Saturday, September 28, 2013

Which MLS player could be a shocking best ever to play pro?

The MLS has held some great players, like Cuauhtémoc Blanco, David Beckham, Thierry Henry, and Robbie Keane.  But one player is actually better than all of them.  And the shock- he's not from Europe or South America.  He's an American.  Landon Donovan.

Why do I say him?  How about 57 goals and 57 assists for the USA, as well as 132 goals and 116 assists in the MLS.  That's not including playoffs either.  That is 22 goals and 12 assists.  Also, there are 2 goals for Everton and 9 goals for Bayer Leverkusen II.  So 222 goals and at least 128 assists.  So he's had to do with about 350 goals.  Then you add on his positioning.  I've seen Donovan shoot, it hit the bar, counter attack starts, and the guy with the ball around the 18 yard box of Donovan's team is tackled- by Donovan.  He can run all over the field as if he was 22.

Then his award case comes into focus.  4 Gold Cup wins, one silver, and a bronze.  One Confederations Cup silver.  5 MLS Cups, two Supporters Shields, and one US Open Cup.  Individually: 4 US Soccer Athlete of the Years, 7  Honda Player of the Years, 1999 FIFA U-17 Golden Ball, 2002 FIFA World Cup Best Young Player and part of the Team of the Tournament, 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup MVP, 3 time Gold Cup top scorer, 4 time member of Gold Cup Best XI, 6 time MLS Best XI, 2009 MLS MVP, two time MLS Cup MVP, 2001 MLS Allstar-game MVP, 2008 MLS Golden Boot.

So a total of 32 individual awards and 15 team awards.  And his pro career has only been 14 years long.  That means he's won a team award and two individual awards every year.  And he's not even close to done.

My prediction for Landon Donovan's future: Donovan and the Galaxy go out in the Western Conference finals to Seattle in 2013.  In 2014 he is called up by Klinsmann.  He scores 6 goals as the USA finish 3rd.  He's named the Best Player of the Tournament.  He wins the 2015 Gold Cup and 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.  He plays in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but not as well as in 2014.  He scores 3 goals, and has 4 assists.  He retires from international competition after that, without a World Cup.  He stays with the Galaxy until 2023, and retires at the age of 41.  He wins two more MVP awards, named to the Best XI 5 times, and wins 3 MLS Cups- named MVP in two of them.  He retires with 567 goals and 512 assists to his name- to equal 1,079 goals he's had to do with.

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