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U.S. Men's National Soccer (Official Thread)

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We really need Donovan in '14 badly. He's the best American Soccer player ever, IMO & he'll be 32 at the time, so he'll still have some gas left in the tank if he so chooses. We need him even more for these qualifiers because he's the all time leader in goals & assists and has the most experience out of all the forwards in these type of environments. This is going to be the toughest qualification for the WC yet & missing him for it would be a monumental loss.

If he really has lost the passion for the game, I'd understand, but he's still a tremendous player for us & gives us a lot of experience and ability nobody else has. I hope he changes his mind and gives us one last run for the next two years at least, because we need him more than ever now.
 
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Smudger;2300386; said:
We really need Donovan in '14 badly. He's the best American Soccer player ever, IMO & he'll be 32 at the time, so he'll still have some gas left in the tank if he so chooses. We need him even more for these qualifiers because he's the all time leader in goals & assists and has the most experience out of all the forwards in these type of environments. This is going to be the toughest qualification for the WC yet & missing him for it would be a monumental loss.

If he really has lost the passion for the game, I'd understand, but he's still a tremendous player for us & gives us a lot of experience and ability nobody else has. I hope he changes his mind and gives us one last run for the next two years at least, because we need him more than ever now.
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Clint Dempsey would like a word..
 
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TooTallMenardo;2300462; said:
Clint Dempsey would like a word..
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Clint Dempsey is certainly the better player now and has achieved much more than Donovan has at the European club level. It is hard to argue however, that Donovan is not the best U.S. player ever. Donovan was a major contributor for the 2002 World Cup team; the most successful U.S. team of the modern era. Donovan was also the major reason for the United States' success in 2012. He started the comeback against Slovakia and cleaned up the mess left by his teammates who wasted chance after chance in the Algeria game(three of those missed chances were by Dempsey, the last of which was taken care of by Donovan). In terms of raw scoring numbers, Donovan has been money at the World Cup, scoring 5 goals in 12 matches. Dempsey has 2 goals in 6 matches, with one of those goals coming courtesy of Robert "stonehands" Green. As mentioned, Donovan holds claim to the career goals and assists record for the U.S.

In terms of overall skill level, at the respective peak of each player's career, Dempsey might lay claim to being the most talented/skilled U.S. player ever. On the biggest stage though, Donovan has played at a very high level, against the best competition and has yielded impressive results for the USMNT. In my view there is not really a question that Donovan is the greatest U.S. player of all time. Regardless of any of the above, it is clear that the USMNT needs Donovan to rediscover whatever he is looking for from the game and be a part of the squad, if not during qualifying, then certainly for the World Cup.
 
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TooTallMenardo;2300462; said:
Clint Dempsey would like a word..
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Dempsey abroad, no doubt. With the USMNT, not even close. Donovan's success in the international game gives him the edge to me, because that's really where the argument hinges on. Not a knock on Dempsey, because he's been a great ambassador of the game for us, but Landon has been a pivotal part of the USMNT for more than 10 years.

Jt4prez;2300481; said:
Clint Dempsey is certainly the better player now and has achieved much more than Donovan has at the European club level. It is hard to argue however, that Donovan is not the best U.S. player ever. Donovan was a major contributor for the 2002 World Cup team; the most successful U.S. team of the modern era. Donovan was also the major reason for the United States' success in 2012. He started the comeback against Slovakia and cleaned up the mess left by his teammates who wasted chance after chance in the Algeria game(three of those missed chances were by Dempsey, the last of which was taken care of by Donovan). In terms of raw scoring numbers, Donovan has been money at the World Cup, scoring 5 goals in 12 matches. Dempsey has 2 goals in 6 matches, with one of those goals coming courtesy of Robert "stonehands" Green. As mentioned, Donovan holds claim to the career goals and assists record for the U.S.

In terms of overall skill level, at the respective peak of each player's career, Dempsey might lay claim to being the most talented/skilled U.S. player ever. On the biggest stage though, Donovan has played at a very high level, against the best competition and has yielded impressive results for the USMNT. In my view there is not really a question that Donovan is the greatest U.S. player of all time. Regardless of any of the above, it is clear that the USMNT needs Donovan to rediscover whatever he is looking for from the game and be a part of the squad, if not during qualifying, then certainly for the World Cup.
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Great post. Couldn't have said it any better & couldn't agree more with that assessment.
 
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Smudger;2300386; said:
We really need Donovan in '14 badly. He's the best American Soccer player ever, IMO & he'll be 32 at the time, so he'll still have some gas left in the tank if he so chooses. We need him even more for these qualifiers because he's the all time leader in goals & assists and has the most experience out of all the forwards in these type of environments. This is going to be the toughest qualification for the WC yet & missing him for it would be a monumental loss.

If he really has lost the passion for the game, I'd understand, but he's still a tremendous player for us & gives us a lot of experience and ability nobody else has. I hope he changes his mind and gives us one last run for the next two years at least, because we need him more than ever now.
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I suspect he hasn't really lost passion for the game, I just think he's not on board with Klinsmann's desire for players to challenge themselves at the club level. He has been that way for his entire career. Klinsmann had some very pointed remarks about American footballing culture (and lack thereof), how people within and around the program have been content with small achievements, and how that is something he is fighting against as he guides the program forward. He didn't directly connect those comments to the Donovan situation, but I think LD can be seen as an embodiment of what Klinsmann is striving to change.

While I think that in the long run that philosophy is exactly what US soccer needs, I also think not finding a way to get Donovan involved in spite of his lack of professional ambition could hurt the team in the short run.
 
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jlb1705;2300578; said:
I suspect he hasn't really lost passion for the game, I just think he's not on board with Klinsmann's desire for players to challenge themselves at the club level. He has been that way for his entire career. Klinsmann had some very pointed remarks about American footballing culture (and lack thereof), how people within and around the program have been content with small achievements, and how that is something he is fighting against as he guides the program forward. He didn't directly connect those comments to the Donovan situation, but I think LD can be seen as an embodiment of what Klinsmann is striving to change.

While I think that in the long run that philosophy is exactly what US soccer needs, I also think not finding a way to get Donovan involved in spite of his lack of professional ambition could hurt the team in the short run.
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Great insight as always. Klinsmann is absolutely right in his beliefs on changing the culture all the way from the youth level up. Of course that's going to cause some friction, but the man has won a World Cup & a European Championship, so I'm pretty sure he knows a thing or two about the international game.

I read a good article on one of his big changes he wants to see at the youth level. He mentioned he would like to see more of a focus on skills & fundamentals at the early ages instead of the direct focus on winning games. It's something I never really thought about, but it made a lot of sense for the long-term development of players.

In terms of Donovan, it's just another display in a long line of national team managers & key players not seeing eye to eye. It happens routinely around the world & sadly results in great players not playing for there respective national teams. Klinsmann is the manager, so I don't see him caving on his ways & he shouldn't, but someone needs to budge here because Donovan is essential to any success this team will have. He has as much experience as anyone does at this level & has been a staple point of this team for the past 11 years.

I just wish this situation would solve itself sooner rather than later. Qualifying starts on Wednesday and that's already one crucial game to many to be without him.
 
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ginntroy2;2302120; said:
Anyone have a link to a stream of the game?
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http://atdhe.so/watch.php?id=587645

It's not the greatest stream admittedly, but this game is being played on Honduras, so you're not going to be getting some remarkable stuff.
 
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Should be 1-0 Honduras, but only they could squander a 3-on-1.
 
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Apparently the temperature at kick off was 93 degrees. That coupled with the high grass & this just spells out an extremely hard task to get three points. This might be one of those games where the last team to make a tired mistake late in the game pays the ultimate price.
 
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