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Sir Landon Of Donovan

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Hayee said:
we have a first choice striker - louis, captain nev, Arteta and Baines take set pieces along with Bily and sometimes Donovan, Saha, Arteta and Baines take pens. I'm sorry if this bothers you but at Everton we're covered in all those roles and Landon will just have to fit in and play where and when needed!
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Cat has said a couple times that Moyes is doing the right thing by the team in how he's using Landon. Don't think he's taking a run at the coach or the club/players with his statements. Don't disagree completely with his premise, however I do think playing the better comp. even if in a more "limited" role is nothing but positive. Especially since he's getting run in every match so far. Would say Cat's opinion is better made on a US national team board and not an Everton one though, imo.
 

Catamount said:
Toffee supporters have seen only a subset of things he can do. He won't get better doing less than he can. When there are a lot of really quality players only a few get to really express themselves. LD has been that guy and he has become top class as a result. The US needs LD taking penalties, freekicks, corner kicks, switching sides of the pitch playing forward, counter attacking, scoring on the near and far post and taking the captain's role. He needs team mates that find him when he makes the runs, like on the national team and at Galaxy.

Don't get me wrong. I think Moyes has done a superb job fitting LD in where the team needs him. It's definitely making him sharp, but he isn't playing any faster than he already does, and doesn't have to out-play two or three markers like he usually does. He seems to pretty much dominate any team that tries to mark him with one guy, whether it be an Arsenal third choice or Ashley Cole. It's hard for me to see how fitting him into a limited role makes him better.

To improve, I think he needs to be doing all the things he already does for the National team and the Galaxy and add to that. That isn't happening at Everton at this juncture. It could in the future, but I haven't seen it yet.
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Donovan will improve by playing against better players week in week out, it's as simple as that really. Being a big fish in a small pond will only get you so far, he's playing against average defenders in the MLS where he's allowed alot more time and space on the ball to work out what he's going to do with it.

Lets be honest, he hasn't been amazing here, he certainly hasn't dominated every fullback he's come up against. He's still yet to prove that he can break down a team that sits back and cut's off his space. And I like the lad, he's shown promising things, but he's still got a long way to go.

Learning how to play in a high tempo League with little space on the ball will improve him, his decision making will improve and he’ll balance out when he needs to run with the ball and when he needs to slow down and retain possession. Concentration levels, tactical awareness and game intelligence all come into it - small details really, but they can really improve a player, and we’ve seen that with the likes of Mikel Arteta and Steven Pienaar.

He’s a new player, he’s not going to take over all the responsibilities of the team after seven starts. If he continues to improve and stamp his anothority on the team then I’m sure he’ll get alot more responsibility. And the role he’s playing is hardly limited, our wide players have the freedom to go either way, Donovan can play as a wide man or he can cut inside and effect the game in central areas. And one of Moyes’ tactical moves is his wide players swapping wings during games, he moved Donovan to the left during spells against Wigan, Arsenal and he was pushed upfront late on against Liverpool. Moyes values versatile players, the more he learns about Donovan the more he’ll use him.

I really don’t see the appeal in being a big fish in a small pond, if Donovan has any ambition he’ll want to test himself against better players in a better League. He’s 27 now, his game is based on pace, he hasn’t got many years left at the top level.
 
ToxtethBlue said:
Donovan will improve by playing against better players week in week out, it's as simple as that really. Being a big fish in a small pond will only get you so far, he's playing against average defenders in the MLS where he's allowed alot more time and space on the ball to work out what he's going to do with it.

Lets be honest, he hasn't been amazing here, he certainly hasn't dominated every fullback he's come up against. He's still yet to prove that he can break down a team that sits back and cut's off his space. And I like the lad, he's shown promising things, but he's still got a long way to go.

Learning how to play in a high tempo League with little space on the ball will improve him, his decision making will improve and he’ll balance out when he needs to run with the ball and when he needs to slow down and retain possession. Concentration levels, tactical awareness and game intelligence all come into it - small details really, but they can really improve a player, and we’ve seen that with the likes of Mikel Arteta and Steven Pienaar.

He’s a new player, he’s not going to take over all the responsibilities of the team after seven starts. If he continues to improve and stamp his anothority on the team then I’m sure he’ll get alot more responsibility. And the role he’s playing is hardly limited, our wide players have the freedom to go either way, Donovan can play as a wide man or he can cut inside and effect the game in central areas. And one of Moyes’ tactical moves is his wide players swapping wings during games, he moved Donovan to the left during spells against Wigan, Arsenal and he was pushed upfront late on against Liverpool. Moyes values versatile players, the more he learns about Donovan the more he’ll use him.

I really don’t see the appeal in being a big fish in a small pond, if Donovan has any ambition he’ll want to test himself against better players in a better League. He’s 27 now, his game is based on pace, he hasn’t got many years left at the top level.
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Nailed it.

T X B = tactics
 

I don't believe he's being limited in any way while at Everton. He's being challenged, and he's meeting that challenge. Sure, I'd like him to be rewarded with some of his break-away runs (Come on, King Louis!), but that will come as the team becomes more comfortable with him.

As he gets more comfortable with playing at high speed for 90 minutes (which he's adapted remarkably fast - like I knew he would), he will assert himself more and more, and show more and more leadership and take on more and more responsibility. In fact, I dare say in the Chelsea game, he did just that. No. 1, the fact that Moyes put him out there to specifically cause problems for Ashley Cole, the "best left back in the world," and he did just that. And No. 2, I believe it was his play going forward, after Chelsea scored, that helped lift the team and inspired them to believe they could come back and win this game. That's leadership, and he's always been the type of leader that leads by example more than with words.

I just hope that somehow, someway, he gets to make a permanent transfer to Everton. I don't believe it can happen right now, this season, but I'm crossing my fingers that it will happen over the summer.
 
I don't disagree with any of the comments here. There are plusses and minuses that I've seen with hundreds of youth players who have the opportunity to move up or down on the ladder of quality. I think we are defining what "better" means slightly differently here. Some say "better" means sharper, quicker, more precise, coordinating with players who can do more things. That kind of "better" requires a higher level of play. The kind of "better" I mean is the kind that develops new abilities, new ways to influence the game. I don't think LD would be as flexible if he had been constrained to particular roles during his development.

I think England suffers because of this very phenomenon. Many England players could develop much more versatility, but they play on teams with so many talented foreign players that they don't. So how does Everton succeed, Australia, France, and now USA. Something to think about, for Everton, England and for the USA National Team boards.
 
Garbaggio said:
That's entirely reasonable. There's a big difference between The Championship and a "fourth or fifth division" league. That's the point. Just trying to limit the hyperbole a bit.
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I admit that I exaggerated to make a point. I would put MLS right beside League One with it's best teams. I think The Championship is a stretch. It doesn't matter, my point was that as MLS improves more people will watch.
 

chicoazul said:
An absolute tosh of a story, like you hinted at.

Ultimately money rules the roost but he comes across as a honourable fella. If Moyes wants him, he'll get him.
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Pretty much how I thought it would go down all along. LD has earned the opportunity to go where he wants to be and go where he's wanted. If that is Everton then bully for him. The good news for us Galaxy fans is that the G's will be compensated in a way that allows it to progress. That is really what this should all be about. Much different than Grumpy who has been more of a drag on the team than a help.

I do have some strong reservations about whether the move helps the US National team. But after this WC, it probably doesn't matter too much as it relates to LD. I'm convinced that on balance Dempsey playing at Fulham has on balance negatively affected his National Team performances, partly because he has a confined role at Fulham and needs to be more expressive on the National team.
 
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chicoazul said:
It's the adequate compensation thing that may prohibit the move to us possibly.

Do you need a tough tackling right back who is superb at defending?
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We'll keep Sean Franklin. Young extremely fast, superb in the air, and a great reader of the game. Sorry, totally biased evaluation since he played for us at the high school level.
 
Catamount said:
We'll keep Sean Franklin. Young extremely fast, superb in the air, and a great reader of the game. Sorry, totally biased evaluation since he played for us at the high school level.
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Can Sean Franklin play centre back too?

Tony Hibbert would add new dimensions to your game and would only cost $1.5 and Landon Donovan.

Have a word lad.
 

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