Donovan heads to Everton on loan

Landon Donovan is heading back to Europe on loan, this time to Everton in England.

LA Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan has signed a short-term loan deal with Everton that will run from January to mid-March. He’ll join U.S. teammate Tim Howard at the club. It’s a good move for Donovan because Everton is struggling and he will probably get a decent amount of playing time. Donovan has spent time overseas playing in Germany, but hasn’t seen much success. He is capable of playing at an elite level and this loan is a better fit for him than Germany ever was. As an added bonus, he’ll be able to pick up a little bit on the English style of play, which will be beneficial come World Cup time.

Mean Girls Part Deux: Becks and Donovan

In honor of the impending World Cup matchup between LA Galaxy teammates David Beckham and Landon Donovan, I will share this lovely image that I stumbled upon earlier today.

Pluses & minuses of the U.S. performance against Trinidad

PLUSES

• The U.S. got their first win on the road in this round of qualification.  They also assured themselves at worst, a spot in the 4th place playoff game against the 5th place South American nation.  All they need is a draw in the final game against Costa Rica to ensure a spot in South Africa.
• While it was less than inspiring, the U.S. took all six points from the bottom two teams in the group this week – something they had to do if they are going to make it to South Africa.
• Landon Donovan is finally emerging as a game-changing player.  He assisted on Ricardo Clark’s game winner and also had assists on both goals against El Salvador.  In the final round of qualifying, he has two goals and EIGHT assists.  In other words, he has been directly involved in 10 of 14 goals by the U.S. Not only has he become a solid offensive threat, but he’s been playing much better defense as well.  Other players on the team (cough, Dempsey) could take a cue from his hustle.
• Thank goodness for Tim Howard.  Trinidad & Tobago had several good chances at goal, but Howard make a couple great saves (the crossbar helped too).  There’s no way he should have been tested as much as he was, but Howard is a class keeper that can handle just about anything.
• Not a complete plus, but I have to give a shout to Jonathan Bornstein.  He had a terrible game against El Salvador on Saturday, but bounced back with a solid performance against Trinidad (near own goal not withstanding).

MINUSES

• Inconsistency.  Like I said yesterday, you never know which team will show up.  This squad is the Jekyll and Hyde of international football.  There’s absolutely no reason that the U.S. should have struggled to beat Trinidad.  The game should have been over at halftime. 
• Clint Dempsey looked like crap (and that’s being generous).  His touch was terrible, and he was lucky one of his poor balls did not result in a Trinidad goal.  He showed absolutely no heart (although that got upgraded to mostly no heart after being moved up front).  He’s a good player, but he’s got to show up for these matches with his game face on.  I’m surprised that Bradley kept him on the field as long as he did.
• Lack of passion.  Currently, there is no spark, no heart, no passion on this team. We saw the heart and the spark against Spain and against Brazil in the Confederations Cup final, but it seems to have disappeared.  The squad is currently doing just enough to get by and that attitude has got to change if the U.S. hopes to make any impact in South Africa.

U.S. wins; three more nations clinch spots in the finals

The U.S. defeated Trinidad & Tobago tonight, 1-0, thanks to a 62nd minute Ricardo Clark goal (off a Landon Donovan assist of course).  The only way to describe their play is consistently inconsistent.  To quote Forrest Gump –  ”You never know what you’re gonna get.”  Are you going to get the team that beat Spain or are you going to get the team that struggles against teams like Trinidad?  It’s frustrating to say the least, but props to the team for getting three points on the road.  This was a must win game for the U.S. and while it wasn’t pretty, they were able to get the job done.  The victory assures the U.S. at least a place in the 4th place playoff, but there’s still two more games to go, so it’s all still up in the air.  In the other CONCACAF games, Mexico beat Honduras, 1-0, to move into second place and El Salvador beat a reeling Costa Rica, 1-0.  The standings now look like this:

1. USA, 16 points (+5 goal difference)
2. Mexico, 15 points (+3)
3. Honduras, 13 points (+6)
4. Costa Rica, 12 points (-4)
———————–
5. El Salvador, 8 points (-2)
6. Trinidad & Tobago, 5 points (-8)

In other World Cup qualification news, there are now 11 teams that have made it to the finals.  England dismantled Croatia, 5-1, to book their spot, while European champ Spain is also headed to South Africa.  Out of the South America region, Paraguay earned a spot thanks to a 1-0 win over Argentina.

US escapes El Salvador

The United States had to come from behind to beat El Salvador, 2-1, in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday night.  The visitors went ahead in the 32nd minute on a goal from Christian Castillo. The US was able to bounce back and tied the game in the 41st minute when Clint Dempsey beat the offside trap and headed in a beautiful ball from Landon Donovan.  Donovan was the catalyst for the second goal as well, sending a long ball in to Jozy Altidore, who was able to head in the cross just before halftime.  

The US had a goal called back in the second half (still rather unclear why – although it’s suspected that Dempsey was called for the foul after sliding to get the ball up to Altidore.  If he was, it was a terrible call.)

Mexico is back.  They went into Costa Rica and dominated, pulling off a 3-0 victory.  That victory over the US in August clearly did wonders for Mexico’s confidence.  Honduras also won, defeating Trinidad and Tobago, 4-1.  Based on tonight’s results, Honduras now leads the hexagonal with 13 points and the US is second, also with 13 points (Honduras is first based on goal difference).  Mexico is third with 12 points and Costa Rica is now fourth.

Positives

• The US showed the ability to come from behind again.  They’ve been able to win twice when coming from behind (tonight, in June vs. Honduras) and draw once (at El Salvador).
• Landon Donovan showed why he is a dangerous player.  He had assists on both goals and did a nice job distributing the ball.  He put in a solid performance and did a good job tracking back on defense.
• Clint Dempsey has scored some clutch goals for the US.  Dempsey is excellent at being in the right place at the right time.  He’s played with more energy since the opening games of the Confederations Cup (where he looked lazy and tired).  
• Jozy Altidore is a solid presence up front for the US.  He scored his team-leading sixth goal of qualifying (his potential seventh got called back).
• Altidore and Charlie Davies are a dangerous duo up front.  Davies showed great poise on the ball and showed off his speed before being taken off after hurting his leg in the second half.

Negatives

• The US is still having issues clearing the ball out of the defensive end.  If the US makes it to South Africa, they are going to get blown out if they can’t get the ball out of their own end.  There were way too many shanked balls and turnovers in bad places on the field.  All the players on the team have to be more aware of who is around them and where they are on the field.
• The backline looked rather shaky, especially Jonathan Bornstein.  The teams gets Onyewu back for Wednesday’s game at Trinidad and Tobago.  They need him.
• They allowed El Salvador to score first.  Even though they have shown the ability to come from behind, they cannot continue to give up goals first.  Better teams will be able to shut them down after scoring.
• The ref called back a goal by the US in the second half.  No one really seemed to know why.  An explanation would have been nice.  That goal also would have eased the pressure on the US a little.