As a result of Jurgen Klinsmann’s decision to leave Landon Donovan off the U.S. man’s national team roster for the 2014 World Cup, every mistake and misstep by the Yanks will be scrutinized through the lens of the best American player being left home.
However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, it may be good for the long term health of the United States.
U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann named his 23-man squad for the World Cup well before the June 2 deadline and left off Donovan, who had been named to the 30-man roster. To say this was a surprised is an understatement.
Landon Donovan has been the face of U.S. soccer for well over a decade. When he entered the Bradenton Academy in the 1990s, which was the first soccer academy organized and run by U.S. soccer, he was the prize student. Even from his youth he was ordained as the player who would lead the Yanks to a World Cup trophy.
Domestically, he has been the greatest player ever. This season he became the leading goalscorer in MLS history, which is more impressive because of the partial seasons he missed playing in Europe. He has won multiple MVPs and led his teams to MLS trophies.
His achievements on the international stage may be even more impressive. He is the U.S.’s all-time leader in goals scored and assists. He won the Best Young Player Award in the 2002 World Cup where he led the Yanks to the quarter-finals. His three goals in the 2010 World Cup made him the third American player to score in multiple World Cups and the famous Algeria goal is one that will go down in U.S. men’s soccer lore.
He is older (age 32) but still scoring at a good pace. So why is he not on this squad?
The easy answer is personality. Donovan and Klinsmann seem to dislike each other, possibly going back to Donovan’s days in Germany when Klinsmann was a club coach. The coach’s son, a U.S. youth keeper, tweeted a taunting message after the news was released, suggested deep-seeded dislike among the two camps. However, coaches often can overcome personal feelings for the good of a squad if a player can improve it.
The second reason often given is that Donovan didn’t push himself to excel outside of MLS. His Everton loans were fairly successful but overall his international club career has fallen short of spectacular. If this were the case, however, then Klinsmann would have been loath to hand Clint Dempsey (Fulham to Seattle Sounders) the captain’s armband or emphasize the role of Michael Bradley (AS Roma to Toronto FC). Chris Wondolowski would not have made the team over Terrance Boyd. So it is not simply the MLS factor.
The real reason that Klinsmann left Donovan off was a smattering of these reasons and the fact that the German-American coach is remaking U.S. Soccer in his image. Given a “long-term” contract through the next Cup cycle, Klinsmann is molding not just this team but the youth teams in his style of play.
Donovan, a midfielder who has ok pace and does poor backtracking defensively, is not the kind of player Klinsmann is using on his team. That and the fact that Donovan took time off at the beginning of World Cup qualifying for a sabbatical suggests that Klinsmann neither wanted or trusted Donovan on this team. The new face of U.S. Soccer was Jurgen Klinsmann, not Landon Donovan.
Is this a good idea? I think the decision to leave him home will ultimately hurt the United States. As noted, Donovan has a knack for scoring goals, especially big goals. That kind of skill and experience of achievement at the highest stress level is invaluable in a tournament where level-headed decision-making is key.
If the U.S. are chasing a goal late, Klinsmann will have on his bench some talented forwards and attack-minded midfielders, but none with close to the experience of Donovan. The coach’s options for bringing on a forward are Aron Johannsson, a talents international with very little experience, and Chris Wondolowski, great at MLS level but poor in international play.
Equally as important, Donovan could provide veteran leadership for a squad in transition. With only five players having World Cup experience on the current squad, he could be a leader this inexperienced team needs.
The decision to leave Donovan at home was a strategic one by Klinsmann, who wanted to kick off his construction project of U.S. Soccer. Unfortunately, this decision may haunt him if results do not go the U.S. way.
