During Sunday's US-Ecuador match, Eric Wynalda suggested that Landon Donovan was disingenuous when he said he was so excited about the L.A. Galaxy's season that he was considering skipping out on the summer tournaments. Wynalda said Donovan's reasoning was "an excuse" and seemed to imply that Donovan was ducking the "important" games in the summer tournaments.
I think Wynalda is off the mark here. While some may suggest Donovan has underperformed in big games (Luis Bueno has a good counterargument on Sideline Views), he has never been one to avoid the spotlight or refuse a challenge. Because of the "flop in Europe" chip he has on his shoulder, I'd argue Donovan has actually been quick to put himself in the limelight of the big games.
If Donovan skips the summer tourneys, it won't be because he's afraid of the bright lights--it'll be because he knows the real stage is going to be in Los Angeles when the Beckham show comes to town.
As I've said in the past, the Beckham bet may or may not pan out for MLS, but for a few shining weeks, there will be more MLS highlights on Sportscenter than you've ever seen before: Beckham entering the stadium, Beckham taking free kicks, Beckham looking great while he loses a footrace with Jim Curtain, Beckham making a perfect cross that Tyrone Marshall shanks into row H.
For all his love of country, Donovan knows that the world soccer press will be focused on Tinseltown when Goldenballs lands at LAX. You can't have Santino Quaranta and Chris Albright soaking up all the reflected glory.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's just a publicity hound--far from it. But it would be understandably galling to Donovan to work so hard, to be the heart and soul of that team for so long, then have to be away playing for the Gold Cup while Beckham becomes the face of the franchise, at least for the passing sports fan.
If the Beckham experiment actually succeeds on the pitch and in the general sporting conscious Donovan wants--and probably deserves--to be part of the story.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
USA 3 - Ecuador 1 Analysis
A nice performance by the USMNT, though the scoreline didn't necessarily reflect the overall performance.
THE GOOD:
Landon Donovan - Obviously Donovan was fantastic today. His goals were all superbly taken, but he contributed in many other ways as well--making really intelligent and timely runs off the ball, tracking back in defense, organizing the US attack. The only real negative was his service from dead ball situations, which was fair at best. One of his best performances.
The New Guys - I'm not saying that Benny Feilhaber and Michael Bradley look ready to play in qualifiers, but I thought they both looked like very cultured, solid footballers in the midfield. Feilhaber looks to have real class--vision and creativity that has more substance than style. Though obviously very skillful, he didn't look for the "Hollywood Ball", but rather kept his head up and sparked several chances with balls into space. In addition, Bradley made an immediate and lasting positive impact, which brings me to...
Bob Bradley's Halftime Adjustment - The US team sorely lacks creative attacking central midfielders, so I'm always sad to see Donovan going up front, especially when our flank players were clearly out-of sorts. But this was more than just replacing a poorly performing Eddie Johnson with Donovan. Brian Ching held up the ball very well, and his old buddy Landon made very smart runs off the his old San Jose teammate. Moreover, Bradley clearly gave his son direction to focus on possession and distribution--making only a few targeted runs into the attack. The result was that the central midfield grew much more solid, possession increased, and Donovan was free to terrorize the Ecuadorian back line. An overall team adjustment that won the game.
I don't want to see Donovan up front every game, but it was the right adjustment for this situation.
Steve Cherundulo -- While the US defense struggled today, Cherundulo kept it all quiet on the Ecuadorian left side.
THE BAD:
Clint Dempsey and DaMarcus Beasley - DaMarcus appeared frustrated by the matchup with De La Cruz, who appeared not only stronger than DMB, but easily as fast. However, DaMarcus appeared to improve as the game wore on, and his assist to Donovan on the third goal was inch-perfect.
Dempsey had an industrious, but very poor performance. His footwork seemed pretty solid, but his passing was dreadful. He squandered several opportunities with simply mis-played passes.
THE UGLY:
The US Central Defense -- Onyewu and Conrad looked like the Keystone Cops, especially in the first half. Initially, their line was too high and it was continually breached. Even once they settled in, they were too passive at the point of attack--doing nothing to stand up attackers or close off passing lanes into space. They were always reacting to the fast, skilled Ecuadorian attackers.
In their defense (pardon the pun), Feilhaber was continually lost defensively--standing around while yellow jerseys poured around him. Obviously, he'll learn over time, but you could easily see how the situation improved as Bradley entered the game and provided additional cover for central attacks.
The US Attackers -- While Donovan was very sharp, the other US attacking options played very poorly. Ching had a very good game in several facets, but didn't challenge the goalkeeper enough. Johnson's touch betrayed him. Beasley didn't contribute much, and Dempsey missed an absolute sitter. I'm not even going to talk about Twellman. We still lack an attack consistently able to create chances and forwards who can finish them.
OVERALL:
B- - The Ecuadorian team faded badly in the second half and made us look much better, but there were several bright spots--none less than Donovan playing with such purpose and influence.
THE GOOD:
Landon Donovan - Obviously Donovan was fantastic today. His goals were all superbly taken, but he contributed in many other ways as well--making really intelligent and timely runs off the ball, tracking back in defense, organizing the US attack. The only real negative was his service from dead ball situations, which was fair at best. One of his best performances.
The New Guys - I'm not saying that Benny Feilhaber and Michael Bradley look ready to play in qualifiers, but I thought they both looked like very cultured, solid footballers in the midfield. Feilhaber looks to have real class--vision and creativity that has more substance than style. Though obviously very skillful, he didn't look for the "Hollywood Ball", but rather kept his head up and sparked several chances with balls into space. In addition, Bradley made an immediate and lasting positive impact, which brings me to...
Bob Bradley's Halftime Adjustment - The US team sorely lacks creative attacking central midfielders, so I'm always sad to see Donovan going up front, especially when our flank players were clearly out-of sorts. But this was more than just replacing a poorly performing Eddie Johnson with Donovan. Brian Ching held up the ball very well, and his old buddy Landon made very smart runs off the his old San Jose teammate. Moreover, Bradley clearly gave his son direction to focus on possession and distribution--making only a few targeted runs into the attack. The result was that the central midfield grew much more solid, possession increased, and Donovan was free to terrorize the Ecuadorian back line. An overall team adjustment that won the game.
I don't want to see Donovan up front every game, but it was the right adjustment for this situation.
Steve Cherundulo -- While the US defense struggled today, Cherundulo kept it all quiet on the Ecuadorian left side.
THE BAD:
Clint Dempsey and DaMarcus Beasley - DaMarcus appeared frustrated by the matchup with De La Cruz, who appeared not only stronger than DMB, but easily as fast. However, DaMarcus appeared to improve as the game wore on, and his assist to Donovan on the third goal was inch-perfect.
Dempsey had an industrious, but very poor performance. His footwork seemed pretty solid, but his passing was dreadful. He squandered several opportunities with simply mis-played passes.
THE UGLY:
The US Central Defense -- Onyewu and Conrad looked like the Keystone Cops, especially in the first half. Initially, their line was too high and it was continually breached. Even once they settled in, they were too passive at the point of attack--doing nothing to stand up attackers or close off passing lanes into space. They were always reacting to the fast, skilled Ecuadorian attackers.
In their defense (pardon the pun), Feilhaber was continually lost defensively--standing around while yellow jerseys poured around him. Obviously, he'll learn over time, but you could easily see how the situation improved as Bradley entered the game and provided additional cover for central attacks.
The US Attackers -- While Donovan was very sharp, the other US attacking options played very poorly. Ching had a very good game in several facets, but didn't challenge the goalkeeper enough. Johnson's touch betrayed him. Beasley didn't contribute much, and Dempsey missed an absolute sitter. I'm not even going to talk about Twellman. We still lack an attack consistently able to create chances and forwards who can finish them.
OVERALL:
B- - The Ecuadorian team faded badly in the second half and made us look much better, but there were several bright spots--none less than Donovan playing with such purpose and influence.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Crew defeat the Hoosiers
The Crew's unbeaten streak in the pre-season hit 10 with a defeat of the Indiana Hoosiers. And unlike previous Crew unbeaten streaks, we're actually winning games (8-1-2 overall this pre-season.)
Crew Season Preview, part 1
Take a look at Steve Davis of ESPN.com's Crew Season Preview
He makes the fairy obvious points about the Crew's newfound riches in the goalscoring department and the question mark in goal. A couple of early observations:
1) If talent didn't improve at all, you'd have to think the Crew will be better if only, let's say, 1/2 of the team suffers serious injury. Last year, they filmed an episode of Gray's Anatomy in the Crew locker room.
2) I'm surprised he didn't talk more about the central midfield situation. Though early signs are good, with Ned Grabavoy looking sharp and some really exciting performances from Stefan Miglioranzi, there's always a danger of trying to fix your goalscoring problems with finishers, only to find that your true deficiency was in service and control from your midfield players.
3) On a personal note only tangentially related to the story, Frankie Hejduk's return has a lot of people happy. However, while his experience in German and International football make him a competent MLS player, I'll go to my grave saying he's one of the most grossly overrated players ever to don the USMNT strip.
He's a phenomenal "effort" guy who made up for talent deficiencies with work rate and pace. Now that he's getting old (ouch --he's 4 months younger than me) the pace is fading and he'll be a cagey veteran with a 50/50 chance of putting a routine cross into the 6th row.
He makes the fairy obvious points about the Crew's newfound riches in the goalscoring department and the question mark in goal. A couple of early observations:
1) If talent didn't improve at all, you'd have to think the Crew will be better if only, let's say, 1/2 of the team suffers serious injury. Last year, they filmed an episode of Gray's Anatomy in the Crew locker room.
2) I'm surprised he didn't talk more about the central midfield situation. Though early signs are good, with Ned Grabavoy looking sharp and some really exciting performances from Stefan Miglioranzi, there's always a danger of trying to fix your goalscoring problems with finishers, only to find that your true deficiency was in service and control from your midfield players.
3) On a personal note only tangentially related to the story, Frankie Hejduk's return has a lot of people happy. However, while his experience in German and International football make him a competent MLS player, I'll go to my grave saying he's one of the most grossly overrated players ever to don the USMNT strip.
He's a phenomenal "effort" guy who made up for talent deficiencies with work rate and pace. Now that he's getting old (ouch --he's 4 months younger than me) the pace is fading and he'll be a cagey veteran with a 50/50 chance of putting a routine cross into the 6th row.
Friday, March 23, 2007
I'm back...
Man, I've been gone for a while. Illness. Work. Changing computers. That pretty much sums it up. Now I'm back and ready for a new MLS season.
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