Donovan will stay with the Galaxy this winter to rest up for the 2011 season.

“We think in the best interest of the club and the player that Landon continues his postseason break and begins preparations for what will be a challenging year in 2011 at both the domestic and international levels,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “We expect Landon to join our club for the start of preseason training next month as we begin to prepare for the 2011 MLS season.”

This is probably for the best for both sides. Donovan needs his rest as he hardly got any time off in 2010. A well rested Donovan will likely mean a better LA Galaxy in 2011, which could be scary to think considering the way the Galaxy were in 2010.

Landon Donovan. (Getty Images)

Most of you know by now I’m a big backer of the Jared Montz Podcast, given the fact that I repost them here for you all to view/listen. This week’s is a big one though as Montz interviews LA Galaxy midfielder and US National team star Landon Donovan.

Check out the podcast here.

There is something to be said about keeping your best player and marking up the value on him when you can. The LA Galaxy appear to be doing just that and honestly it shouldn’t come to a shock that the price that they want for their MVP Landon Donovan is high. Try $16 million high according to Martin Rogers over at Yahoo!.

Yes that price tag is a tad bit on the ridiculous side but to me it isn’t a shock considering the value that Donovan adds to his club and to the league as a whole. I don’t even see this as an issue either.

Now pricing him this high obviously will distract some possible suitors from bidding on him. That’s the league’s intention and you can’t blame them much for that. Now the question comes does holding him back do any good? Well it depends on how badly Donovan wants to actually go back to Europe at this point. If he wants to stay here in America then it doesn’t really matter now does it?

Blaming the league for pricing him this high isn’t worth doing and quite honestly most people would do just that when it comes to Donovan anyways right now. I know I would. For the league to lose a guy like Donovan right now would take a lot of work to get over. But you know that may be a story for another day.

Don’t worry Galaxy fans Landon Donovan will be back in practice this week and be available for this Sunday’s game against the Seattle Sounders FC.

Once I get the Daily Show clip I’ll post it here but until then enjoy the Letterman interview.

(Don’t worry I’ll have my reaction to last night’s game up shortly.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J19-ROSfwY8&feature=player_embedded

Landon Donovan has seen plenty of success in England, but should he come home now? (Getty Images)

Part of me wants Landon Donovan to stay in England. The other part of me wants him back here in the US with the LA Galaxy. Thing is I cannot for the life of me decide which is the right one to go with.

Its a rough dilemma to be in for Donovan. He wants to stay on with Everton just a little bit longer but we know LA manager Bruce Arena has said no a few times to the press recently.

“It was kind of like in that movie ‘Dumb and Dumber’, where the man says that there is a chance, it’s just one in a million,” said Arena. The Galaxy coach, who has remained in frequent contact with the midfielder throughout his loan, did not appear concerned about the comments.

“There is always a chance, it may be one in a million, but there is always a chance.”

Yeah a chance, a very small one but one nonetheless.

Where to stand on this is a tough thing. Donovan has clearly done well this time around in Europe with Everton. It comes to show that if you place him in the right system he cannot be stopped. He’s done nothing but be pretty freakin’ amazing while playing for Everton these last couple months.

But should we as MLS fans be selfish and want him back so soon? I’m sure LA fans certainly do. Their team won’t be nearly as good without him.

But would keeping him with Everton until June really hurt LA? I kind of doubt it. I’m not saying he should make a permeant move to Europe here just yet but I do think a little more time wouldn’t hurt. I’m sure it would easily help the US Men’s National team this summer if Donovan was playing at a very high level in England (not to say he wouldn’t be at a high level here in MLS).

I think one big thing this loan has proved to the rest of the world is that players from MLS can play and that Donovan most certainly is a force to be reckoned with. I know I’m happy to see Donovan finally do well in Europe. And as much as I want to see him stay in MLS I wouldn’t be at all upset to see him make a full fledge run in the EPL with Everton.

How do you want to see this story play out with Donovan? Do you want him back here in MLS or would you rather see him at least get an extension on his loan with Everton?

The Galaxy could actually be better in 2010 than what they were in 2009. (Getty Images)

We’re a little over half way home in our look at each Major League Soccer club this winter. So far we’ve hammered out Chicago, Colorado, Chivas, Columbus, DC, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, and Philadelphia in out preseason look ins.

So far this winter the LA Galaxy have had a similar offseason that we expected them to have. David Beckham went to Italy to be with AC Milan and Landon Donovan went to England to play for Everton until March. We knew going into the winter months that those things would happen. Unlike last year when there was a lot of bad press about loan moves for Beckham, this year was a little smoother for the two sides.

Aside from that Bruce Arena has made a couple moves since then and even with one draft pick back in January at the SuperDraft he came away with a solid draft grade by me and most people.

Let’s see how the Galaxy are looking right now and what else they need to do to their roster before the season kicks off.

Keepers:

Who they have: Donovan Ricketts, and Josh Saunders.

Notes: No third keeper on the books just yet but I’m sure they’ll have one eventually. It doesn’t matter though as I honestly believe they have one of the best starter/backup duos in the league with Ricketts and Saunders.

We know that Saunders can step in at a moments notice if Ricketts goes down but for the most part Arena has little to worry about in this department.

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Defense:

Who they have: Gregg Berhalter, Todd Dunivant, Omar Gonzalez, Yohance Marshall, Alex, AJ DeLaGarza, Leonardo, and Sean Franklin.

Notes: There were plenty of issues with this group last year, particularly when a team had speed to burn they’d be in trouble. Most folks believe the two Brazilians (Alex and Leonardo) are there to fix that as well as provide depth. Honestly this group is only going to get better considering the amount of youth there. I know Berhalter and Dunivant aren’t young but with guys like Franklin, DeLaGarza and Gonzalez this group should be fine for years to come.

I think they addressed their needs with the two Brazilians too. I haven’t seen much of them yet but a couple folks have told me they’ll fit in fine for Arena in the back. Alex was brought in to fill a left back spot and I’d imagine the Arena and company aren’t as worried about this group as they were two months ago.

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Midfield:

Who they have: David Beckham, Clint Mathis, Eddie Lewis, Chris Klein, Dema Kovalenko, Mike Magee, Juninho, Chris Birchall, and Michael Stephens.

Notes: They won’t have Beckham until after the World Cup, we know that much and really that isn’t a big deal as we saw last year. The big deal with this group is even though they added Juninho and Stephens they haven’t gotten any younger. I’m not sure but I am willing to bet this may be the oldest group of midfielders in the entire league right now. Its a risky move to have that many veteran players in one area of the team and at times last year it costed them.

Still as long as all the right parties are healthy and the ones that come off the bench produce they should see similar results from 2009. I love the addition of Stephens through the SuperDraft. He may end up being one of the more underrated picks of this year.

I would have like to have seen some more work done in this area on the wings but between the draft and the addition of Juninho and Mathis they will likely be fine here.

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Forwards:

Who they have: Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle, Jovan Kirvoski, Alecko Eskandarian, Tristan Bowen, Alen Gordon, and Bryan Jordan.

Notes: Donovan will be back but after the World Cup will he go again for good may be a big question on everyone’s mind. I think the big thing will be if Buddle can step up when he is gone with the national team leading up to the World Cup and during the it. Buddle is the X-factor here for Arena and the Galaxy, if he produced while Donovan is gone they’ll easily be a factor for the Supporter’s Shield this year, if not it could be a long summer.

They do have plenty of strikers right now on the books but one has to wonder if guys like Jordan, Gordon, Eskandarian and Kirvoski will really all be here at the end of this season. One has to figure at least one of them won’t be. Still all will factor in some way off the bench this year.

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Overall:

I like the moves LA made this winter. In a way I want to say that they’re right on track to where they need to go but something in me thinks they may need to do a another move or two to be safe. This club should contend even without having Beckham for half the year and even without Donovan for some of the year as well. It will be interesting to see if Donovan scores a transfer this summer after the World Cup, if he does it could a big turning point in this club because it would open up a lot of cap space that I know Arena could work wonders with.

Still with Donovan on the roster you have to figure this club will do well this year. I like where this club is going here and they should contend again this year.

Donovan will join fellow US National Team member Tim Howard with the Toffees after the New Year, pending acceptance of his UK work permit application. Given the amount of time Donovan gets with the national team clearing a work permit shouldn’t be an issue at all.

The 10-week loan is pretty short though and I have to wonder exactly how much impact Donovan will be able to make with Everton. But judging by the schedule after the New Year for Everton, Donovan could face a number of top clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea.

What do you make of Donovan’s chances with Everton? Think he’ll make a big enough impact or will he ride on the bench the majority of the time?

Hat tip to SF at The Offside Rules for the video.