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Location: Ohio, but moving to El Paso, TX August/September
434 posts, read 1,653,219 times
Reputation: 310
Donovan seems to scared to go abroad again to get better. He prefers to be a big fish in a little pond and therefore will never be as good as he has the potential to be.
Adu needs to get himself into a country with a solid developmental program if he is ever going to have true success. Holland or France would be a good choice. He does well when compared to kids his own age, but put him against adults, and he is bah. The MLS is not going to help solve that and if anything, will hinder his development.
I mean when he was younger Adu had the chance to go to basically anywhere he wanted; he had a huge developmental deal with Inter on the table but his mom made him not take it. Now that he's approaching 18 (only!), he's gotta go. It would be a dream for American citizens alike if he joined a team like Ajax, under the reigns of Danny Blind, where John O'Brien essentially became the holding midfielder he is today. But of course, he won't go. He's one of the most marketable players in the USA now, and alongside his promotional deals with Sierra Mist, I doubt he'd want to leave.
I wish Bradley would realize Donovan's uselessness and shelve him. I would LOVE to see Eddie and Brian McBride up front together instead. McBride's ability in the air, his experience in England and Eddie's pace would (I think) be a first step in solving the problems the USA has scoring right now. The combination of Howard/Hahnemman is solid, the defense is fine and the midfield is getting younger and in my opinion, better, with players like Feilhaber going abroad. I mean, this could be the golden age for American football, but it's just gotta happen. I think hiring Bradley was the first step in the wrong direction when they had Pekerman on the table, and even Houllier for that matter.
Donovan has a lifetime contract with MLS. All the lustre he built up playing domestically would be ruined if he went abroad, as everyone would realize once and for all, he is nowhere near world class. I've been saying this for the last 8 years or so, ever since he first came back to the San Jose 'Clash' from Leverkusen, and trust me, I've tried to like him. But ever since the 2004 Champions League semifinal match against Liverpool when Donovan stunk it up and complained his way back to the USA, it showed me that this guy doesn't have any, and should grow some huevos. I've come to accept the fact he wants to live out his life as the pretty boy of US football, doesn't want to improve, and live the laid back California lifestyle, so I can't be buggered by him anymore.
Brian McBride? By the time the next World Cup rolls around McBride will be strapping on a pair of Depends instead of a cup. I believe he's 35, that's an old footballer.
Anyway, those of you who say Landon Donovan is not a world class player are right. I would argue that there's long drop off between being world class and not being good enough to play for Team USA. On playing ability alone there is no question that Donovan is one of the top USA players. If your argument is that there are reasons other than playing ability that should influence a player's selection and that Donovan falls short there, well yeah that's a legitimate argument.
We have some long term answers at the forward positions. If McBride can squeeze out another year or two, we'd be fine. But of course he has to go ahead and quit international football, so oh well.
Our U20 team is doing awesome. Glad to see it working out...
The U20 dosent always go to the First team form, even when they progress. Irelands U20 did great for ages, winning comps, and dire when they went into the First team.
Follow and watch the English, Spanish, Italian and some German league games on FSC and GolTV.
Like watching Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Inter Milan. And every year there's always some teams that cmoe out playing brilliant football, e.g. Valencia a few years back, Villareal when Riquelme was weaving his magic.
For sheer artistic football, it's hard to beat Barcelona and Arsenal (although neither had stellar seasons last season). ManU did play some great football with Ronaldo at the helm. For all the money they spent, Chelsea is desperately boring. For some reason I really want Liverpool to always do well. Let's see how Torres does in England.
As far as players, Cristiano Ronaldo really blossomed last season. Although Kaka showed him how it's done in the Champions League. The one kid who is dangerously good is Lionel Messi -- it's scary to think how much better he'll be. Was really hoping Robinho would be something special, but so far he hasn't lived up to the hype -- he still has time though.
Internationally, used to like the play of Brazil, but right now Argentina seems to be playing more of the samba football. I was really pulling for Argentina to win the Copa America with their beautiful passing game.
As far as players, Cristiano Ronaldo really blossomed last season. Although Kaka showed him how it's done in the Champions League.
speaking of Kaka...you should read about him on Wikipedia. He overcame a terrible injury and is one of the top players in the world now.
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