How Good Was Landon Donovan?

Noelle Noble, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Landon Donovan is a U.S. soccer legend, having captained both the U.S. Men’s National Football Team (USMNT) and LA Galaxy. Having also played in the Premier League, Bundesliga and Liga MX, he had a wealth of experience in several top flights of football across his career.

In this article, we ask ‘How good was Landon Donovan?’, we look into his career in detail, as well as his honours (both domestic and international) and playing style. To learn all about this one of a kind American forward, we suggest reading on.

How Good Was Landon Donovan?

Landon Donovan was an excellent footballer and one of the best U.S. soccer players to ever play the game. He single-handedly dominated MLS for 10 seasons from 2005-2014 but struggled to make a name for himself in Europe.

Domestic Career

Bayer Leverkusen

Landon Donovan started his domestic career playing for German club Bayer Leverkusen. You might think this was a surprising place for him to start his career, however he was spotted by Leverkusen’s, at the time, Sporting Director, Michael Reschke, at a youth tournament in Europe. He quickly made it a priority for the club to sign the player.

Donovan initially started out playing for Bayer Leverkusen’s reserve side but found it incredibly tough to adapt to life overseas. Because of his struggles, the Bundesliga side allowed him to take extended time training with the U.S. national youth side, in order to help with his homesickness.

MLS Dominance

After things didn’t work out at Leverkusen, Donovan got his wish and returned state-side, initially on loan at MLS franchise San Jose Earthquakes during the 2001 season. His homesickness was cured, and Donovan became an instant hit in his home country.

He led the Earthquakes to two MLS Cups in 2001 and 2003, becoming a U.S. soccer icon. In 2003, he was even named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year.

A short spell back at Leverkusen in 2005, where he made just seven appearances, saw Donovan make a request to return to America on a permanent basis. The initial plan was to return to San Jose, however their manager Alexi Lalas had traded away his rights. Instead, LA Galaxy staked their interest in the player by trading their top scorer Carlos Ruiz to FC Dallas in order to sign Donovan. This was quite the story, with LA Galaxy being his hometown franchise.

Over 11 seasons at Los Angeles Galaxy, Donovan made 308 appearances in all competitions, scoring 135 times at a rate of 0.44 goals per match. He also recorded 101 assists, proving that he wasn’t just in the side to score goals, but also create them.

Bayern Munich and Everton

In between MLS seasons, Donovan had one loan stint at Bayern Munich and two loans at Premier League side Everton. Unfortunately, he was unable to make a name for himself in Europe, making 29 appearances across those three loan spells and scoring just 2 goals. This is why he continued to focus on his MLS career.

International Success

Landon Donovan quickly became a USMNT legend, and earned the Best Young Player of the Tournament award at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. He scored two goals during his debut appearances at a finals, one during a 3-1 loss to Poland and the other in a 2-0 victory against rivals Mexico. They were knocked out at the quarter-final stage, losing 1-0 to tournament runners-up Germany.

At the next World Cup in 2006, Donovan received a lot of criticism from U.S. fans following their early exit. This was because he failed to score or rack up any assists, and they were eliminated during the group stages. He quickly resurrected his reputation in the 2007 Gold Cup, though, scoring four goals and a penalty in the final against Mexico.

He had made his 100th appearance for his country by the age of 26, making him the fourth-youngest player to achieve this feat. Furthermore, he scored important goals in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and during the qualifying stages for the 2010 World Cup.

During that World Cup, he was pivotal again, scoring twice during the group stages. He helped the U.S. finish top of their World Cup group for the first time in their history. Donovan went on to score a penalty against Ghana in the round of 16, but they were unfortunately eliminated, losing the tie 2-1 after extra time.

In 2013, he became the first USMNT player to achieve 50 goals and 50 assists, but by 2014, U.S. manager Jürgen Klinsmann had left him out of the final 2014 World Cup squad. This was a huge decision and not one that went down particularly well with fans and players.

October 10th, 2014 saw Landon Donovan play his final international match, and this was organised by the United States Soccer Federation, so that he could receive a send-off from American supporters. He has been regularly referred to as the U.S. team’s greatest ever player, to reflect his achievements in an American jersey.

Landon Donovan’s Playing Style

When assessing how good was Landon Donovan, we need to have a look at his playing style. He was best known for the following qualities – versatility, speed, stamina, playmaking, set pieces, intelligence and technical skill.

Versatility

The main trait associated with Donovan’s playing style has to be versatility. As a forward player, he was incredibly versatile, often being deployed in a range of positions high up the pitch. One of his previous managers, Bruce Arena, who managed him both in domestic and international settings, once said, “the problem with Landon is that he’s your best player at so many positions that you never know where to put him.“

In the early stages of his career, he would be regularly deployed as a deeper lying second striker, however as he became older, he was utilised as a wide midfielder.

Speed

Another key aspect of Landon Donovan’s playing style was his speed. A fast player, he had the ability to beat a man purely because of his pace. He was regularly discussed in conversations around who was the fastest USMNT player at the time, alongside striker Robbie Findley.

Naturally, he slowed down as he became older, which led him to take up positions that would allow him to flourish through other areas of his game.

Stamina

As well as being incredibly quick, Donovan was also an engine, having great stamina. This helped him become one of the most capped USMNT players, with 157 caps for his country. By having great stamina, Donovan would regularly be able to complete a full 90 minutes for club and country.

His stamina also meant that he could provide his team with an impressive defensive work rate, something that not all forwards offer.

Playmaking

Although Donovan scored an impressive number of goals during his career, both domestically and internationally, a key area of his game was being a playmaker. The fact that he is the leading MLS player for the number of assists, with 136, says it all.

Most attacking players tend to be heavily weighted on either the scoring or assisting side, however Donovan is pretty well-balanced in both these metrics. This demonstrates how good of an attacking player he was, causing opposition defenders all sorts of problems throughout his career.

Set Pieces

An area that certainly contributed to Donovan’s goalscoring record was the fact he tended to be first-choice set piece taker for club and country throughout his career. He was more than capable of delivering from set pieces, scoring from direct free kicks as well as penalties.

Watch Landon Donovan coolly convert a penalty whilst playing for LA Galaxy in 2014:

Intelligence and Technical Skill

The final key area that made up Landon Donovan’s style of play was his intelligence and technical skill. On top of everything else he had to offer, he also had incredible vision and passing ability, making him an extremely well-rounded footballer.

Honours

During his playing career, Landon Donovan won a total of 13 major trophies from domestic and international competitions. He won the following honours:

San Jose Earthquakes

• MLS Cup (2001 and 2003)

LA Galaxy

• MLS Cup (2005, 2011, 2012 and 2014)
• Supporters’ Shield (2010 and 2011)
• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2005)

United States

• CONCACAF Gold Cup (2002, 2005, 2007 and 2013)

Individual Awards

On top of his team honours, Donovan has also won an impressive amount of individual awards during his playing career. He won the following awards:

• 4x U.S. Footballer of the Year (2003, 2004, 2009 and 2010)
• 2x Player of the Year (2002/03 and 2010/11)
• 1x MLS MVP (2008/09)
• 3x Gold Cup Top Goal Scorer (2002/03, 2004/05 and 2012/13)
• 1x MLS Top Goal Scorer (2007/08)

The combination of his team and individual trophies reflect how much of a decorated career he had and goes some way to explaining how good Landon Donovan was as a footballer.

Impact on American Soccer

A U.S. national team hero, Landon Donovan’s career had one of the most significant impacts on American soccer known to date. He paved the way and set an example to help more and more U.S. players come through the ranks and play at the highest levels. Some examples of these players are Christian Pulisic, Giovanni Reyna, Weston McKennie and Brendan Aaronson.

All these players would have looked up to Landon Donovan at some point during their early careers, and American supporters have him to thank when it comes to U.S. soccer’s exciting future.

Conclusion

How good was Landon Donovan? The U.S. forward is without a doubt one of the most important soccer players to ever play for the country. A scorer of really important goals on several domestic and international stages, he has helped inspire a whole future generation of American stars and has helped put U.S. soccer on the global map.

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