
+1
I think in a few decades time, Donovan will be remembered as the first great US Soccer star, but in the way we think of some pre-Babe Ruth players as great. Hall of Fame worthy, absolutely no doubt first ballot, but not transformative in terms of quality or off-the-field status in the context of the modern game at its top levels. He was simply our best and most-visible player, and one of the regions’ best players, during a time when the game was growing in this part of the world but not particularly well developed and when there wasn’t much competition domestically or internationally for the spot he inhabited. I don’t mean to diminish what he’s done at all (Cobb and Cy Young were pre-Ruth after all), but we’ve yet to see a true, global star emerge from the US. He deserves all the accolades he will get, but I suspect he won’t be on a Rushmore of US Soccer after a few decades pass even if he clearly would be chiseled in now.
What about Kyle Rote, Jr.?
You dismiss LD’s accomplishments WAY too easily. Putting up 50+ goal and 50+ assists for the senior national team is much much rarer than you think.
Assists are not a historically tracked number so that number is hard to compare. There are only 21 players that have scored more international goals than LD. Of those 21 I can look at the names and tell you most don’t have 50 assists.
That means LD is one of less than 10 players in the world to EVER accomplish this. If he doesn’t make the “MT Rushmore” for the US in your futuristic scenario, then the US must be regularly winning the World Cup as well.
Cobb had more hits than anyone but Rose, but Cobb isn’t a top ten player all-time. I am not dismissing his accomplishments. I am putting them into a context I see developing. As for “the world,” that is all extremely relative. Donovan would never have achieved his stats on numerous traditional football powers, even assuming he would have gotten caps in the first place.
You can say that, he would never have achieved on a super power squad, but the fact is, we don’t know. He wasn’t born and raised in Germany or Brazil. Maybe he would have fought harder to be a member of those squads and become even better, maybe he would have flamed out.
I believe Donovan was exceptionally gifted even for a pro soccer player, he could have been as good as he wanted to be. He wanted to be the best American player, but wasn’t driven to be the best in the world, so only achieved what he set out for.
Stats aren’t everything in soccer. Consistent stats are noteworthy, and when they are exceptional they typically point to an exceptional talent.
THANK GOD! Won’t miss your whiney antics, Little Debbie!
Ladies and gentleman I give you Klinsman’s son.
I didn’t realize he had another kid. Must be a brother from another mother?
sad face
Thank you Landon Donovan! You are such an amazing player. No matter what anyone thinks of you personally you are the BEST US player ever. Even if one particular person does not think so. We all know so!
Best US player ever.
Enjoy retirement LD. I thought he looked great on camera and is well spoken, he will do well in announcing.
Just waiting for the book to come out.
He does not have the right voice to be a longtime commentator. The book would be great though.
WHY IS JORGEN FORCING HIM TO RETIRE
LOL !!
Wow, love him or hate him, there’s no doubting his impact on US soccer and MLS. Truly the best US player to play the game. I wish nothing but the best for you Landy! Good luck!
I wasn’t expecting this. Thought he play two maybe three more seasons. Maybe klinsmann knew this and that’s why he wasn’t called up. Just hope US soccer and MLS do a classy thing and honor him the right way.
he wasnt called up because he was sadly out of shape….he has actually lost some weight since then…but just saying
Source that he was out of shape?
Look at photos of him from March. Dude had a spare tire. It was only a motorcycle tire, but it was there.
Also… “I can’t train hard for two weeks.. blah blah blah”.”
The fan boys don’t really notice that part!
I finally realized you are referring to yourself as part of the “Jurgen fan boys”
Let me ask you this, JayAre. Could you settle a pass, with two world class, highly conditioned athletes and soccer minds, not in poor position – mind you – and, still hold them off for the seconds to settle and strike the ball cleanly enough to beat Neuer?
You don’t like him now, or ever. I’ve rooted for him as representing my country since his 1999 showing.
You have a right to your opinion, but, the lack of class your showing is nearly Pep-esque at this point.
Yesterdays game was a glorified friendly. Stop putting too much on All Star games they can’t and won’t measure how the league has grown.
Landon no longer loves the game
He’s retiring because of that
Tell me what’s classless about that? I’m a fan of LD and the national team but I won’t give these guys more praise than they deserve. Some of you fans need to get real sometimes. I wanted LD at the WC I wanted him to succeed but he didn’t have any heart. He’d given all he could give already. He was burned out!! I noticed that and agreed with Klinsmanns choice to pick the next guy. Unlike most people on this site I try to be rational in my analysis of players.
I saw pictures and the same videos I’m sure you saw from camp and LD had a six pack and was quoted as being in the top 3 of most in shape at the preparation camp! The vitriol against this man continues smdh
I get tired of these sadly uninformed comments. If you watched the Galaxy at all, you would know that at the time of the national team camp he was in excellent shape. I have given specific examples of this before and am tired of repeating them.
No he wasn’t, even by his own admission.
Reports were he was in the top 10 during the beep test. So if he was out of shape then a lot of guys were much worse.
link? i don’t remember that. i remember everyone THINKING he was because of the way a clip from that ESPN series was made. everyone was like, “look, Beckerman and LD were #1/#2” and we find out that wasn’t even the case. clever editing.
all i remember hearing, for certain, was that Bradley “broke” the test.
Twellman said it on a big head red head podcast just after the cut.
just listened to the podcast and he says nothing like that. which was disappointing because listening to that was painful and i was hoping to hear how players did. i forgot how much trash these guys were talking on Green, Brooks, Yedlin, and Chandler and what homers they were being for Evans, Parkhurst, and Goodson.
if i somehow missed it, let me know the minute where he starts talking about it.
Minute 54 he says he was fine at the beep test. I do remember some else saying top 1/3rd tho.
Jack – minute 55, but i hear what you are referring to.
i really wish they would release the results. i’ve wanted to know the results for that thing since they had it. it’s such a nutty test that it would be cool to know.
lol just saw your post. yeah, minute 54/55.
It’s not like he was Ronaldo (the Brazilian one).
He’s retiring because he wasn’t called up. There’s not really anything left for him to do in MLS. He’s won everything and holds nearly every record. He won’t reach the all time caps record as long as Klinsmann is coach so he might as well retire.
This ultimately proves Klinsmann right. Why would a coach take a player to the World Cup the same year the player is retiring? Klinsmann and his staff knew there wasn’t much left in the tank, and they were right.
You mean like Zidane in 2006…?
+1
LD is no Zidane stop being delusional. He was a great player in MLS, Solid in the EPL. He lost the fire that motivated him he’s been half retired for years now. Klinsmann noticed that and did what was best for the team. Truth was LD didn’t deserve a WC spot. Throughtout the tornament we missed Boyd more than LD. LD has done a lot for Ussoccer and will be remembered for all his accomplishements and commitment to helping MLS grow. I hope the new guys can take us to the next level.
On another note MLS is losing 2 marquee DP’s in NY and LA and we have a new CBA which promises more moeny for players. I can wait to see what happens next season.
The US isn’t France either.
^This. Donovan was everything to the U.S. that Zidane was to France… maybe more.
+1 LD is the greatest USMNT player to date. From 2002 to 2013 was very important 11 years in US Soccer and he was absolutely pivotal during that stretch.
LD was not US’ Zidane because Zidane at half speed was still extremely dangerous against our opponents. Not LD. It all depends who we are playing. Against lower/mid-tier CONCACAF opponents, half speed opponents will still do well. It really matters WHO we play. Against the competition we play in this World Cup, half speed LD is not good.
LD has scored against big teams small teams or any other team your ignorant heart desires to drum up……The disrespect shown to a man who has given everything to US soccer and football sateside is alarming! Players where they want, feel comfortable and what makes sense to them so who are we to disparage this mans career because he didn’t give in to Europe’s clutches. His service to Everton, where he single handedly took them up the table in back to back seasons, and embarrassed many of englands top players to boot! It’s no coincidence that Phil Neville called LD the best winger in the BPL in his time playing with Everton! If you don’t believe look it up, as I don’t have the link to that particular quote! Lastly, we’ll never know what kind of impact LD would have had at the WC because he wasn’t given the opportunity but I can tell you that he couldn’t have been much worse than Zusi, Bedoya or Davis! Wondo, I won’t mention because he was brought to do one thing for these final, the thing that most people give him the most credit for and he choked big time!
Ok ask yourself this, Would LD have made the kind of difference that Zidane made in 2006? No. Zidane was still a difference maker LD would have been a bit roll player
You have to look at who did go for the US. Would Landon made more of difference then Brad Davis or Wondo?
JayAre….you are pretty clueless man… nobody was comparing skill
Congrats fan boys LD is still retiring and the WC is over and he wasn’t a part of it because he didn’t earn it. I’m not taking anything away from LD he help MLS a lot but I’m glad he’s retiring.
No she is clueless rude loud-mouthed little Julian Green fangirl who needs to calm down and behave herself and lay off the stuff
Andy,
YOU are clueless. You have to compare skill and play making ability against the opponents we were playing. Half speed LD would not have been a difference maker against the teams we were playing. Sorry, nope. He has slipped. That being said, LD at his peak was better than ANYONE the US has produced. The issue is, he is no longer at his peak and is actually far from it, and his head is no longer in it. As a former D1 athlete and club athlete, the last thing you want is a teammate whose head is not in it in tight situations. Would I have brought him over Davis? Yes, but it was inconsequential. I thi the bigger issue was not bringing Boyd or EJ instead of Wondon.
Anthony, you keep talking about half speed LD wouldn’t have made a difference against the teams in our group but yet Zusi, Bedoya, Wondo, Green and Davis were faster options, thus their inclusions over LD???? You’re reaching and the output by those mentioned, aside from JG, produced nothing of note from this WC. Your delusion is clever yet worrying all at the same time!!
Of coarse Landon isn’t Zidane, but the US doesn’t have a Zidane. The US has Brad Davis who is actually older then Donovan.
France isn’t the country the Eurosnobs mean when they talk about European clubs either.
Jaded much? The comparison was about important players retiring after the WC. Not a comparison in skill.
Sure he is. The best player in American soccer history, just like Zidane is the best Algerian (who chose to play for France).
LD was always a headcase, always will be but he had recaptured the fire. He wanted this World Cup, he still would have been our best outfield player.
Unfortunately that JK let his personal squabble get in the way of US soccer’s chances to make a statement.
Zidane was born and raised in France.
But he is a dual Algerian citizen, born to Algerian immigrants, who grew up in an Algerian heavy neighborhood who inquired about playing for Algeria when he was younger.
Unfortunately, you are letting delusions get in your way. LD is past his prime, he WAS our best outfield player, but he is no longer the best outfield player. I would have brought him as a bench player, but who knows if he wanted that. In the original starting line-up, who would he supplant. Jozy, no; Clint, no; MB, no; Beckerman, no; Jones, no; Zusi or Bedoya no because they both provide more defensive cover than LD does at this stage. When Joy went down, what we need was another possession/holding forward not LD.
we needed midfield composure, which Zusi, Bedoya, Davis nor Wondo could provide.
These players are all attacking mids and forwards. That was not the true source of the problem. The composure and technical skill was missing most in the back… those guys played their socks off but the ball was not even getting into the holding mids with any consistency, let alone to these kinds of players.
Donovan was not the solution any more than Bedoya or Zusi or Davis were. The solution is 10-15 years of developing a version of Matt Besler who can hold the ball under heavy pressure and pass the ball out of danger with calmness and vision, even against the world’s very best players.
agree to disagree on that one. not sure a centerback’s main skill is to “hold balls under pressure” (getting caught inpossession inthe defensive third is never really agood idea). Also, that implies the US never had any posession in the opponents half of the field, which it did. The problem was that the US gave away possession far too quickly and easily when it DID have the ball, and lacked the quality to generate and finish attacks in the final third, which IS where Donovan has a demonstrated history of making a difference at the world cup level.
You mean like Lahm in 2014?
LD fell out of love with professional soccer.
Lahm just decided to limit his to less than 70 games a year and to go out on top.
This is how I see it too. LD seemed to be at a cross roads the last few years he loved the game and didn’t love it at the same time. All his interview hinted that he wasn’t able to do what he once could anymore and this came from LD’s mouth not anyone else. I just wish the LD fan boys would realize that.
LD couldn’t do what he once did, fine I’ll accept your statement as truth. He once carried the US team on his own shoulders. That doesn’t mean he didn’t have value he still could have finished chances, played with toughness and composer, and given his teammates more opportunities. No question about it. Van Persie isn’t what he once was, Klose isn’t what he once was, Marquez isn’t what he once was. That doesn’t mean their respective countries should have left them off the world cup roster. Those teams leaned on their aging stars for both skill and experience.
Ya, that’s why I mentioned Professional.
I’m sure he loves to play. That doesn’t mean he likes the rest of the job.
BTW, Jesse I would have bought LD as a sub.
and I believe he would have excelled as a sub or spot starter.
Zidane had 18 total Goals/Assists in his final season, on one of the best teams in Europe, RM….I love Donovan, but don’t even try and compare the two.
I hear this argument all the time and it frustrates me. It is so illogical. This is to you Jonathon and everyone else that says player X was great while “on one of the best teams in Europe” Great teammates against lesser opponents, means more opportunities to score. If a player has success with poor teammates and tough competition, that is a sign of greatness.
Ok so why did Michael Owen flop then?
Maybe he wasn’t any good.
For reference look up “Freddy Adu”
Cool story bro…
+1
If you seriously think that Donovan couldn’t give us as much/way more than Brad Davis or Aron Johannsson gave us at this World Cup (or Mix who didn’t even play), then you just go right on smoking whatever you are smoking.
+1, its easy to down play Donovan, but you have to compare him to players that made the team. At least Donovan had World Cup experience and knew the level of play. I guess we’ll never know what might have happened if the ball fell to Donovan’s feet rather then Wondo’s.
Sadly I think we all know exactly what would have happened if that ball had fallen to Donovan rather than Wondo. Donovan would have absolutely put it in the back of the net.
It’s a really interesting comparison of the level of play and how much the context matters. In MLS Wondo absolutely sinks that shot. But I imagine he was overwhelmed by the moment in Brazil.
+1 LD time and time again shows up for big games. He never quits
Except after this season. But you all know what I was talking about
Big game LD. Always showed up in the biggest moments.
He didn’t show up in 2006 when his head wasn’t in it.
He didnt show up in 1998, when he failed in that one youth tournament. You are absolutely right Anthony he has constantly failed his whole life similar to what I assume your life is like. Thus the need to talk trash about the greatest USA player.
he was the best US player against Italy.
You have to at least put it on frame. Then you give yourself a chance at a rebound off the keeper or something.
It proves nothing of the kind. It’s ridiculous the extent to which people go to credit Saint Jurgeon with pyschic power. It is just as likely that with another national team coach in place, he would want to play thorugh the COPA America, but since he knows Klinsmann will never play him he’s moving on now.
Let me correct your statement for you…
This ultimately proves nothing related to Donovan’s exclusion from the World Cup roster.
As if Donovan would not be able to make the grade next year if he wanted to. Child please.
+1
One of the most ridiculous comments I’ve ever seen.
I suspect it’s quite the other way around, actually. If he was still involved with the Nats, I bet that fuels him to keep on playing.
Wow 32 is fairly young
Well, he’ll turn 33 before next season starts. And when he returned from his sabbatical, he mentioned he was gearing up for a run to the World Cup and implied he might hang it up after that. So, here we are.
On the other hand, he signed a new contract not that long ago that would have extended beyond this season.
More evidence that this guy is a headcase. Too bad because he had the talent to become the U.S’s first world class soccer star.
He always showed he had World Class talent when he was called on. He just didn’t have the heart or grit to play that way all the time. If my life depended on a guy finish a chance in a crucial moment, I would take Donovan over many “world class” superstars including Messi. He did arrive, he was amazing. Don’t let Eurosnobs tell you he wasn’t great because he didn’t play like a star in Europe.
He “arrived” and was a “star” in the U.S. market and maybe within Concacaf, but that is not saying that much in the soccer world at large. When I say world class star, I mean playing at a top European club winning championships and being recognizable and marketable around the entire world. An Iniesta caliber player.
Exactly, my point you’ve boxed yourself into the requirement to play in Europe to be World Class. News flash, Pele is universally recognized as a World Class player. He never played in Europe. We need to stop being so focused on Europe, and more concentrated on quality regardless of where it plays.
Yeah,
If he would have only played a couple years at some midling Euro team, then he’d have the respect of the Eurosnobs. Uggg.
When people talk about Europe, they are not talking about 90% of European teams, just a select few. There is no shame in never playing full time for a big European team. None. Get over it.
I don’t think you get it. I am actually paying Donovan a big complement, saying that he had the talent to make it at a top team and become a marketable international superstar. If all he could accomplish was to make it as a run-in-the-mill EPL player, then it doesn’t really matter to me whether he stayed in MLS or not (Although I think that would have made him a better player).
No, I get it.
I think we over-romanticize Europe. We think constantly that going there makes the player better when it probably makes little difference in actuality and we can point to a HUGE number of Americans where going to Europe has arguably retarded their career significantly. Whether it actually helped LD or hindered him would depend completely on situation and psyche (both of which we know are fairly fragile in this case). Too many of us pretend that Europe is the ONLY way and will automatically make players better by osmosis. Going to Europe at 24 or 25 probably won’t … going at age 5 probably will. Players do best when they are happy and comfortable and for a lot of Americans the culture shock makes them unhappy and uncomfortable. We may talk a big game by criticizing from a far that somehow his career was less than it could have been because it didn’t follow some idealized script that I have yet to see any American follow … but who cares. It was LD’s life and carreer and the sooner we all get to the point where we stop criticizing the choices of others because they don’t do things exactly the same way you think you would (but probably really wouldn’t if you were actually presented with the situation).
I personally have never been a huge LD fan (he just rubbed me the wrong way early in his career) but I respect his accomplishments and personal decisions. He is/was without question one of the best American Players ever with or without fitting into other people’s paradigms of success.
Ramone I fully agree.
Danny, we do get it. We just disagree that success in Europe is what makes someone great.
Aaarrrgh! You are so out of your depth! PELE! Really! 40 years ago! Newsflash dude, Champions League in name and it’s current format as well as most of the big leagues in Europe didn’t exist. All league and competitions were known as something else. Most of the teams in Europe in the 70’s were made up with domestic players with the exception of a few internationals. It’s not like today where club teams are basically all star teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal, PSG. OH and 40 years ago some of the strongest teams in the World were Santos(Pele’s club) Palmeiras,River Plate and Boca Juniors.
” I would take Donovan over many “world class” superstars including Messi.” Wow! Hahaha!
you read the full comment right?
You would LD on Messi at their peak if you life depended on it? Really? I hope you don’t have to do that any time soon.
LD was great, but he was not world class. US has produced good and very good players, but they have yet to truly produce a true world class talent. What I mean by world class is someone who could arguably be considered the best of among the best at his position in the world.
OMG. The world suddenly makes sense.
Reading comprehension isn’t very good for Anthony or Luke.
This was not which player I would want on my team, or even for a whole game. If it is a one v one moment and everything depends on that moment, you don’t want Messi, you don’t want Torres or Dzeko, you don’t want Yaya Torre or Cavani. These guys have been great players, but they fold under pressure. They player their best when the opponents are the easiest. Donovan plays his best when the stakes are the highest.
I would absolutely take Suarez over Donovan though, he does not cave under pressure either.
How many UEFA Champions Leauge championships does LD have again?
Chirp…chirp… Oh wait he’s never played in it.
” Donovan plays his best when the stakes are the highest.” Where was is in the quarterfinal game against Germany in 2002? Where was is in for the entirity of 2006 World Cup? Where was he in round of 16 game against Ghana? Messi has been in 2 quarterfinals and been runner up. Your going to seriously tell me that Donovan plays better than Messi when the stakes aret the highest? Bahahaha
LOL. worst example I’ve seen in quite awhile, so nice work there. How many Champions League titles does Pele have, Suarez have, Falcao, Aguerro??? None. But Nacho and Cassemiro got one last year. They are clearly better than the players listed above right? It is a TEAM sport.
2002 quarterfinal against Germany??? Read the article below. Donovan was great in that match and the whole world cup.
http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2014/03/17/12/14/germany-gets-past-the-united-states-on-to-semifinals-with-1-0-victory-historic-world-cup-run-for-the
In the Ghana match you complain about you know he scored, and setup the penalty kick with a great back heel right? Seriously if you are going to call out bad matches, then don’t call out ones where he received high marks.
No…I understood your flawed comment. In one given moment or situation, Messi has shown to score the critical goal or carry the team. In once critical moment to score, I take Messi, Ronaldo, Ribery to name a few over LD. Don’t mention Torres, he fell off the cart. he is no longer world class.
I did not call out Ronaldo or Ribery. Ronaldo is the same player regardless of situation.
Messi does not rise to the moment. His most fantastic moments are generally against the weakest competition. He’s been an amazing player, one of the best ever. That doesn’t make him clutch. Nerves get to him. LD gets better when nervy moments happen.
Jesse, I like LD, but you took this too far, and thus, you loose credibility. If you think that those like Suarez and Messi and Lewandoski don’t have a history coming through at crucial one off moments, you are either being disingenuous or don’t watch a lot of soccer.
read it again. I said I would take Suarez and never mentioned Lewandoski. Poland plays no meaningful games.
I’ve got to ask you guys to stop putting words in my mouth. I called out Messi, as he has failed when the moments are the greatest. The biggest game, say the World Cup final… he was off. Did not play well. That was not a surprise though, he has a history of caving in big games for the Argentines. He had a good Cup as whole, but you can’t say he played better than he does in moments against 2nd tier Spanish clubs. Donovan does play better against Germany, Spain, Brazil etc. than he is likely to against Philadelphia on a random Saturday night.
Althought I doubt it’ll happen I hope he gets to play for the USMNT one more time so he can be given a proper farewell, he has been a massive part of the team for over a decade now. He is arguably our best outfield player of all time and the way he was brushed aside leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
I agree. Even a 89th minute cameo in a USA home friendly agaist crappy nation would be appropriate. He needs to have his “testimonial” match.
I hope he declines if he is asked. Klinsmann does not deserve a chance at reconciling the relationship.
Agreed JK screwed us, the fans, in addition to LD.
Yes, Everyone should be petty and small minded. Hurray for Spite!
Yes Klinsmann is the only one allowed to be small minded and petty.
lol
Small minded and petty? Like the guy whose son took joy in this country’s all time greatest contributor being unceremoniously left off the WC team. I’m sure Jonathan was just born that way, right.
So, you think LD should act like a baby because someone else did.
Okay… Try that one in your life.
Do it at work and tell me how it goes.
Pointing out who is small minded and petty in this picture. I was not the one who suggested Landon not accept a farewell match for the USMNT but if some fans would rather not witness how uncomfortable that might be with Klinsmann at the helm then I respect their opinion
Fair enough.
It might be uncomfortable that’s very true.
He screwed us by getting out of the group of death?
Donovan, 1 chance against Neuer, 1 goal. That wouldn’t have been helpful in matching us up against Algeria?
Yeah and in the first few months of the season before the roster was announced he had what, 1 or 0 goals? see anybody can pull out stats that make their argument look good. BTW if i was coach Donovan would have been in brazil, but im not gonna whine and call Klinsmann an idiot for not bringing him. Would we have played better with him? maybe, maybe not, but im defnitely not going to act like Donovan was so superior to our other players that he could have made it a much much better tournament
Donovan’s statistics post sabbatical were light-years ahead of his overall career stats, which were far and away above pretty much every other player suiting up for the US National Team or MLS.
He was clearly a better choice than wondo and brad davis. Is it really a surprise that two 30 year old world cup rookies failed to produce a single play that was valuable to the team?
Yeah and in the first few months of the season before the roster was announced he had what, 1 or 0 goals? see anybody can pull out stats that make their argument look good. BTW if i was coach Donovan would have been in brazil, but im not gonna whine and call Klinsmann a fool for not bringing him. Would we have played better with him? maybe, maybe not, but im defnitely not going to act like Donovan was so superior to our other players that he could have made it a much much better tournament
I don’t call Klinnsman fool at all. JK knew exactly what he was doing. It was an arrogant “coaches ego before the team” decision.
Jesse your so crazy!!! How about that he only had 4 goals this year? Don’t let one game fool you. Landon was not in top form. He wouldn’t even have started over Zusi and Bedoya. I swear you Landon fanboys are crazy
I’m gonna play the role of King Googley and correct you. It is “you’re”.
Bedoya and Zusi were on the field, but did nothing to write home about. They both struggled, neither has anything special in their game. They are role players. No matter how you look at it Donovan was always a playmaker and a star. When you have a team with so few game changers, you don’t leave a proven commodity at home. Jurgen was full of excuses, all of them were bologna.
Bedoya and Zusi provide more defensive cover than LD does on the wings (I still would have brought him over Brad Davis). I would not have brought him over Wondo, because Wondo was in good form, even LD admitted he looked great. LD was not in good form.
@ Anthony
+ 1
If we were to just go by goals then a lot of players that made the roster for Brazil would not have went!!!! That’s a terrible example and additionally if Arena would have played Landon closer to goal from the beginning of the year then I think we can safely assume he’d have had more than 4 goals!
@Anthony
A descent coach realizes “looking great” in practice and being ready for the World stage are two different things. Unfortunately we don’t have a coach like that.
And yet he couldn’t score 1 v 1 against Scott Goodwin of the Carolina Railhawks. It’s a funny game.
And yet he couldn’t score 1 v 1 against Scott Goodwin of the Carolina Railhawks. It’s a funny game.
Oh yeah, a WC game is EXACTLY like an MLS ASG. This one is too easy.
I for one don’t feel screwed at all, and I’m a fan. Would I have brought him, yes, but I’m not the coach. I respect his decisions even if I don’t agree with them, he got us as far as we would’ve went with Landon.
Well, we don’t know that do we?
Well, no. Not with the certainty that LD fans have when they insinuate or flat out claim that we would have gone further with LD in the side.
+1
Odd comment, how can you say that? It could have been better or worse with LD. No one knows for sure, we can’t rewrite history. I can tell you would have finished Wondo’s chance. LD would have shown up to play, he always shows up in the biggest moments.
Uhhh I like Landon and all but he doesn’t show up in all the biggest moments (no player does) I’ve seen him miss chances as well. Don’t be blind to the truth. Your saying Wondo didn’t show up to play? Just because he missed doesn’t mean he wasn’t ready.
Your comment is the odd one. How can you say Landon would have finished that chance? Your being a hypocrite.
I screwed up that sentence. “I can’t tell you if”
LD does show up in the biggest moment though. No question about that. To ignore that he has that clutch trait is silly. He absolutely has been clutch in big tournaments and big moments for the US.
Yea he has…..but he also has been invisible in important tournaments and matches. You can’t deny that.
The thing is I would have taken him to Brazil but to act like he is some untouchable Maradona-like god is ridiculous, especially at this point in his career. I’m not going to spend time crying about the fact that he didn’t go, especially after we had a successful World Cup and was led by another US legend in Duece.
*were led
I’m not content with good enough. We were worse than Costa Rica and Mexico. 3rd best CONCACAF team. That is not good enough. With Donovan we would have been better, maybe the results wouldn’t have changed, impossible to know. It was the wrong decision and one made for non soccer reason. Jurgen can NEVER be given a pass for that. He put his ego in front of the team. We can all move on and hope Jurgen learns to be a reasonable human with a team first mentality, but that doesn’t change what he did. It was a mistake and that mistake was made for nonsoccer reasons. That is what cannot be swept under the rug.
Jesse,
You are assuming that Donovan’s inclusion would have made the USMNT ‘s Brazil experience even more than “good enough”.
How can you prove that?
The World Cup is over and nothing you can do will change what the record is.
And no one can ever prove whether Donovan would have been a positive, negative or neutral part of the team.
I think his contribution would have been neutral but then again I didn’t think Yedlin, Brooks or Green would be as good as they were.
” It was a mistake and that mistake was made for nonsoccer reasons. That is what cannot be swept under the rug.”
Nothing is getting swept under the rug . However, you cannot prove what you just wrote.
Unless you have evidence to the contrary, then whatever JK said about it, is why LD was left off the team.
Wondo makes it 4/5 times, and I am not a Wondo fan. Btw, Dempsey missed a sitter as well. I have seen LD miss sitters as well.
Dempsey’s wasnt a sitter. He tried to meg the keeper at a poor angle….perhaps could have done better but that was far from a sitter
Congratulations on being sensible Brian I. Wading through the sandbox of an SBI article about Donovan rarely results in anything worthwhile. You have provided an exception.
Then… LD just becomes what you think Klinsmann is.
Its not about Klisnmann. This would be about Donovan and his fans.
Please, from my sources its well known that Donovan will become Klinnsman’s assistant at the end of the year. As for the more important question, whether the all star game should be between MLS all stars and Liga MX all stars Donovan had this comment: only if you want to see a “friendly” turn into a battlefield.
Get over it.
agree’d hope Jurgen starts him against Columbia and pulls him after 15 mins or so, ALA blanco
Galaxy and the local American Outlaws chapters should organize a send off game at every stadium where he plays till the end of the season. I’d rather Klinsmann not be a part of it. His fake, brainless smile/smirk would turn my stomach at such an event
Manny,
grow the hell up you plastic “fan”. Embrace your pettiness!
A great idea. Also, I’d rather you aren’t there either. Would make it even better.
Disagree. Landon played enough and burned enough bridges. Adios Landon.
comments like this are bogus and exactly why im sick of the userbase here
simple…then go away
Whom did he burn bridges with, I’m curious to know???? There is no poof out there that throughout LD’s career he’s been anything but class on and off the field! Your assumptions may burn bridges with posters on this thread but come correct and get your facts right when your talking about a BOSS!!!
+1
Then I should point out that LD did burn bridges with his BOSS!!! when he went home for his blankie after failing to beat his homesickness after 5 seconds in Munich. And his BOSS!!! had trophies that make LD look like an intern janitor. So his BOSS!!! left him at home with Mommy for this flight because the men had to play teams that weren’t Algeria and Slovenia
We clearly have different definitions of what burning bridges means and I’m not about to get into a CAPS war with you but I will say that soccer is a team sport, not one where players win titles by themselves nor does a player a trophy make! The sabbatical did it’s damage to LD’s hopes of making the squad but it shouldn’t have for the simple reason that LD did his penance when he came back and wasn’t selected for awhile. Furthermore he captained and led with his play on the field, a young American team through the Gold Cup the following summer which they won! I still fail to see the scenario where things were that bad between player and coach that left Landon off the roster but I guess when you have a manager with the ego the size of klinsmanns you get what we got, no improvement over past WC’s, squeaking out of the group(again) and the use of similar tactics to that of Bob Bradley’s when the games got more intense. JK needs to stop with the lip service of playing proactive football and anything else he promotes but does just the opposite of!
LD has a couple of demons that always held him back.
1: Shyness around contact (fear of injury).
2: Low signal-to-noise ratio. A great, great signal when it flashed. But just too much damn denominator: the poor boy has always been downright promiscuous about giving up possession.
A great talent, to be sure, but he leaves me with the lingering doubt that he only realized about 92.3% of his potential.
Top 3 all time, not top 1. Not too shabby!
who is better than Donovan?
Chris wondowlowski and brad Davis!!!!
too soon
this is the only proper way out. screw the spite mentioned from the other replies, i for one would love to see him get his final call and get a send off. why not in the colombia game eh?
people, take the negativity out of your life, for christ’s sake. it doesn’t make you tough, trust me.
Does this mean he’ll make more public comments?
hope so
His Autobiography is going to be great… as long as he pulls a Wynalda and lets it all out.
can’t wait.
will he go into detail over how he failed at Leverkusen and Bayern Munich?
thoughts on rivalry with Dempsey?
I don’t think it’s fair to call his time at Leverkusen and Bayern as failure. Certainly not highlights of his career but important stops nonetheless.
Wasn’t JK the coach at Bayern when he was there?
I don’t think it’s fair to call it a “rivalry” with Clint. Except for having Robert Green fumble an easy to handle shot/pass from distance, what did Clint ever do for the USMNT when Donovan was on it?
Duece scored a sweet goal from a DMB cross against Ghana in 2006, which was not Donovan’s finest hour.
Score against Egypt, Spain, and Brazil in consecutive games at the Confederations Cup…
I have a great deal of respect for LD, but you sir/mam, have NO IDEA what you are saying. NONE. I still think LD is more talented than Deuce, but Deuce did more with his talent. When they were both on the USMNT, they were both as equally as dominant from 05-14.
anthony, with all due respect, dempsey never dominated USMNT games like Donovan did. Donovan could hurt teams from all parts of the field, and could set up his teammates. Think of the way he and Davies combined to score against Mexico and Brazil. Those goals struck in the blink of an eye. Dempsey was only dangerous inside the box, and needed help or an opponent’s mistake to really make a difference.
Chicago josh, the us played its best game that tournament against Italy, and Donovan was the teams best player. Even the italians thought so. Dempsey wasn’t even getting regular minutes back then.
BWHAHAHAHAHAHA.
What did Dempsey ever do? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Dempsey actually showed up and scored in WINS against top 20 teams not named Mexico.
Germany, Italy, Spain, Ghana…. Beat them all. Clint scored in all.
Donovan has nothing to show in spite of many more chances to make a difference against these kinds of teams.
A great player, but a local legend in this context. I don’t blame the globally snooty audience for being unimpressed… he never beat any of them! Closest he got was as a passenger against Portugal in 2002, and Spain in 2009. Clint produced the goods in WINS (and draws for that matter)
Did you actually write this book? If you need to ask a question like this, I will assume this unread e-book is the digital equivalent of rough toilet paper.
Clint scored in wins against the very best teams. He won the Silver Ball at the Confederations Cup. Donovan scored in losses against these teams, or against Mexico, or not at all. He won Honda trophies and other pieces of regional plastic. It’ s that simple.
Donovan won the bronze ball for third tops in goal scoring at the 2010 WC, a tourney that means something, not that warmup tourney in the Confeds Cup that you mentioned! Let’s see if Dempsey can surpass the number of WC goals that Donovan has and then we can talk, which I really hate to do because I really like all of OUR USMNT players but this comparison thing is disrespectful to Landon! If Dempsey was so good he would have stayed in Europe instead of being chased back to MLS, where LD has reigned supreme most of his career!
Ronniet
“Donovan won the bronze ball for third tops in goal scoring at the 2010 WC, a tourney that means something, not that warmup tourney in the Confeds Cup that you mentioned!”
The Bronze Ball?
There is no such award at the World Cup.
.
In 2010 the winner of the Golden Boot was Thomas Müller, who was given the award because he had three assists in addition to his five goals the other players who scored 5 goals only had one assist each.
5 goals
Thomas Müller, Wesley Sneijder,David Villa, Diego Forlán
4 goals
Gonzalo Higuaín, Miroslav Klose, Róbert Vittek
3 goals
Luís Fabiano, Asamoah Gyan, Landon Donovan, Luis Suárez
I don’t think there was a rivalry with Demps. more of media hype. Atleast that’s how I see it.
I’m sure Donovan will get better at speaking before the mic. Can you imagine an announcing team of Twellman, Wynalda, and Donovan? If it was for NYCFC, I would watch every game just for the announcers. People say American announcers are not good, but I find Wynalda and Twellman’s commentary to be intriguing for the off-the-field controversial stuff. Team WynaldaTwellmanDonovan > Arlo White
Wynalda is among the worst commentator’s I’ve had to listen to in the last decade, he is simply abysmal and makes watching CL games painful. If he is part of fox’s WC coverage in 2018 I will have to watch it some other way.
Sure Wynalda is terrible, but is he Lalas terrible???
I guess the reason I find Lalas slightly more tolerable is he isn’t a color commentator on games very often at all (hes abysmal when he is). He isn’t horrendous as a studio personality to me. Also his twitter account is hilarious
Where is Alexi in all this????