wolf stansson

Landon with another good performance. 7.5 out of 10 as Everton win 2-0 to City. Everton dominated and Fellaini is the realness. Jozy not in the squad this weekend. Also, Michael Orozco signing with Philly.

The USSF would prefer to have Chicago as a host city. Whatever happened, I doubt it's their fault. I'm sure the city is culpable somehow for being left out. There's no scenario where you wouldn't want it there other than facilities not being up to spec. From airports to public transit to hotels to tourist destinations to international fan bases to local interest to money available to build additional infrastructure like fan zones, Chicago SHOULD be one of the crown jewels of the bid. It's the best city to host an international event in a down town area in our country.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FmWfayiHQ98/S0u_zEe6jtI/AAAAAAAABRQ/sbM0GserreQ/s1600-h/1.jpg Holden followed Coyle to Bolton.

Nice goal by Kenny Cooper today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDsLLgfwmEs Landon talks debut: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/e/everton/8450314.stm

Those Bayern league games where he subbed in were some of the most shocking tactical set ups I've ever seen. By that I mean that there were no tactics. One game Landon came on and the lineup was: -----Lucio----DiMichelis--- --Schweinsteiger--Lahm--ZeRoberto--Landon--Toni--Klose--Van Buyten--Ribery-- There were the two centerbacks and then a 6 and under indoor league swarm the ball mob of attackers and Van Buyten and Lahm playing as forwards with the rest of the pack. Weirdest thing I've ever seen.

Anyone watch this match and know how Donovan looked? I streamed it. He looked exactly as you'd expect against top-flight European competition. By that I mean to say he looked excellent. I've watched a handful of Everton matches this year and I can say that from what I've seen, his speed up the right flank (he was wide right mid all 68 minutes he played, NOT withdrawn up top or even target man *cough*Kilnssmann is a moron*cough*) brought a dimension to their attack that they've not had. Their bad performance this year is in my opinion down to Arteta's injury and their pathetic back line. And it is pathetic. Poor Timmy. Anyway, Landon didn't fix their back line, but what he did do was open up a ton of space and do some serious class passing from the right. His speed on the right really opened up play for Pienaar, Cahill and Saha. I think Cahill looked better than he has all year with Landon on his flank. Since they can't play through the middle using Arteta, they've been lost without a real stylistic identity. It looked like they had that today. The 2-2 score line flatters to deceive, big time. Everton was by far the better team today. I can tell you one dude who is absolutely not a Landon Donovan fan after today, and that's Armand Traore. He got a heaping helping of Landon's dust for 68 minutes straight until Landon was taken off with a cramp. Understandable in the cold and after such a long layoff. What was most surprising was how at home he looked with the style of play. Landon, being the great white hope/hype that he is for us Nat fans, has had no small amount of speculation on why he never made it in Europe and if he should choose to go back, which league would cater most to his strengths in order to assure most likely success. Popular notion was that Spain would be ideal. The weather, the style etc. Now, I have no doubt he'd do well in Spain, but what I saw today was a Premiership player. He did not mess around. He was fast, he was decisive on the ball, he was physical (for him) and he was direct. You could see he was in lock step with the flow of the game. Now, of course there's every chance he'll flop in subsequent games, but I doubt it. This time last year I was all heated up on him going to Bayern. When he failed it sucked because it tarnished my fondness for that club, as well as Landon. My Landon love was of course restored by the time the Confed's cup rolled around and I was only too happy write off the way things played out in Munich as being down to Klinssmann's being a bad tactician, Bayern's management having too many hands on the beer stein and Landon stepping into an unwelcome situation. I believed all that but there was that nagging little twinge in the back of my mind that it was Landon's fault and he just couldn't hack it. Then of course he ran Egypt ragged, Spain and then Brazil and it became easier and easier to believe that anyone who could put in a shift against international competition like that could surely do it in a top-flight club environment and all recent previous failure was down to forces he could not control. What I saw today went a long way to justify that belief. Now of course, I'm a huge homer and his performance today probably doesn't justify the extended tongue bath I've just given him in this post, but god damn it's nice to be right after so many chances showed otherwise. I feel good for him, I feel good for me and I feel good for Everton. Sean Wheelock, a journalist as close to Landon and the USMNT as you'll ever find and probably the foremost expert on the concacaf region you'll find in our country is adamant that this is a loan, yes, but if Landon makes himself indispensable, it could be more. I hope it is, because it is damn fun watching our guy do it against a team like Arsenal. I can't wait for April 24th when we could conceivably see Landon on Everton's right and Clint on Fulham's left going up and down the pitch. That would be something that's never happened to see probably the two best attacking footballers our country has produced going head-to-head in the best league in the world. That would be special. I should be clear that this wasn't the EPL debut on the level of Fernando Torres or the like, where the guy just whipped it out and told the world to have a little of this and a taste of that, but it was a good, fun game for me to watch. I'll say that for sure. The reason for my excitement is that Landon looked like Landon. He wasn't an unstoppable force of nature, but when is he? His strength is in his speed, his cleverness and his vision. All of that was on display today and mostly, he looked like he belonged from the go. There was no adjustment period. There is no work in progress. Today, right now, he belongs as a well above average premiership player without any qualifications that we've had to use in the past. "Oh they just aren't using him right. Oh he looked bad there but in that one exchange he looked great." None of that necessary for the first time in his club career outside of the friendly confines of MLS. David Moyes enjoyed him some Landon Donovan. Landon's Thoughts Player Ratings - Landon Top Soccernet's Kevin Palmer sees how Landon shines. NoShortCorners with the full package including some Landoncentric highlights and some other notes. The Guardian

http://theoriginalwinger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/ld9.jpg #9 huh?

http://theoriginalwinger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/duece1.jpg http://theoriginalwinger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/duece2.jpg

It's all down to Hodgson & the freedom he allows Clint. Allegedly there was an exchange between Clint & Bradley Sr. after the group stage match v Brazil at the Confed's Cup where Clint raised some of his frustrations. After that we saw the results, 3 goals in 3 matches, the highest Castrol Rating in the tournament iirc, 2 wins and the Bronze Ball. Hopefully it's a thing that continues.

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2010/01/clint-dempseys-wonder-goal.html sick

http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Estero/Premierleague/29-12-2009/i-verdetti-meta-premier-602478747237.shtml Dempsey named best prem left winger by Gazzetto Dello Sport. Legit.

Great, back to the team that didn't want him in the first place http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/hull_city/658634/TIGERS-LINE-UP-AMBITIOUS-FREDDY-ADU-BID.html Dumb and not true I'm sure.

Beasley in full effect for the 4th game in a row. Goal and a helper today...

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Fulham-and-USA-join-forces-to-protect-Clint-Dempsey-article256969.html?

Don't get me wrong, I hate the idea of Beasley on the pitch in South Africa. I'm just trying to prepare myself because I don't think there's any way he's not back in the squad if he keeps this up. Bradley seems to really love him. Donovan signed a huge, new MLS extension. He's now in the multi-millionaire's contract club. Well deserved, but it's interesting to see how this affects his European future. I think positively. Any future move hinges on this Everton loan and South Africa. I guarantee there is a buyout clause in this new paper like Beckham's. Any potential move could be facilitated by the buying club, Nike, USS or Landon himself contributing to the selling price. It's a perfect setup for Landon. If he shows well in England it's a starting point for salary negotiations after a transfer. He'd command a multi-million wage bill anyway no matter where he went so the salary isn't prohibitive. Well, it is if he wants to go to a relegation battler like Hull or Bari (as rumored after the Confed's Cup) but he's not going for that regardless. If he shows poorly, he comes back to MLS making more money. He's now got a better fall back situation and more negotiation leverage in future transfer talks.

I've been trying to formulate my thoughts on how bad Zombie Beasley is freaking me out. I don't know what's happening, I don't know how to feel about it and I'm not sure why. http://videos.sapo.pt/fr3bI6TuZHzzz2kGmumk The only way I can understand what happened in the video in the link is that it must've been a failed cross. No way he was purposely putting it on goal. Dare I let myself think about Beasley on the right, Donovan on the left and Dempsey in the hole? A finally fit and healthy DMB could be a nice wrinkle in certain tactical situations. I will say that I'm really happy MLS stepped up and showed Stuart Holden the money. MLS needs players like him and I'd rather watch him do his thing here than be a squad player in Europe or a starter in a middling league like the SPL.

Donovan to Everton on loan for 3 months is confirmed according to Ives. This loan nonsense I think sets Landon up to fail, but hopefully he can get it done in the incredibly unfair period of time he has to do it. MLS transfer policies suck.

Well as long as every stiff off the street is making public statements of intent, I'd like to hereby announce my desire to sign with united as well.

Only until this happens: Landon to...

Starting 8 midfielders. Alex Ferguson has the balls of a grizzly bear.

I would agree with that.

So next year's friendlies are: Holland in Amsterdam, Honduras in LA and Northern Ireland in tbd. Honduras and Northern Ireland are head scratchers. I'd prefer a Northern African side like Morocco, an Eastern European side like Croatia or an Englandesque team like Scotland. On the whole though, our fixture list has improved mightily under Bradley. Off the top of my head, he's played Argentina x2, England (away), Spain x2 (away), Mexico x whatever, Brazil, Egypt (away), Italy (away), Switzerland (away), Poland (away), Slovakia (away), Denmark (away) and Sweden x2.

The word is that they are looking at a bunch of American players including Holden, Rogers and Landon. It's going around that they are really loving the idea of getting the most for the little money they have and that they believe American players are the best place for them to find talent that can step right with the physicality and effort required to play in the SPL. As far as I'm concerned they are 100% right. You aren't going to get the value for your money in Europe, Africans, South and Central Americans adapt poorly to the weather and brute tackling and as we know here in American soccer, bad weather and bad tackling are abundant.

I'd think the wings are set at this point with Landon and Clint. I think Landon's going on loan this January and much like last year, they'll see where it goes from there. His price tag is just too high for a team to pay up front without knowing what he can do for them first hand. I'd prefer Landon gets to Europe. I don't think being active in MLS will do all that much for him form-wise. Yeah he may be in better game shape, but conditioning has never been a problem for Landon. His mentality has. That's why Europe is a gamble. If he fails, it could be disastrous for his form in South Africa, but if he succeeds (which I think he will), he could have a huge Cup.

Yeah he went a little Roy Keane on Muller with that "tackle."