It certainly perked some ears up that Landon said in a recent online chat that he'd been considering Europe more as a playing option.
I'm not surprised. As much as Landon had always protested that he didn't need to be in Europe, that he could prove himself a good player in the U.S., that his play really developed while in MLS, he never closed the door off to the "right situation" in Europe. He has expressed a preference for Spain (Yes! Go to Spain, Landon. I'll wrangle a trip out for a story there.) or England (fine, ok, England's good, too. Actually, I've never been there.)
What Landon said at one point was that "no one is beating my door down", and I took that to mean that he wasn't getting the sort of offers that would tempt him away from Los Angeles. Before the 2006 World Cup, I conjectured that if Landon had a good tournament, he might in fact get some nice offers. He seemed open to that, but we all know what happened then - except for the Italy game, Landon, like the rest of the U.S. team, didn't turn in a great performance.
Here's where Beckham's arrival presents Landon with a new opportunity. It shines a big spotlight on the Galaxy that could have some entities from Europe and those clubs in Spain and England, consider Landon again. That's where he'd like to go, and he's still young enough to make that happen.
If the right offer doesn't come through, Landon isn't going to go to Europe just to go. He doesn't actually want to go to a club so big that he's just watching games. Yet I don't see him ever going to a Norwegian team, for instance. He's said he's fine with spending the rest of his career in MLS and I believe him. However, that doesn't mean that he wouldn't pack his bags to go to a place in Europe that would be a good fit. Landon knows, however, that most players don't get to pick and choose their situations. He's going to have to impress to even get any kind of notice from clubs in England and Spain.
Of course, games like the one in Colorado aren't going to do it.
Oh Landon, its great you want to go to Europe, but are you going to go for the summer then decide its not for you (again) and come back to the MLS and play for... San Jose?! I see what you're trying to do. You are no longer the big man on campus in LA, so you want to get out of your LA contract and go to San Jose with your boy Franky. You pulled the same stunt to get out of San Jose and to LA the first time around, why not give it another try. Grow a pair and say you want to play for Frank Yallop outright - dont beat around the bush.
ReplyDeleteI've been a loyal Galaxy fan since day one (quite litteraly) and was pleased when we got Landon. But, you can tell he's a spoiled brat who must have his way. I say we offer him up to San Jose for their DP slot. To my knowledge, they have not used it or traded it away.
Well AC, your article is a lot fairer than the Cannon one last year, Landon seems very straight up and I'm actually surprised he's so willing to stay in MLS forever.
ReplyDeleteBut what's up with the title? Landon isn't going anywhere right now...
Wait till the end of the season. Something has to give besides the on-field product.
ReplyDeleteDo Landon Donovan's haters take some special oath to complain about his stint at Bayer Leverkusen every time Donovan's name comes up? And why do they always have this psychic knowledge of what he's planning? (I say psychic because what they say he's thinking never seems to have anything to do with what he's said or done.)
ReplyDeleteMr Donovan, be nice and allow for a trade withing MLS (so we can get some talent/bodies in exchange) and then go to Europe in the Summer leaving the other MLS team in the dust...
ReplyDeleteyou'll be loved/adorred more than now if you pull that off...
This seems like extreme conjecture. All I did was respond with a commentary to Landon recently saying he'd be willing to go to Europe - which is something he has said before, and it gets spun into a transfer to San Jose? I highly doubt that. The idea of me being unfair to Joe Cannon is also strange. I asked the same question to a number of former San Jose players. I put here on the blog Joe's response. Everything else was other people over-reacting. Incidently, I asked Landon the same SJ question once as well. He said he didn't see it happening.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be some paranoia going around.
Andrea, the conspiracy theory is alive and well...and apparently led by Adam. He sounds like a San Jose fan, actually. That's my conspiracy theory. He's a San Jose fan claiming to be a Galaxy fan. I'm on to you, Adam.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I figure LD will go to Europe sometime in the 2009 season before his contract runs out at the end of the season. I would expect him to leave in the summer transfer window so MLS (Galaxy) can get some kind of transfer fee for him.
I guess I never understood why fans would care or freak out about a player after he leaves their team. It's pro sports - it happens all the time. Who cares what a player does when he's no longer in your colors? If he played hard while a member, that's all anyone can ask for. That's what being a good pro is all about. Fans should worry about the players who are still in uniform for the team.
ReplyDeleteThe title of the post, by the way, is supposed to point toward my thoughts on what could lead to Landon leaving.
sj supporter here - Donovan to SJ seems like one of those things the press conjure up - while it would be nice to have Donovan play here, I think he is too talented to play in this league... and yes, Spain would be a good place for him!
ReplyDelete