It’s only one game, but judging by Landon Donovan’s debut for Everton against Arsenal on Saturday, the American playmaker easily fit in to playing at the highest level in the best soccer league in the world.
Donovan started for Everton and played 68 minutes for the Toffees. During that time, Donovan created several chances for Everton, as well as getting an assist on Everton’s first goal as he floated a perfectly stuck corner into the box for Leon Osman to score with an incisive header.
Donovan, who was recently signed on loan to Everton for ten weeks, played on the right wing and was comfortable on the ball whenever he received it, making several crucial passes and going back into defense when needed. For Arsenal’s only goal, which took a wicked deflection, Donovan could have done better during his second attempted clearance but he seemed to avoid tackling an Arsenal player for fear of a penalty or free kick being awarded on the edge of the area. A few seconds later Denilson scored after the ball struck an Everton player and went past Tim Howard.
Later on in the first half, Donovan served up a beautiful pass to Phil Neville only for the Everton captain to shoot and find the ball hitting the top of the net. Still, it showed Donovan’s skill not only as a goalscorer but also as a creator.
In the second half, Donovan continued down the right wing but was joined by Tim Cahill who switched from the left to the right presumably to pressure Armand Traore who was having an awful game in his left-back position.
Donovan continued to contribute in the second half, often coming back to help in defense. But bizarrely, Everton manager David Moyes decided to take Donovan off in the 68th minute even though he was one of the better players during the game. Presumably Moyes wants to rest Donovan since he may not be 100 percent fit yet.
But what a game it was. Donovan looks like he was born to be a Toffee. Let’s hope he continues this level of performance in Everton’s future games over the next month.
After Donovan was substituted, Everton later went on to score a second goal after an exquisite pass from Cahill to Steven Pienaar who ran on to collect the ball and chip it over the head of Almunia into the goal. And what a cheeky chip it was. Everton continued to battle hard but were undone by a late goal from Tomas Rosicky, which was deflected in by Lucas Neill.
What was your opinion of Landon Donovan’s performance and the game itself? Click the comments link below to share your opinion.
fantastic performance.
He did well, looked confident out there.
Fine performance by Landy Cakes even tho I am an Arsenal fan. He seems poised and comfortable on the pitch with the big boys.
his name is not landy cakes – you child
seriously, grow up. I’m so tired off people calling him that.
well since neither of you are the nickname police, Landy Cakes- landy cakes -LANDY CAKES .
good to see “The Great German Flop”(see landy cakes isn’t the worst nickname he has) doing well in his 1st game in the epl and against a good team to boot. Now if only the usmnt could get a left mid/wing and out an out number 9 striker
LANDY CAKES LANDY CAKES LANDY CAKES lol
If LANDY CAKES can help Everton finish above Liverpool, I’ll have to raise my estimation of him.
68 minutes do not a season make, however…
Solid start from Donovan. They threw him into the deep end, and he didn’t disappoint. Looking forward to what he can do against “lesser” PL clubs.
BTW, Traore played LB.
Good catch Joel. D’oh! Now fixed.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Is anyone going to mention whose weak header led to the first Arsenal goal followed up with a half hearted challenge on Arshavin?
I thought Donovan was very decent and shouldnt have been taken off but can we at least mention all the facts?
Will Donovan do well against the more physical non-dwarf sides? We’ll find out. Good start though.
Quit with the facts Simon.
Only patriotism here.
“Is anyone going to mention whose weak header led to the first Arsenal goal followed up with a half hearted challenge on Arshavin”
RTFA?
I’ll mention it and say that no one on Everton will fault him for it. From that angle and pace he headed it about as far as he could and it got out of the box.
Simon has an angle and he is going to beat it into the ground. Earlier he nearly criticized Donovan for his assist on the goal for putting it in perfect position for it to be headed in. What?
What else could he do as the ball came to him in the box but use his head to clear it as far as he could?
Nah Master, I’d just say the corner was a ball lobbed into the box – its not like he’s beat 3 men and picked out a perfect pass – he’s put a high ball into the box from a dead ball position. Arsenal defended it dreadfully, its an assist but only in name.
I do think Donovan played very well and I wouldnt have taken him off – that said in an article about Landon’s first game in the EPL i feel its only fair to point out his flaws as well as his virtues. His performance today wasnt exactly Cesc v Villa which its in danger of being reported as.
I quite like Donovan, was curious where he’s play in an English team but Moyes seems to have a good spot for him.
Give it up, muppet. If all of his corners were short or long you’d probably criticize him. So he gets an assist, obviously puts the ball where he needed to since Everton SCORED from it, but instead of any credit, you find a way to put him down. Muppet, like I said.
i think everyone here has lowered the bar a little too much for him. He played decently, I’d say a 6.5. Some good passes, looked comfortable enough on the ball, but was anonymous for long periods of time. Could have done a lot more to stop that first goal. That being said, he did not look out of his element and I think will only improve.
What has he had to train with Everton FC? Two days? Three days? And we are lowering the bar?
You could blame Donovan for the Arsenal goal – along with 3 other Everton defenders.
That brilliant move where he stormed into the right side of the box and chipped it just ahead of Pienaar – such a brilliant setup by LD just a little off. Everton messageboards seem to be raving about his composure and skill with the ball. Great debut.
Then again, I forgot Donovan was signed to play as a central defender. And he gets blamed now for a goal? Riiight.
I thought played cautiously, playing the safe ball.
Was rarely aggressive, except that one attack into the box in the 2nd half.
He’ll improve once he gets settled.
What a game that was. I thought Donovan deserved a 7.5. He looked very good at times especially with his passing. I would have liked to see him take on Traore more but hey it was his first game. That was not an easy game to debut in. First of all the conditions were terrible and it was an intense fast pace game. I don’t think you could expect much more of him due to the above. I think he played very well and the only reason he was out of the game at time is becuase Everton were going down the left wing a lot. I can’t wait to see Donovan after a couple more games. I think he is going to start to dominate with his quick pace once he settles.
I felt like he could have used his pace a bit more against Traore. He often passed square seemingly reluctant to get too aggressive. I thought it was a great start with players he barely knows. Look forward to future games against other teams though I think in lots of way Arsenal is a great match-up for him.
As I’m English I’ll try and put a neutral view across. I didn’t think he would set the stage a light and he didn’t. He and everyone else is going to accept he is a small fish in a big pond now. I thought if he could hold his own that would be enough and to be fair to him he did. He played some good passes and his corner for the goal was very good.
For me he needs to work harder though, I noticed he didn’t make the runs he could of either from an attacking point of view or when tracking back.
Quite a lot of the time he just stood up the field when everton were defending and he didn’t track back to help out neville. Nor did he make forward runs when the likes of Cahill were looking for options
I think if he can get up to 100% fitness and improve his work ethic, Moyes might want to keep him full time. On the whole a good, solid, debut.
Donovan has his faults, but work ethic is not one of them. Anyone who has watched a USMNT game has to be amazed by his constant running and omnipresence. I think the difference is that with the USMNT and L.A. Galaxy, Landon is given free reign to go wherever on the field whenever he wants; Arena and Bradley give him incredible license to influence the game from any area. Slotting into a team with a specific defined role must have required conscious effort to not roam and stay disciplined to Moyes’ instructions. The fact that his side was often overloaded to punish the under-performing Arsenal left flank probably diminished Donovan’s usual incredible field presence and coverage. As he adapts to EPL conditions he will find a way to accommodate his rigid wing mid role with his boundless energy.
Well there’s no free roll in this league, wingers have to defend and full backs have to attack. Attack as one, defend as one. A striker might get away with sitting on his arse up the pitch but not a winger.
If that is where Moyes is going to play him he will have to learn this quick or he’ll be back at the beach in no time.
He could have come into the league and decided he was going to be a primadonna and do whatever he wants. Instead he was a bit tentative because he did not want to piss anyone off. As it is, he knows Tim Howard and that’s about it on the pitch coming into the game.
Come on, lets get serious. How much playing time do you think he would get if he came ‘into the league and decided he was going to be a primadonna and do whatever he wants’. This isn’t the MLS. He will have to do everything Moyes asks and more.
Defending and helping out the full back has nothing to do with pissing anyone off, it should just be automatic and for Donovan today it wasn’t.
I’m not trying to get on the guys back because as I have said already, i thought it was a good performance for his debut but do not kid yourselves and think that he is up their with the best or anywhere near the finished article. He has to work harder and give more both attacking and defending. A few decent passes and a good corner is not enough, hopefully when his fitness gets back to normal, he will add these qualities to his game and go back to the MLS a better player which I presume you all want
I’m not sure if I view this as a lack of worth ethic, more likely nervousness, or a lack of confidence that he can make those runs pay off with a team like this. When he did make the run towards the end of his time on the pitch, it paid off. I agree, he wasn’t fantastic, and yes, good, solid debut.
Please if you can, watch the game again and pay attention to how often Baines gets up the pitch and how often Pienaar tracks back to help out Baines.
Compare this to how often you see Donovan in the right back position helping out Neville. If you can spot one occasion then you’ve done better than I did because i never saw him once back there.
It was one game muppet. Please.
I love Americans who try to throw around the term muppet. He who shouts the loudest doesnt win.
To be fair he hasn’t played in 10 weeks and the temperature was below zero. Moyes certainly didn’t substitute him because of his performance….he was protecting him. I’m just glad he didn’t pull a hamstring. One of his strengths is his work rate….give him some time. The US national team is always labeled as “fit” and “hard working”, (which is a back handed compliment), and Donovan the is hardest worker on the team and every year beats his own record in the dreaded “beep test”. His teamates have always described him as a machine because, when fit, he has endless energy.
Considering he hadn’t played in a competitive match in 6 weeks and only practiced with Everton for a few days I’d say it was a very successful debut. Im a little worried about how he will stand up to the physicality of almost every other team besides Arsenal, but with more time to acclimate to his surroundings and teammates he will only get better.
The verdict is in and I know it is early but aside from a really bad clearance header Landon Donovan impressed. He was playing as a mid and he got an assist which is what you want. If he plays like he did today week in and week out then I wont be surprised if he gets snapped up for an American record fee. Now I don’t have to argue til I am blue that LD can’t cut it with the big boys. I bet that somewhere in Italy Beckham was smiling when Landon bent that perfect cross in. Lets see what else Donovan can do when he gets to be even more comfortable.
I was surprised Moyes started him but for someone who hasn’t played a competitive match in two months he did well, he didn’t seem to be out of depth probably thanks to his vast international experience.
Once he gets sharper and more match fit – watch out.
Bizarre that the commentators didn’t even mention his role in the first Everton goal until the second half.
His passing was decent, his runs were tentative but considering some of his team mates had their right field blinders on by not exploiting his pace against a woeful Traore. Overall – a good debut.
I also disagree about the comments of when he was taken off. It might have been near the right time. He seemed to be caught flat-footed and seemed to bend over with his hands on his knees just before being subbed. He was spent perhaps.
I also think Everton’s game plan dictated some of the cautiousness from Donovan today. It’s a shame Everton gave up 2 points off 2 deflections, but a really good game. Thanks to Setanta and FSC for letting it air!
Excellent start for Lando. We can dissect every touch, however the main thing is that he looked comfortable in his debut and contributed to a very solid all-around effort from Everton. Consider that it was snowing and he is beach boy, it was his first match in the Premier League against Arsenal away, and he hasn’t played a competitive match in over a month. I would say that all things considered it was a great start. I do agree that he should have done better with the clearance failure that led to the goal. He was also intercepted a few times. These are timing and touch things in my book. He’s not used to the speed and size of premiership players, but he is not out of their class – he just needs a bit more playing time to get dialed in. I expect Donovan to get on the scoreboard for the Blues sooner rather than later.
first of all, let me say that i agree with you that donovan had a great game, especially considering it was his premier league debut. however, if you’re going to attempt to run a respectable article with any kind of journalistic ability, you cannot write like this you blabbered on about donovan’s abilities as if he ran the game, which he clearly did not. you skimmed over his weakness, both physically, mentally, and ‘forgot’ to mention his horrid touch on several occasions. once again, let me remind you i like donovan and i think we;ll see more great performances from him this season. however, i hate reading crap articles like this one written by biased americans (i’m american, too) about how great an american player is. just FYI, this isn’t journalism, it’s crap. i could get this kind of analysis from my 10-year-old nephew
Thanks for the opinion. I have my opinion too, which is posted in the article. Yes, we disagree. But I thought Donovan’s first touch was excellent and made a very decent contribution to this game.
If you want to read a different opinion about Donovan’s performance, read the article on our sister site, MLS Talk at http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/mission-merseyside-2/7794
Cheers,
The Gaffer
About right Gaffer apart from the OTT fanboydom which Donovan garnered. Pat Dolan had it about right – quietly decent performance. There’ll be better to come. Can you write an article about Traore’s performance now?
yeah… there’s generally three types of people in the world: someone who comes into a room and notices everything they like, someone who comes into a room and studies everything quietly to make a more objective opinion about it later, and someone who comes in and tells everyone about the things they hate about it. this guy rippin’ on your article is the latter. you gave a balanced summary.
donovan had a solid game by any standards, in the world’s toughest league. every player out there on the pitch made good plays and weak plays. they do every match. donovan’s no exception. great start for him. very composed.
i love your first paragraph. can i have permission to use that in the future, robert?
absolutely. i’m sure i stole it from somebody else.
I don’t think the article above is biased at all. Despite all the things going against Donovan in this game (conditions, match fitness, intensity of the game, playing at the Emirates, debuting in general) Donovan had a really good game. Your criticism of this article is just ridiculous.
And I might add that you are acting like a 10 year old by your whining. Seriously, GET LOST!!!!
A quite successful debut, I would say. If anything, he certainly did not look ‘outmatched’ or ‘out-of-his-league’ if you will. He was possibly a bit tentative to take people on (save for skinning Traore on his move into the box) but did as required defensively. Numerous times I saw him sprinting back to help out. As for the clearance header that eventually led to Arsenal’s first goal, if you look at the reverse angle, you see that he headed it directly at Fellouaini and I believe Cahill, and rather than coming to the ball, they waited for it to drop to them, allowing Denilson to nip in and tap it to Arshavin. It’s not like it was a weak-header to no-one…it was certainly well directed towards to team-mates. That being said, I think the physicality was a bit much for him, he looked very tentative going into 50-50 balls, and Arsenal is a small team! Contrast that with the work-rate and bravado of Tim Cahill and Steven Pienaar and you can see that is a part of his game he will have to adjust. He needs to be less afraid to get stuck in and give it his all. I’m sure that will come with time. Those are some of the qualities David Moyes admires and if he exhibits them quickly enough, he may well have a chance at staying. I’m still disappointed this is only a loan, and a short one at that. I’m afraid he’s going to go straight back to MLS no matter how he performs, and from there who knows. I was very disappointed when he signed his new long-term contract with MLS, because now he is again at their mercy and I’m sure they won’t let him go cheap. A club is really going to have to be willing to pay a lot to bring him on permanently.
And here’s what the British press thought of Donovan’s debut:
http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/how-did-the-english-press-rate-landon-donovans-everton-debut/7800
Cheers,
The Gaffer
my prediction was wrong, i thought Arsenal would win. Fair result for both clubs.
i couldn’t predict that, but my hopes were dashed. I wanted arsenal to kill ‘em, but donovan to score at least once. can i get a high five for the predictions i DID make? arsenal are in sore need of a “crouch-hesky-kevin davies-esque” presence at the striker position. please tell me wenger buy’s a big boy for the stretch. and man do they miss song. he’s the thread holding that defense together.
Extended Highlights of Donovan’s performance today: http://watchsocceronline.blogspot.com/2010/01/donovan-specific-highlights.html
People need to understand that this was his first game with a new team. It takes time for players to learn their roles on a new team and to develop the chemistry with their teammates. If you have ever played the game, you understand exactly what I am referring to. Having the benefit of neither, Donovan played a very respectable first game by any measure. Viewing this in proper perspective – his first game on a new team – the performance was quite good.
I predict he will only get better for Everton.
Donovan performed as expected. He is a mature, developed, professional player. For me the lesson is we need to stop sending kids to european clubs to “develop” which usually means riding the pine with fifteen other “prospects”. Adu, Johnson, and Altidore are recient examples of players who could have been getting regular first team playing time in the MLS and have an opportunity to grow up before hitting the big time. I hope the agents and coaches of the next generation of US players are paying attention!
According to Sky Sports user players ratings, Donovan got a 7.8. Higher than any other player on the pitch. Good debut for him.
Moyes in his post-game interview with Sky Sports said he had to take LD out because he was cramping a bit.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5850371,00.html
Re Donovan’s Defending Duties
The more intelligent/observant/tactically aware among you would have realised Donovan was in fact playing in a 4321 (Christmas tree) formation behind Saha on the right but not as a traditional right midfielder. Therefore he did not have defensive duties of a normal right midfielder. His job was to support the forward more than cover the full back.
Maybe a christmas tree when they’re attacking, but it’s a 4-5-1 when they are defending and thus everyone bar Saha has to put the work in.
Don’t start thinking Everton are good enough to leave 3 players up the pitch away to Arsenal.
I thought that would have been obvious to the ‘intelligent/observant/tactically aware…’.
Anyway, the formation Match of the day (which is where I presume you got the idea of a christmas tree formation) put out was bull anyway,
If it was a Christmas tree, that would mean Cahill should be spending more time on the left which he wasn’t.
It looked more like a 4-4-1-1 to me with Cahill playing in the hole behind saha and dropping into the centre mid when they didn’t have posession.
Either way though, Donovan has defensive duties and to say he is there just to support Saha is rubbish and even bordering pathetic coming from someone from England
“coming from someone from England”
Oh, get over yourself, muppet. People all over the world understand the sport.
A very decent start for a guy who hasn’t played in seven weeks and made his debut against one England’s best.
“Don’t start thinking Everton are good enough to leave 3 players up the pitch away to Arsenal. I thought that would have been obvious to the ‘intelligent/observant/tactically aware…’.”
I agree Pete, how could anyone disagree? Unless, of course, they actually watched the f’king match today. Thanks for the laugh…
I think that “as someone from England” directly translates to “I don’t know dick about soccer, so I’m going to try and give myself credibility.”
Honestly… he’s just another American hater, with the same Euro-snob mentality, with the same illogical anti-Donovan hate as always. It’s as if he hasn’t seen Donovan play since 2003 when he crashed from the World Cup high. Every statement he’s made contradicts what was seen in the actual game, and every single account from what I’ll call “newspapers and pundits from England”… you know, the ones that get paid to write their opinions and assess the games.
Congratulations Pete, you watched the 2 minute 30 second highlight reel… while others watched the 71ish minutes he was actually on the field (that would be adding in stoppage time) and saw a lot more than his 4 best plays. As someone from America, I’m glad to see someone “from England” that is equally as ignorant about association football as some Americans are ignorant about gridiron football.
LOL. For god sake will you take your rose tinted glasses off, He did ok, nothing more. Pienaar played a hell of a lot better than he did and no one is talking about him or calling him world class.
You need a reality check. For your info, I watched the whole game and tried to give a fair account. If you want sit there and go on about how great American players are that’s up to you but don’t think you’re going to fool me or anyone else who has watched the game for more than a year.
‘I think that “as someone from England” directly translates to “I don’t know dick about soccer, so I’m going to try and give myself credibility.”’
Yeah ok. I have watched the premiership and Division 1 (as it used to be called) for over 25 yrs, When did you get into the game? Last week?
25 years? I used to watch it, here in America, when the only way possible was via C-Band satellites. Bundesliga, Serie A, and the Championship. Before the Premier League was created in the early 90s. I’ve also played all my life at very high levels, if not for an ACL tear, would likely have turned pro. Ever hear the name Dema Kovalenko? Dana Quick? Played with them, was better.
Rose tinted glasses? That’s an awfully American thing to say, in fact, your grammar is completely American English… Further, you’re the only one that seems to have a problem with his play. Otherwise, for someone that was likely told to go out and play instinctively, he sure is garnering high praise from the managers, fans and pundits – including someone named Arsene Wenger… hmmm…
Let me just add another thing. Landon Donovan right now is about 10x a better player than Beckham. Someone who starts in not only the US, would still start in Spain, DOES start in Italy, and is sought after as a starter back in the Premiership. Beckham is also leaps and bounds better than every other winger England has available for the national squad, be it Aaron Lennon or Shaun Wright-Philips, both of whom are the English equivalent of Demarcus Beasley. So, while he may not be good enough in your eyes to start in the Premiership, it must suck balls to know such a “terrible” player would start for your supposed national team. But I’ve already figured you out, you’re American anyway.
…one of England’s best teams (certainly not one of the best fullbacks).
I was at the game and Donovan did extremely well for only practacing with the team for a week or so. It was his first game and team chemistery must be devolped and cant be done in a week, so those of you who critisize are just mad cause he’s an american so get over it. I see nothing but good coming to everton with donovan on the team.
Great job on Donovan´s part. His good and his bad were all part of those first game jitters, but overall he did very well. This performance is a good foundation to build from and he has a great deal of upside. Now he has to continue growing and not rest on the laurels of this performance. I don’t think that will happen.
Donovan scored 3 goals for the USA in the Confederations Cup in South Africa against Brazil etc. He’s not some Beckham Beach Boy. He had no luck in Germany last year, but that’s the same as Steven Pienaar previously – maybe there’s a Fifth Reich over there.
Upon reading the article, my first thought was, “what game did he watch”.
Donovan didn’t do bad. He accually did a bit better than I was expecting… though I think you can see how the physical game may be hard for him. He pulled from more than one tackle.
He was average… nothing more, nothing less.
Are we sure our US tinted glasses aren’t effecting judgement here?
Gaz, I was definitely watching Donovan more closely than other players on both sides, but I feel he did well above average and was one of the best players out of the 22 on Saturday. I’m not the only one who thinks that. According to the ratings on The Daily Telegraph at http://tinyurl.com/y97spkc Donovan received the highest average rating.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Fair enough. I’ll probably get flamed for all this but I’m just giving my humble opinion here.
Like you said, everyone was watching Donovan more closely than other players. It’s only natural – we want to root for the “local” boy. However, I think it’s clouding judgment a little here.
I know this may be a non-issue on EPL Talk (since this is an EPL site typically for Americans) but we wouldn’t be talking about his performance at all if he weren’t American. That to me, screams average.
Also, these fan ratings are silly because outside factors can change how people rate (like the anticipation of a new player when your season has been crap). The Guardian’s doesn’t rate him quite as highly.
Some of the posts here are a bit harsh on the article and Donovan. I don’t think that anyone’s saying that he’s now the best player in the league or even was man of the match. Only that he performed very well considering just having hit the ground and against a team the caliber of Arsenal. He was a bit pensive but frankly that was an intelligent approach. He has a bit to learn about the rhythm and pace of the league, what he can and can’t get away with in terms of tackles and physicality, what his teammates expect and how to play with them. He made the best of his skill and played confidently yet cautiously, helping his team without being a liability trying to do too much too soon. That pragmatic approach was the best thing about his play yesterday. It suggests maturity and intelligence. Many other players would likely have been less so in trying to impress or just been plain useless.
Why do British people sound like sissies when they talk? Landy-cakes? We give you our best player we have on loan and this is what you come up with? I would boycott British products if I could (Oh yeah you don’t own or make anything anymore).
Easy there cowboy… His compatriots in the states gave him that moniker… Ease up on the British… They have a right to be critical until proven otherwise…
Donovan did well. Good. This is going to be a long 10 weeks. Get in. Get out. Don’t get hurt. The real season starts in June. http://bit.ly/6LnErv