Taking a break from Physical Therapy related articles (due to article access issues…), I will be focusing on the World Cup, which will take over my life for the next 30-60 days. Having said that, Jurgen Klinsmann made his 23-man roster available to the press after prior stating he would hold off until June 2nd (the FIFA deadline for 23-man provisional World Cup rosters). As the news blasted all over the internets, many USMNT fans (educated and bandwagoner alike) were left flabbergasted after the announced cuts.
oh, jurgen.
Those cut include Clarence Goodson, Brad Evans, Michael Parkhurst, Maurice Edu, Terrence Boyd, and notably (to the chagrin or amusement depending on the USMNT fan that you are), Landon Donovan:
oh, schiesse.
Shots fired.
Personally, I can argue either side. As terrible as it is to hear that LD may not ‘have the chops’ as referenced by Klinsmann and Bradley in the better reboot of Being: Liverp USMNT: March To Brazil, this could either be a galvanizing or terrible decision either way.
LD is one of the best players that the USMNT has produced, despite being unable to succeed on the World or European stage. I won’t forget his outstanding performance for Everton in 2010, providing 2 goals and 6 assists in 9 games (slightly on par with David Silva and arguably comparable to Aaron Ramsey and Luka Modric in 2012); source here: http://eplindex.com/9264/landon-donovan-playmaking-stats-compared.html.
We cannot forget his contributions to the USMNT in moments that have counted, leading us to the finals of the Confederations Cup in 2009:
Assisting Dempsey in putting us up 2-0 against Spain
coring against Brazil in the final to lead 2-0 on a blazing counter:
And let’s never forget this:
However, LD has admitted on national television (Being: USMNT) to being unable to maintain his speed and his endurance and rumors abound of a knee injury that has been ailing him. Going with youth can’t hurt much – the US is not expected to progress from the group, so why not gamble on Yeldin and Green?
capping Green would leave him set with the US and keep him from being stolen away by Germany. We’ve already had Giuseppe Rossi stolen from us, so Klinsmann would do well to keep potential US talent with the US and not with some other country. A gamble this is, especially with nothing to lose.
I trust in Klinsmann, and regardless, as much as we complain, LD’s not going to be on the roster. Here we go…
COYY,
Erwin
