All-Purpose, Never-Ending Soccer Thread

Oh, it's not only the good ones who go with one name. (Hello, Welton.)

 

Nil and nil.

And by the next World Cup, he may well be our third or fourth-best overall player. Hell, I hope so.

 

I did like David Hirshey's take on the match on Deadspin...

http://deadspin.com/sports/david-hirshey-is-the-closer/searching-for-beckham-in-la-and-finding-alexa-281337.php

 

Landon is easily our best player and there is no one who is even close. I'd love Jozy or Benny to step up, but Landon is the only world class player playing for the Nats.

 

I think Dempsey may be getting there. I'm anxious to see how he does for Fulham this year.

 

Oh, it's closer than you think. Don't judge a player's quality on whether or not he can score.

Feilhaber is advancing quickly, Howard is a very good goalie, and Dempsey can pass Donovan by the next World Cup if he stays in Europe and Donovan continues with the Galaxy. Donovan is our best player for now, but I'm not sure he hasn't already reached his peak.

 

I'd agree with that. Which is why I don't think we'll ever see him heading to another European side.

 

I think that Landon will never realize his full potential if he doesn't try to go back to Europe.

That said, he's still far better than Clint. And only a year older.

 

Just to weigh in here, Donovan may be the best U.S. player right now, but his inconsistency is maddening. His delivery on dead balls for the Galaxy has always been shoddy, and he only seems to care if the opponent is Mexico.

You would think that playing against a team like Chelsea would make him want to raise his game, but I saw nothing there.

To me, he's a lot like Glenn Hoddle. Wonderful player when he wanted to be, but not consistent enough to be thought of with the top tier of current players. It was one of the reasons Hoddle only had 53 caps, when he could have ended up with over 80.

If he had Dempsey or McBride's drive, he'd be one of the best players in the world.

 

Well, that's the problem with Donovan. His drive seems to be lacking. You see flashes of his brilliance in the Gold Cup, but then you tune in for LAG vs. Chelsea and he disappears. The man should have been busting his tail, trying to steal the spotlight from Beckham. Instead, he looked bored.

 

I think that drive is the issue -- if he wanted to be at his best all of the time, he would have sucked it up in Germany for 2-3 years and landed someplace that he would have liked better.

I think that he sees the field like no one that we have ever had (Claudio is second) and he has the physical tools to play in the biggest leagues. But if he's happy to stay near Mom and his fiance, that's his choice.

As long as he's doing the job for the Nats, I'm happy.

 

Oh, just saw this ... Adu rumored to Portugal?