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Landon Donovan open to continue coaching in future

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photo by Kyle Terada/USA Today Sports

By FRANCO PANIZO

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Landon Donovan had his first coaching experience on Tuesday, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so that he is considering doing it again.

Donovan led the MLS Homegrowns in their match vs. Club America’s U-20s on Tuesday night as part of MLS All-Star Week. His team lost on penalty kicks after surrendering its first-half lead, but not even the defeat could take away from how much fun Donovan had.

In fact, he had such a great time on the sidelines that you should not rule out seeing him there again in the near future.

“This was a week to sort of dip my toe in and see how it felt. I really had a great time,” said the 33-year-old Donovan. “I don’t know what the future holds. It depends, obviously, on a lot of things, but I really enjoyed it. If I get another opportunity, then maybe I’ll consider it, yeah.”

Donovan, wearing a polo shirt and some athletic pants after suggestions from his wife, admitted to have a little anxiety on the bench. A former player who was very determined to focus on the things he could control during his historic career, Donovan found it tough not being able to go out on the field to make an impact. He sat on the bench for much of the first half, but got up and became more animated as the match wore one.

It was a different experience for him, but still an enjoyable one.

“You get caught up in it but the reason is you only spend two days with these guys but you have a connection with them because I see myself there,” said Donovan. “I was there 15 years ago so I know what they’re going through, I know each kid is going through different things based on different thing, so your really want them to do well, you’re really pulling for them to do well.

“I said to (the assistant coaches) the other day after training that it would be really fun to have this group of guys for a full year to watch them develop and see them grow as people and soccer players. That’d be really enjoyable. Didn’t get enough of that this week, but in the end you really want them to do well.”

It may be early, but Donovan’s coaching techniques appears to resonate with his players. He was with the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team during its World Cup campaign, and privately received glowing reviews from the young Americans players there. They enjoyed his personality and tutelage on the field, and off of it as well.

Tuesday night was no different. In fact, some players were left gushing over their appreciation for Donovan.

“Landon’s the man,” said Erik Palmer-Brown. “He’s been a role model to me, just watching him play with the national team and the LA Galaxy. He’s the man. We played stick-man golf at World Cup. The words I use to describe him is just awesome, he’s an amazing guy, a really great guy, he likes to have fun.

“Whenever he speak everyone gets quiet. We want to hear what he has to stay. He’s such a leader, he’s such a great guy, on and off the field. We got the chance to play with him down at U-20 World Cup, he got in as a neutral, he killed it and he still had it.

“He scored two goals on us unfortunately, but it was unreal just to see him step back on the field and play the way he did. Off the field, his advice that he gives to you is just spot on. He sees everything and you can tell that he’s just a soccer fan.”

Donovan, who admitted before his retirement that he’d like to work with younger players, knows that he has a lot to do if he wants to pursue this career. He’s never taken a coaching course in his life, and knowingly has a lot to learn.

Still, it is something he is considering doing, especially after a fun few days with some of the next generation of MLS talent.

“I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the process. I enjoyed the week,” said Donovan. “They’re really, really good young men. For all of us, I think we enjoyed the experience. It’s certainly different. It gives you a little anxiety because you can’t be out there and now I understand why coaches struggle with that stuff because it’s difficult. But I thought the guys were great, their attitude was great, it was a fun night. I think everyone enjoyed it.”

Comments

  1. Landon Donovan was the most prolific international player of his era. Since they started tracking assists in 1994 Donovan is the ONLY player ever to log 50 goals and assists. While I fully believe Dempsey will break his goal scoring record before he retires and is Americas all time greatest goal scorer he will never come close to Donovan’s combined offensive productivity. If we include Rossi in the discussion of greatest American born players, yes what Rossi did at Villareal was remarkable and he doesnt appear to be slowing at Florentina, but he has never managed to prove himself a fixture on Italian team and the high water mark of his international career was the Olympics (after not making the 2008 Euro team). It’s worth noting in the same time period (2007-2012) Dempsey scored more goals in the EPL than Rossi did in La Liga so I think Dempsey is still has the most impressive club career. Donovan changed they way Americans viewed soccer. Being the heart and soul of the national team that proved USA could play and being the Babe Ruth of the MLS. To say he had anything other than a brilliant, historic career that changed the face of USSoccer is disrespectful to all he accomplished. So what if he never went to Europe? He proved at Everton he could play with the best. He didnt want to. He turned down ManCity in 2010. Like a true LA native he had trouble grasping the idea of living anywhere but LA (I hate LA and all its residents). Had he had a full career in Europe no one would have remembered it. He would have been just another player and might have gotten injured. Look at Stewart Holden, Benny Filhaber, and Jermaine Jones’ European careers. By staying home he was the face of the sport, the leauge, and set the bar for all MLS players to strive for for years to come. Would Dempsey or Bradley have moved back, still in their prime, if Donovan had moved to ManCity? Who knows but you cant deny he set the precident. Donovan owes US Soccer fans nothing and has nothing to explain to anyone. He was the greatest thing to happen to the sport in America and deserves to be remembered as such.

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  2. LoL
    So funny. Not sure I get the love-hate with this guy.
    Really no need to write an article…. just post a headline:

    “LANDON DONOVAN”

    Wait and watch while impassioned pro-anti nonsense ensues.

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  3. Shouldn’t our current US mnt players be looking up to Klinsmann like this? I’ve never heard a player say, “when he talks, we listen” about Klinsmann. I wonder if Klinsmann’s crazy methods of throwing out formations and rosters randomly have lost him credibility in the locker room.

    Enough of Klinsy… I don’t know anything about Landons coaching, but his leadership qualities have grown. Even as a player he was never a vocal leader, but has he got older he seemed to impart knowledge on younger players. Really good to see.

    I don’t know why we in America are so obsessed with seeing good youth coaches move up to coach older, more seasoned professionals. If our system is solid, good youth coaches should keep coaching the youth. In Europe, if you are good at coaching 12 year olds, you coach 12 year olds. Granted, you are paid to do so. I think our “Dad-coaching” mentality is too strong in our country and we want to constantly move up age groups like our kids. Maybe Landon is best at coaching 18-22 year olds (kind of like Tab Ramos), and that’s a good thing. We shouldn’t pressure coaches like to change age groups.

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    • Where outside of recreational do you still see a ‘dad-coaching’ mentality? We have youth coaches who will stay with a team for a while, but at some point most clubs will pull the coach and give him another team(s), both to keep the individual working within his area of expertise and also to limit the exposure of older youth teams to lowered licensed coaches. A national D license, for instance, is fine for U9s through U12s, but around thereabouts most clubs I know will want a coach with a C or even a B license.

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    • Did Bob Bradley and Bruce Arena have players listen to them when they talked? Did they have the respect of the players? Do US players not listen to or respect Klinsmann? The answer to all these questions is, we don’t know for sure. I have followed the US national team since 1990 and the Klinsmann administration is the most transparent of all. Perhaps it’s a function of the internet, but I don’t remember Bradley, Arena or anyone else who coached the US talking so much with the press and providing anywhere near as much information about the team and players. Nor was there near as much attention on the teams back then. Guys like DMB, Dempsey, and Bocanegra have played under 3 different USMNT coaches. They are the ones who could tell us. I do know that DMB un-retired to play for Klinsmann in the Gold Cup and Bocanegra has taken a job with the national team. And Dempsey took the Captain’s armband and is still playing hard for the US. So many of these charges presented as now accepted fact are just allegations lacking evidence. What indirect evidence we do have would seem to contradict it.

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  4. I’m having a hard time seeing LD as a coach. I never would have picked Tom Landry as an NFL head coach, so what do I know? But LD’s personality, while fine for a two-day event like this, doesn’t seem like it would translate well into a more permanent responsibility.

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    • It’s extremely hard to judge based on what very little we know. I can say this, having been a teacher for a while, joking around and being “one of the guys” is not how I think a real coach operates. You need to be an authority figure. You don’t have to be mean, hard nosed, etc., but you can’t be seen as one of the guys, someone who “likes to have fun” which is the impression one gets after reading the player comments.

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      • I’m with you, but in LD’s defense, this strikes me as one of those times when for a couple days you can let the players have a little more fun.

  6. Younger level coaching?

    LD, I am looking for an assistant. Call me. I can teach you how to coach, or at least yell a lot.

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    • Amazing how valued he is among those that don’t have Euro snob biases.

      Or maybe not amazing, expected.

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      • Nothing to do with being a euro snob (a phrase I would love to hear someone actually define) but I personally think Landon Donovan is soft. Is it ok for someone to have an opposing view? Or do you prefer harassing them? Is there a such a thing as a nice person-snob? I hope my kids never have someone like you as a coach.

      • Concorde, you are NOT allowed to have an opposing view. Not loving Landon Donovan with all your heart and soul and thinking he is infallible is inherent to being a “eurosnob/eurotroll”. Even if you love MLS, have season tickets to your local MLS team, and desperately want it to succeed.

        Just kidding. (I can’t shorten that to ‘jk’ because that also makes you an eurosnob/troll.)

      • Most people who comment on here and love LD are super ignorant and dumb. They instantly see red once LD gets brought up in a less-than-praise light.

        I’m with most people who were glad he got cut, and glad he’s retired. I want the MLS to succeed and be a good league just like everyone else. It would give me reason to spend $20 on a ticket.

        But I’m allowed to not be a fan of LD and wish he faded away already. And I’m for our best Americans playing in Europe where the best coaching, training, league, players, and money is.

        Is that contradicting? If so, then screw the MLS, I want all Americans overseas playing

      • Pretty arrogant of you to label someone you don’t even know “soft.” I’m sure a lot of people thought Junior Seau was a tuff guy…

        Even if he is soft, that didn’t prevent him from becoming the best soccer player in the history of this country.

    • Of course every group has it’s share of slowleftarms with their visceral and irrational hatred towards a certain group of people, but for the most part Mexican fans are primarily fans of good football. At one point Club America made a big push to sign Donovan but MLS wouldn’t have it.

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      • Laughable since, as I’ve mentioned many times, I’m married to a Mexican. However, I admit I’m not a fan of lowlife fans who throw garbage and other things on the field when things aren’t going their way. I guess you like that sort of thing. To each is own.

        Regarding the Club America move, LD probably wanted to stay in LA and keep making millions. Who can blame him other than Eurosnobs and people with crippling inferiority complexes regarding American soccer?

      • Funny how your hate keeps evolving. You went from hating all non-Americans, to Mexicans to el tri fans, to el tri fans that throw things onto the field, to being married to a Mexican.
        I sense a El Tri jersey in your future.

      • I’m sure there are El Tri fans that love to watch good football. But they are drowned out by all the laser-pointing, garbage-throwing fans who embrace yelling gay slurs like an NCAA fight song. Until that becomes a minority, it’s hard to take you seriously.

  8. Reporter: Landon, would you like to coach again some day or would you rather drop dead right now?
    Donovan : I guess I would prefer to coach again some day.
    Headline: Donovan looks forward to wining the World Cup as USNT coach.

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  9. Huh? So an impressionable 18 year old kid enjoys being coached by someone he idolized growing up. What does that have to do with any of the criticism of Landon Donovan by the “haters”? If your goal is to succeed in MLS, then Landon would be a great person to learn from. If your goal is to succeed in Europe, then Clint Dempsey, Run DMB, Claudia Reyna or Brad Friedel, among others, would be better people to talk to. The argument of whether or not Landon Donovan reached his full potential has nothing to do with whether or not he can help young MLS players succeed within MLS.

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      • Klinsmann didn’t cut LD from the Galaxy. Donovan could be still playing in MLS if he wanted to.

        If you are suggesting that LD is so mentally fragile that being cut from the National team made him want to quit playing soccer altogether, than you are just confirming what all the “haters” have been saying about LD all along.

      • He would have retired the previous year but continuing playing in order to play in Brazil. JK’s ego was too big to allow that though.

    • What about if your goal is to be the best American soccer player ever? You should look up to Donovan then, right?

      Who is arguing whether or not he reached his “full potential?” There is no such thing…

      He had a hell of a career and proved that he can play with anybody. If people like you want to take him down a notch because he made his own choices, that’s your problem.

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      • I watched every game that he played with Everton, wanting him to succeed and cheering him every time he did. I appreciated every goal he scored for the National team, and booed every goal he scored against my Rapids. But if you seriously think he exceeded his potential, I don’t know what else to say.

      • And yet, you still criticize him because he did not follow the career path that you would have liked…

        What are you basing his “potential” on anyway? It’s an impossible thing to measure, but… Based on the precedent of American soccer players, he far exceeded anything that came before him (even if you would have liked him to bounce around Europe more than he did). Based on his own athleticism and “fragile” mentality, he at least lived up to what could be expected of him. He absolutely tore up MLS even if it was against lesser players than he would have faced in Europe. And he set every record in the USSF books while playing in MLS, so playing against inferior competition doesn’t seem to have held him back any there.

        You are confusing your own insecurities about him choosing to play in MLS with some made up illusion of what he “could have been.” He was a hell of a player, and, if we are lucky, he might come out of retirement to play a few more years in MLS and provide some much needed leadership for the US in Russia.

      • Your comment about my insecurities is the lamest defense of Donovan. So if I use the argument that you like Donovan, when someone doesn’t agree with you about Donovan, you feel like you are being attacked and therefore react negatively, is that a good argument? I don’t think so, but its pretty similar to your argument.

        If I told you Freddy Adu didn’t live up to him potential, is that based upon my insecurities? Or based upon his actual career? Just a weak argument on your end. You take criticism of Donovan so personally, like he is your family member.

        I think Donovan had a very good career. Nowhere have I said he didn’t. The Donovan I saw play at Everton absolutely could have made the step up to a top 4 EPL team, for some of the reasons you mentioned above. He could have been our first global superstar and opened up the door for other American soccer players. I respect what he has done, but wish he had done more. And as a fan, it is well within my right to criticize him as a player…just as other have done with coaches and other players.

      • What is the definition of the best American soccer player? Who had the most talent? I would say LD since we would exclude Giuseppe Rossi once he switched to Italy. Who had the best overall career? I would give that to Clint Dempsey.

        I absolutely think he could help mentor younger players based upon his experiences in MLS and the USMNT. I think those other people, especially someone like Brad Friedel, who have a different perspective for the players though.

        As for full potential, there is such a thing. You just said he could play with anyone. Why didn’t he then? I’m of the mind that he would have better served future American players and the USMNT by succeeding in Europe (which he was absolutely capable of) and helping to remove the bias against American players. Others think he better served the US by playing in MLS, which I disagree with. Saying that isn’t taking him down a notch at all, its simply stating the conditions of his career.

      • Your original comment, which slighted Donovan by saying that he would not be a good role model to some young American players, was ridiculous. You have backtracked now, but your original comment was disrespectful of Donovan and dismissive of how great he really was.

        His career was HIS career. He made his own decisions, and I am sure he had very good reasons for those decisions. Maybe if he had stayed in Europe, he would not have become as good as he did. Maybe he would have single handedly won the 2010 Cup. What we do know is that he was a hell of a player, and that should not be lost on anybody.

      • Disrespectful..seriously? My original comment, which I was completely serious about, was “If your goal is to succeed in MLS, then Landon would be a great person to learn from.” Explain how that is disrespectful and where I said he wouldn’t be a good role model. If I want to be a banker, and want career advice, I talk to another banker, not to the life insurance agent. Same principle.

        He was the finished product the first time he went to Everton…he would have been fine.

        As for “his” decisions, he can do whatever he wants, which is fine. However, he is a professional athlete. His decisions related to the sport he plays are open for comment, regardless of whether or not he was a “hell of a player”.

      • Yes, disrespectful. Maybe I read it incorrectly, but I thought you were making it sound like Donovan is a chump compared to the guys who “stuck it out” in Europe. He would have plenty to tell a young player about both routes, and because of that, he would probably give better advice than say Friedel or Cherundolo.

        Anyway, this debate is getting a little stupid, and maybe I got it going in that direction, so apologies for that.

      • This is the exact reason that fandom is suck a fickle thing. Fans want to live through a players decisions in a particular sport and when that player doesn’t carry out his career the way a fan “would have” or if he makes a decision a fan “wouldn’t have” the player becomes chastised for it, but I get it, however we as fans need not get too caught up in a professional sportsports players decisions and just remain fans for the love of that sport!

    • As the face of US Soccer, he was/is dedicated to grow a new league in his country. This is/was not an easy task and much more influential than anything Clint Dempsey, Run DMB, Claudia Reyna or Brad Friedel ever did.

      You eurotrolls are hilarious

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      • He was more influential than those people because he was playing here. Until the last few years with NBC Sports and FS1, it took a lot of extra effort and money to watch those players in Europe.

        I also think it’s funny that I am a “eurotroll” because I don’t think LD is the best…around. So unoriginal. Like their can’t be a middle ground. The best players play in Europe; that is a fact. I think our national team will benefit more by having players in Europe, at least for the next 20-30 years or so, until hopefully MLS will be one of the top 5-6 leagues in the world.

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