Captain America
Some people said Landon shouldn't be the captain of the U.S. squad after the World Cup, blaming him for the team's performance in Germany far more than any other American player. But most of the criticism seemed focused not on Landon's performance, which wasn't great, but not horrible, either. Instead, a lot of the critics harped on Landon for playing in the U.S., saying it would hold him back or stunt his development. Ecuador is a quality South American side, and it was Landon who was the major difference for the U.S. squad today, from the beginning to the end.
Andrea, I think it HAS stunted Landon's development, today's game notwithstanding.
ReplyDeleteToday's game shows that he certainly has the talent to be a very good player. Obviously not Christiano Ronaldo, but a good solid player on the world stage. But until he develops a desire to be compete against the best competition, it will not happen. I like a lot what MLS has been doing recently, but the level of play still obviously does not reach the top leagues.
I am not trying to take away anything from his game today. It was a great FRIENDLY game against a quality South American team. Let's see if he can turn a similar performance in the summer.