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. Continue Reading…

It was a deal that we saw coming for the last couple week and now it is official. Everton FC formally announced the completion of the Landon Donovan loan move on Friday, clearing the way for him to make his 10-week stay with the English Premier League side.

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?

Donovan gets a new deal and a loan to Everton.

We knew going into the day that the LA Galaxy would be making some sort of “major” announcement regarding Landon Donovan. It was pretty easy to guess that Donovan was in the works to get a loan deal to EPL side Everton.

Well that deal was announced today along with Donovan signing a four-year extension with the club. The money side of things wasn’t announced but some believe it is a “DP-level” contract, of course without actually being a DP. Of course we all know Donovan’s contract was grandfathered in terms of not being a DP back when the league started the DP program since he was already making above the league maximum.

Donovan’s loan deal to Everton won’t be a long one though as it is for just a short 10-weeks from January to mid-March. Yes that also means Donovan will be back in a Galaxy jersey for the First Kick next year.

That is good and bad if you ask me. I like that Donovan signed a new deal with the league because I’d rather see him here right now than anywhere else but at the same time I think a short loan like that is kind of weak. I’m not saying give him a David Beckham style loan for six months or anything but 10 weeks just doesn’t seem long enough for Donovan to do anything of note with Everton.

I also kind of see this new deal for Donovan as a starter for how the league could be starting to handle it’s star players. We already know they are working on keeping Stuart Holden with a big time raise and signing Donovan like this just tells me the league is slowly starting to get serious about it’s stars here. They realize they have to keep at least some of them to market to the fans out there.

Donovan is the face of the league right now and it was wise to give him a little boost in pay. Hopefully it just means more of the same to come for the rest of the players in the league with a new CBA. But we’ll see won’t we?

What do you make of Donovan’s new deal? And the loan to Everton?

Could we see Landon Donovan in the EPL next month? (Getty Images)

A lot has been said last night and today about Landon Donovan’s potential loan move across the pond this winter. First it was a possible move down south to Club America in Mexico but now it seems to be a loan to EPL side Everton.

He wouldn’t be available until January 1, so Everton fans who would love to see their offense get a bit of a boost by someone like Donovan will have to wait it out another couple weeks. Everton is currently 15th in the EPL table, just three spots from the drop zone. So a move for someone like Donovan is definitely needed at this point in the season.

We all deep down, whether we actually like Landon or not want to see him do well no matter where he is at. Steve Davis brought up an interesting point earlier though about Donovan and his past struggles across the pond. Davis said had he just toughed it out over there back when he was in Germany he possibly wouldn’t be the same Donovan we know today. He may even be more like Eddie Johnson, or Freddy Adu, or any number of US stars that “had” to go to Europe only to just sit on the bench and watch their careers slip away from them.

Donovan is no longer that smug teenager that we hated a while back. His career is on track and a move back to Europe is a good fit for him now, more than ever.

And that’s why a loan makes the most sense here, even if it means he could return by say April or May to Major League Soccer. Who knows how long exactly Donovan would be used by Everton. Remember last year when he went to Bayern Munich he saw some PT early on then to only see his time on the bench grow more until the loan expired. Let him get some time over in England and bring him home in time for the World Cup sounds like a good deal to me even if going to the EPL isn’t my first choice for him. I still think he is a better fit in leagues like Germany or Italy (but that is probably just my feeling).

From time to time I have a few links that I come across and want to discuss but never get to because I just don’t want to spend the time on writing a full post about it. Well hopefully I can change that a little bit and provide a quick thought and the link for you all to see. I’m trying to add new stuff to the site, little by little here, so this is an attempt.

I don’t have a fancy name for any of this yet but feel free to come up with one if you’d like.

Reuter’s Soccer Blog Interview with The Don

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First of all I didn’t even realize Reuter’s had their own soccer blog. Secondly, this is a pretty decent interview with MLS commissioner Don Garber. Of course they go over the usual stuff of how the league is trying to attract those causal fans that attended all those games this summer and what not. Then the usual expansion news. Nothing really new of note there but from the quotes it sounds like Montreal is a sure bet while Miami or somewhere down in the south isn’t too far off if things present themselves correctly for the league.

Vermes Introduced as Interim Coach in KC

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It is never easy to fire a guy in the middle of the season and improve from it. Chicago nearly did it a couple years ago when they booted Dave Sarachan and replaced him with Juan Carlos Osorio. I just don’t see that sort of thing happening in KC this year. Good on KC to at least keep the interim hire in-house a bit with Vermes. Who can KC go after for the full time gig though is the main question. Honestly it may be time to go after someone like Paul Merinar from New England or John Spensor in Houston. No doubt their names will be thrown out in the next couple of months like they always are this time of year.

Cooper’s Dad Blasts MLS

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What can you say, its a dad protecting his son in some ways and calling out what he sees that is wrong. I can’t blame him in the least bit for feeling this way. Kenny Cooper senior helps represent his son and I know a year ago he wanted this move for Kenny.

“I still have difficulty understanding in this league, as I expressed to the commissioner in Toronto last July, I can’t understand when you have young American players who can play anywhere in the world and they’re somewhat punished because they’re Americans,” he says. “As someone who’s been in the league and the country as a coach, and the system for 38 years, I think that this league at times would rather reward a proven failure than unlimited potential.”

A lot of folks still worry about this that the league is letting go of quality young Americans for over priced and over the hill foreign players. The league does need to find a better way to keep young home grown talent, that’s for sure. I’m sure it will be something addressed down the road but in the meantime we will continue to lose quality players from the league like Cooper. I think the biggest hit will come when/if Landon Donovan heads back to Europe for good. Garber sees Donovan as the poster child for American players in the league (as he should) and losing him would be killer to the league’s image.

From PDL to EPL

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This is a story I should have discussed a while back but missed when family was in town I suppose. Wake Forest product Cody Arnoux signed a one year deal with EPL side Everton. The one-year deal is basically a trail with the reserve squad but still even that isn’t bad at all.

Arnoux was an NCAA All-American last season and was projected to be a top pick in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft if he had finished his final season at Wake Forest and declared for the MLS draft. Instead he went the Marcus Tracy route to Europe, bypassed MLS for a European contract.

Another guy that would have been a big deal in MLS. Hell two guys if you count Tracy. Things gotta change here.

Ideas for Portland

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The Nation writer Dave Zirin lays out financial dealings in Portland for Timbers owner Merritt Paulson to rebuild PGE Park for entrance into MLS. He offers up alternatives to the current deal. I guess this is more of things to come from the Rose City. Folks not quite for what’s going on presenting their opinions and what not.

More on Montreal Expansion

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I’m probably a day late on this article but oh well, basically it is more of the same from our friends to the north on the Montreal expansion. From what some are saying we could know something regarding a team for either the 2011 or 2012 season by the end of the summer. Honestly, I expect an announcement around MLS Cup time.

2009 MLS All-Stars (Getty Images)

A lot of folks this morning are calling for the end of the MLS All-Star game, or at least the current format of it. While I am more in the ladder part of the calling I do not see this current game going away at any point in the near future after what we saw last night. In a way I honestly believe last night’s loss on PKs to EPL side Everton may have actually saved the All-Star game more than gave fuel to the fire to get rid of it.

Why do I think that? Honestly this game unlike a few of the past was the most watchable of any of the All-Star games in recent years. I know the Chelsea game was a good one and that one is definitely a close second to this one in my mind in terms of level of play and excitement from end to end. For once it actually looked like a meaningful game, rather than just a friendly.

While a loss is never a good thing to talk about, the league did showcase their talent on a national scale and losing in PKs is not the worst thing that could have happened here. Plus let’s face it, getting by Tim Howard is never easy and since he is in mid-season form rather than pre-season form it made it even tougher.

I still may not like the format of playing a club from another league for the All-Stars but last night did give me a reason to get behind the whole show a bit more than usual.

I will say that if the league continues to do a showcase game like this for their All-Stars, they need to move it up in the calendar a bit. Putting the game on at the same time as three of it’s clubs participate in CONCACAF Champions League matches is unacceptable. I guess going against some of the summer friendlies this past month was too tough to have this game a little earlier in the summer. Not to mention it would have been stupid to place it during the Gold Cup tournament too.

I still think going forward the league does need to do a better job at placing this game in the schedule. Next year will be a real challenge with the World Cup going on. My bet it will be late July once again, after the World Cup.

Thing is will it make a difference moving it to a different time of the summer? Or would we be better off without it? Some have made their claim to get rid of it due to busy summer months, while others continue to enjoy it.

Dominic Kinnear is excited for tonight, are you? (photo via MLS)

It is that time once again, the MLS All-Stars take on a club from the other side of the pond. Feel the excitement? Yeah I honestly don’t. Just like every year I get less and less excited about this game, mostly because of the set up of the league taking on a club in preseason mode. Still the league’s record against these clubs speaks for itself and they’ve done well against some solid clubs.

Tonight will not only be about those worthy (and some unworthy) of the All-Star label but about the venue for the league to showcase on national television. Rio Tinto Stadium should be a big part of tonight’s game. More than likely we will see plenty of hype surrounding this year’s venue.

Its hard to do a preview for one of these games. We know Everton is in preseason mode and are a bit cautious of the league’s All-Stars. The All-Stars also bring an interesting setup to the field. Right now we don’t know who exactly will be starting for Dominic Kinnear tonight but you can bet we will see the majority of the roster used tonight.

I think the league will come away with a result tonight that is positive. Losing the game really isn’t an option for the league, which may be part of why I don’t like this format.

What scoreline do you all see tonight? I’m going with 3-2 MLS. What say you?!