I've been fielding emails from fans about Landon Donovan and whether he'll stay in Los Angeles. They fall into two groups.
"Please tell me Landon isn't leaving! The Galaxy need him."
"Please tell me that whiner is on his way out."
Right now, I can't make either group happy. I asked Alexi Lalas (not going anywhere right now, stop asking that one) if Ruud Gullit has carte blanche on player decisions, such as whether or not to keep Donovan. Lalas said, "Of course."
Landon himself has spouted the line, "I'm not going anywhere." I don't think he is saying he can't be traded, though. He probably means he's not looking to move, he hasn't asked for a trade and that despite Yallop leaving, he'd like to stay. After all, Landon acknowledges here that he could be gone. "Or they'll get rid of me," and "I wouldn't doubt anything" are pretty telling statements.
11 comments:
DO NOT WANT
-- Signed, the entire Bay Area
(ok, I may be exaggerating a little bit when I say entire... maybey he's got a cousin around here who wouldn't mind)
Donovan has outgrown his own shadow at LAG. He's not the star that everyone thinks he is. He's got magnificent potential but it will never amount to anything unless he matures. He should go abroad and play in Mexico or Argentina. Those leagues will accentuate his "style" of play. However, his marriage and SoCal lifestyle will not let him. Shame.
you people are dumb. I've read plenty message boards and I'm reading of alot of folks on San Jose message boards who would love to have him back.
And Donovan doesn't have to go anywhere to "mature". He can stay right here and do just fine.
Hmmmm, does Ruud have carte blanche on keeping David Beckham?
I don't know, listening to that I get the feeling LD is pretty confident he'll be in LA next year with the Galaxy. I took his "or they'll get rid of me" and "I wouldn't doubt anything" as pretty tongue in cheek - even the questioner was joking (buy the team or have David Beckham buy the team.)
And honestly, why would Ruud even think of getting rid of Donovan. LD is a superb player and could fit in very easily with a "total football" type of game. Pavon is the one who should be quaking in his boots.
Tim Lieweke talked at the press conference about the legacy of the L.A. Galaxy being built by David Beckham, Ruud Gullit and Landon Donovan. Now, I kind of doubt he would have said that if the Galaxy are not going to retain the services of one Landon Donovan. Tim knows that world wide (and that's what the Galaxy are going for, world wide recognition), there's one American player known and it's Landon Donovan. So Tim has the best of both worlds.
I highly doubt, despite Alexi Lalas' words, that Ruud can just ship out Landon Donovan (or David Beckham) without there being some dire circumstances happening.
And as has been mentioned, Donovan is a fine player and Ruud will be able to put him to good use. He's not a problem for a coach.
I'm sure Ruud is free to ship out Landon if he really wants to, but I'm also sure AEG/Galaxy FO are going to recommend that he doesn't, and if Ruud is absolutely sure of his decision, they're going to make a plan to trade Landon for a DP and bring in somebody of equal or greater weight.
Now, if you ask me, Landon isn't going anywhere. All you have to do is look at the number of draft picks that Galaxy has for '08 to realize that Alexi may have gotten the best of the Lalas-bashers. Alexi has slowly but surely built an arsenal of draft picks that we can use in a number of ways to obtain a 2nd DP. Alexi wins.
You need to do better homework for your blog...Donovan has pointed out that he has a no-trade clause in his contract...as he said a couple of times now, he's "not going anywhere."
Did you hear the audio? Landon himself says he could be gotten rid of if that's what the Galaxy decide to do. Why would he say that if it wasn't a possibility, however remote?
As far as the no-trade clause, that's been speculated about a lot, but I've never heard Landon or anyone from the Galaxy confirm it. They've all said that they don't discuss contracts.
a.c., Landon might have said that "he could be gotten rid of" because he's so disgusted with how AEG is running the team into the ground, with all the excess pressure, unrealistic expectations and arrogant way it treats people.
I also think Landon isn't going anywhere. I think LA will look to obtain that second DP slot.
The Galaxy have some players that could entice other teams. They could use players like Kyle Martino, Kyle Veris and Kelly Gray and even players like Ty Harden, Troy Roberts and Edson Buddle as trade bait.
My only concern is if they get desperate, they will most likely offer Mike Randolph, Josh Tudela and Gavin Glinton, which I'm hoping doesn't happen, but hey, if it comes down to that, you gotta do what you have to do.
Post a Comment