Landon Donovan comes out of retirement to play for LA Galaxy

(si.com 9-8-16)

Landon Donovan has decided to come out of retirement and sign a contract to play for the LA Galaxy for the remainder of the year, according to Blake Thomsen of The Cauldron.
                           
The Galaxy confirmed the report later Thursday, showing a video of Donovan going to his locker at StubHub Center and putting on a No. 26 jersey. The No. 10 jersey in which he starred for years is currently worn by Giovani dos Santos.
                           
According to SI's Grant Wahl, Donovan will not be a Designated Player and is signed for the remainder of the season. He could play as soon as Sunday against orlando City SC.
                           
Donovan released the following statement on his personal Facebook page upon confirming his return:

Landon Donovan September 8

I am very happy to announce that I have decided to rejoin my hometown team the LA Galaxy for the remainder of the MLS season. While this decision may come as a shock to many, I want to explain how and why it was made.

Two weeks ago, I was working as an analyst on the LA Galaxy vs. Vancouver Whitecaps match and during that game, the Galaxy suffered injuries to three players: Jelle Van Damme, Steven Gerrard and Gyasi Zardes. Over the next few days, Nigel De Jong was transferr...ed to Galatasaray and news broke that Gyasi would be out for the rest of the season. Since my retirement, I have remained in close contact with many of the staff and players on the Galaxy. I spoke with some of them that week and they jokingly asked if I was ready to make a return to the field to help fill some of the void left by the injuries and departures. I reminded them that I haven’t played a meaningful soccer game in almost two years and I certainly couldn’t fill the holes left by those players.

Over the ensuing days, I began to think about their inquiries and it struck me that perhaps this is something I should consider. I care so deeply about the Galaxy organization, and I believe I could help in a small way to aid the team in its quest for a 6th MLS championship. Further, the opportunity to have my son Talon on the field with me after a game was a feeling that I would never be able to replicate.

I then had a candid conversation with Bruce Arena and we began down the path of deciding whether this made sense. We both agreed that if this was going to happen, the expectations would be minimal and he would use me in situations that made sense for the team. I’ve spent a lot of time speaking with my family and close friends over the past several days, and we all agreed that this would be a wonderful opportunity and a win-win situation for everyone.

I know this won’t be received well by everyone. That’s ok. I’ve always made decisions in life based on two guiding principles: my own happiness and the happiness of those I love and care about. Being on the field again, being able to help an organization that has meant so much to me and having my son in my arms after a game will undoubtedly make me and all my loved ones happy. That’s all that matters.

To my fans:

I thank you all for your unwavering support. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate each and every one of you. I’ve been fortunate to lead an incredible life, and I can’t wait to be on the field again and hear your cheers. Also, as all you parents know, having a child is truly a life-changing experience. Nothing would make me happier than standing on the field with Talon and the rest of my family celebrating the Galaxy’s 6th championship on December 10th. I will do everything in my power to make that happen, and I hope we are all there celebrating together!

Donovan initially retired at the end of the 2014 season with the LA Galaxy, the team he had played for since 2005. He previously took a break from the sport after 2012 as he cited that he was tired and missed time with the U.S. men's national team. He returned to the national team in the summer of 2013.
                           
Donovan remains the all-time leading scorer for U.S. Soccer (57 goals) and Major League Soccer (144 goals) and is also the MLS all-time leader in assists (136). He played in three World Cups but was left off the 2014 U.S. roster by manager Jurgen Klinsmann as the two men did not see eye-to-eye in their time together.

Since retiring, Donovan has remained close to the sport in a broadcasters role and most recently joined Swansea City in an advisory role. The Major League Soccer MVP Award was also renamed in his honor to the Landon Donovan MVP Award.

--------------------

http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/09/08/landon-donovan-out-retirement-la-galaxy                     
 

Landon at this week's MLS All-Star game

This is the saddest photo I've ever seen, Landy looks so hurt, almost fragile.

The last Donovan - RSL match

RSL eliminated from MLS Cup playoffs after 5-0 loss to the L.A. Galaxy

(by Joseph D'Hippolito deseretnews.com 11-9-14)

During the second leg of the Western Conference semifinal between Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles on Sunday night, a group of fans unveiled a large banner featuring a silhouette of the L.A. skyline underneath five stars with this caption:

"The stars shine bright In L.A."

That glow incinerated Real Salt Lake's hope to advance in the playoffs.

Landon Donovan amassed three goals and an assist, while Robbie Keane added another goal and three more assists to lead the Los Angeles Galaxy to a 5-0 rout in front of a sellout crowd of 27,000 at the StubHub Center.

The victory puts Los Angeles in the conference final against either the Seattle Sounders or FC Dallas in another two-game series for a berth in MLS Cup.

"It's going to take a special team to beat them. I don't see anybody beating them," said RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who finished with three saves despite allowing more goals than any of RSL's opponents had scored this year.

"They were on their game in every aspect: movement, bite, quality," RSL coach Jeff Cassar said about the Galaxy. "It was all there tonight for them. They played fantastic."

Nevertheless, RSL began the game by keeping the hosts pinned in their end for most of the first 10 minutes and defusing the Galaxy's energetic counterattack. Then Donovan struck.

After a series of passes in the 10th minute from Stefan Ishizaki on the right flank to Marcelo Sarvas to A.J. De La Garza in the penalty area, Donovan cut in front of defender Tony Beltran while running into the left side of the penalty area, and headed De La Garza's pass inside the near post from 4 yards.

"Landon battered me," Beltran said. "He was on another level. He's an incredible player and he had so much desire."

Then in the 20th minute, Donovan helped extend the Galaxy's lead to 2-0. After receiving Juninho's pass, Donovan crossed the ball from the left side of the penalty area to Keane, who slid to convert a 4-yard shot inside the right-wing post.

Donovan's assist was the 13th of his postseason career, putting him one away from Mauricio Cienfuegos' MLS record of 14 all-time playoff assists.

"He's got some fire in his belly, for sure," Rimando said of Donovan. "Tonight, you could see that he wants it bad."

Donovan, the all-time leading scorer for both MLS and the United States national team, announced in August that this season would be his last.

"He was showing up in so many different places on the field," Cassar said. "They have so much quality in the open field that when they turn and come at you, it's a problem."

Following Keane's goal, RSL collapsed.

"We lost our shape, our discipline," Cassar said. "We were getting stretched out. We were giving the ball up too often, too early, and we could never regain control of the ball to try to establish any tempo."

Donovan displayed his scoring skill again in the 55th minute. Keane sent a long pass between Beltran and Nat Borchers to Donovan at the left flank. Donovan drew Rimando away from the net, rounded him, and deposited a 17-yard diagonal shot from an extreme angle inside the far post.

RSL did not register a shot on goal until the 58th minute, when Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo lunged to his right to deflect Kyle Beckerman's 11-yard header with both hands. That shot would be RSL's last.

Sarvas extended the lead to 4-0 in the 63rd minute with a 13-yard shot through Rimando's legs. Donovan finished the scoring by volleying Keane's low chip from 9 yards in the 72nd minute.

Donovan now has 25 playoff goals in his MLS career. No other player has more than 16.

"If you're not good with the ball against L.A., they're going to make you pay," Cassar said. "We paid tonight. We paid a lot."

One player viewed that payment as a long-term installment plan.

"Certainly, it's tough to swallow," Beltran said. "It's going to be a long offseason, thinking about this game. It's going to be a very long offseason."

Donovan to retire at end of season

 

LA Galaxy's Landon Donovan explains decision to retire: "There was not that same passion"

 

(by Scott French mlssoccer.com 8-7-14)

 

Ultimately, it came down to passion – or lack thereof.

 

Landon Donovan, in announcing that he will hang up his boots at season’s end, acknowledged that he doesn’t have the burning desire that once fueled him, and his "gut" told him it was time to walk away.

He called it "bittersweet" and admitted to "some sadness" but said the time was right to end his playing career.

"Last year I took a long break from the game, and that was really the first time that [retirement] was a real possibility," Donovan said during a StubHub Center news conference Thursday afternoon. "I wanted to get away and take some time to see how it would feel after getting away for awhile. I came back rejuvenated. I came back refreshed. But after a few months even of last season, I started to have some feelings of, you know, it doesn’t feel the same, there’s not that same passion, that same energy.

"So I kept going, and there was some ebbs and flows and there were some good times through the summer – I felt great, I was playing well, we had the [CONCACAF] Gold Cup, it was exciting – and then as this year started, I was enjoying myself. I was, I think, playing well, doing well, and in the last few weeks I started thinking a lot about it again. I was talking to my family quite a bit about it, and my gut just told me it was right and it was the right time."

Donovan said he made the decision before the Galaxy’s 3-0 romp at Seattle on July 28, let club brass and head coach/general manager Bruce Arena know, told his closest friends among teammates and then informed the entire team before Thursday’s training session.

It’s a decision he said that has heightened his desire to win a sixth MLS Cup championship – he’s captured three with the Galaxy and two with the San Jose Earthquakes – and served to eliminate an enormous amount of stress.

"The way I’ve felt and played and enjoyed myself [since making the decision] is reflective somewhat of a weight being lifted off my shoulders," he said. "Now it’s time to enjoy the rest of the season, and there would be no better way than to go out a champion, so that’s where my focus and my goals are now."

Donovan, who turned pro as a 16-year-old and has been the face of American soccer more or less since winning the Golden Ball as MVP of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1999, said the "obligation" wore on him as time went on.

"For the last few years, I haven’t had the same passion that I had previously in my career, and to some extent I had felt obligated to keep playing," he said. "And so when that obligation goes away, I realized it was just relieving, and I could just enjoy it as a player again, almost as a kid again. ... It’s allowed me now to really enjoy myself, and that’s what I want. I’d rather have three or four months of really playing well and enjoying myself than a couple years of mediocrity and not being passionate about it."

The loss of that passion, Donovan said, is "probably a natural evolution."

"I’m sure anybody who’s in one industry for that long has those feelings at times, so I think there’s sometimes the sense of obligation in people’s lives – there’s a sense that you have to do something," he said. "I’ve never lived my life that way, and I’m sure it’s not always popular with everybody, but at the end of the day, I have to live the life I want to live. And I think that’s an important thing to go by.

"I think it’s very important in life to make decisions that are best for you, best for your friends and family and, most importantly, best for your happiness. And so, at this point, this is the decision that is best for all those things, and that’s why I’m making it."

Donovan leaves a rich legacy. He’s in his 14th MLS season, to go with stints in Germany (two brief tenures with Bayer Leverkusen, the first as a teen, and a short-term loan in 2009 with Bayern Munich) and England (short-term loans in 2010 and 2012 with Everton), and is No. 1 on the league’s all-time goals list (138) and No. 2 for assists (with 124, 11 behind Steve Ralston). He could make his 300th regular-season start in LA’s game Friday night against San Jose.

He’s also the US national team’s all-time leader in goals (57) and assists (58), in 155 international appearances, and starred in three World Cups. He’s the American soccer player nearly everyone overseas can identify.

None of that matters much to him, in terms of legacy, he said.

"I hope that my teammates will say I was a good teammate," he said. "I hope that my coaches will say they enjoyed working with me and having me on their team. I hope that the fans enjoyed watching and could see how much I gave to this sport over the last 16 years.

"And that’s really it. Because at the end of the day the goals and the assists and the accolades and that stuff, in the end they don’t mean a whole lot to me. But the relationships matter. ... I think my teammates have all enjoyed being around me and playing with me, and I think they know how much I’ve dedicated to this whole thing."

His announcement comes on the heels of his MVP performance in Wednesday’s MLS All-Star Game in Portland, Ore., where he scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich.

"All I could think [in Portland] was ‘if everybody only knew what was going on,’" he said. "It was perfect."

He’s seen MLS and soccer in America grow immensely during his time in the game, and he has played a massive role in prodding that growth.

"I played here the majority of my career for two reasons," he said. "One was I wanted to be happy, and my happiness always lied in being here, close to my family. And two was I wanted to help grow the league. I always thought it was much more important to be here doing that than to go be lost in the shuffle somewhere in Europe or elsewhere. That for me was the perfect fit.

"It doesn’t mean it’s everyone’s choice, and that’s OK. But for me that was the perfect fit, and I was fortunate that I had people that wanted to come along on that journey with me."

Donovan said he plans to spend more time with friends and family, do some traveling, and that he would like to work with children.

"I absolutely want to work with kids," he said. "I spoke to [Galaxy president Chris] Klein extensively about working with the Academy, and that for me would be a really good way to come full circle. So I fully expect that will happen at some point."

Donovan "just a bit annoying"

Luke Rodgers rips Galaxy star

(by Mike Mazzeo espn.go.com 5-9-11)

New York Red Bulls striker Luke Rodgers doesn't like Los Angeles Galaxy star Landon Donovan.

He made that very clear to the New York Post on Monday.

"In this league, he's a respected person, but he's telling Titi [Thierry Henry] to [screw] off. The kid's a [expletive] head," Rodgers, who was clearly upset at Donovan after the Red Bulls and Galaxy completed a 1-1 draw on Saturday night in L.A., told the Post. "I don't care. I just think the kid's a [expletive] jerk. I don't care what you put.

"After Henry scored he's running the whole length of the pitch to shout at the linesman. He must have eyes like a hawk to tell if he's offsides. I tackled the keeper [and] he's running the whole length of the field to tell the ref I should be sent off. He needs to be a bit more humble.''

Donovan responded to Rodgers' profanity laced tirade via Twitter: "I'm confused; who is Luke Rogers?"

Rodgers became enraged at Donovan after he saw the U.S. National Team sensation complain to the referees throughout the match.

"I just think he talks too much. You don't need to,'' Rodgers told the newspaper. "Put it this way, someone like him, he's done OK for himself, played in MLS, scored a lot of goals, he's in All-Star teams, played in the Premiership and I know people in the Premiership who say he's done really well when he was there. You've got people looking up to him, and he's trying to get people sent off."

"[Donovan] is telling linemen off, shouting at referees. Is it one rule for him and one rule for the rest of us? He needs to be a bit more humble,'' Rodgers continued. "He's just a bit annoying. Just a bit annoying when it's like you've got two referees on the pitch. He's running up to the referees telling him what decisions make. I've never ever seen nothing like that.''

Rodgers, who previously played professionally in his native England, has three goals and one assist in five games for the Eastern Conference leading Red Bulls (4-1-3).

According to the Post, the 29-year-old Rodgers has been known to be a controversial figure. He was involved in several drunken bar fights, and once "accidentally wounded a teenage girl with fireworks."

The Post indicated that the fireworks incident was the reason Rodgers wasn't allowed to come to the U.S. to play for the Red Bulls last summer, but Red Bulls coach Hans Backe "was insistent, and eventually pushed his visa through to acquire him this winter."

--------------------

Comment by The Cup

Luke Rodgers has officially become my favorite MLS player.