Landon Donovan arrived on Merseyside stating that he would act as a spy for his country. The United States are one of England’s opponents in the World Cup and Donovan is their most crucial player, having made 120 appearances and scored 42 goals.
Was Donovan’s statement that he was here to do more than play an admission that he would spend a considerable amount of time on the bench? After all, there is a limit to how effective a player can be while on a three-month loan deal.
And Donovan, while a superstar in his home country, has had opportunities in Europe before — and failed to shine. At 17 he signed for Bayer Leverkusen but the culture shock proved too debilitating and he returned to his home country on loan. If his name has any resonance among fans in the United Kingdom it will probably be because of his criticism of David Beckham as a poor leader and team-mate at Los Angeles Galaxy.
It was a surprise to see Donovan in the starting line-up at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal. He had not played for a month and began training with Everton only the previous weekend. Then the snow came and interrupted his efforts to integrate and as David Moyes, the Everton manager, explained, he was the last type of player he needed on Saturday because players with low body fat cope less well in freezing conditions.
But our first sight of Donovan was not of him in the dugout compiling a dossier about English football but of English fans making notes about him. It was a remarkable debut and Moyes confirmed that he had not seen a debutant fit in so smoothly before.
“Donovan did very well,” Moyes said. “From what I have seen of him his football’s simple, quick, lively and he was intelligent today. He tracked people back and we know he can play off the front or wide. I thought he made a good contribution.”
The Californian underlined that the US team England will face in South Africa will not be onedimensional. Donovan is highly intuitive and adaptable. He was one of the more composed players at the Emirates and brought a studied intelligence to Everton’s frenetic, while effective, endeavour.
Donovan has long held an ambition to perform in the Premier League. The only surprise is that it has taken this long for the 27-year-old to be offered a chance. He is often berated for failing to impress on the big stage — he missed his penalty in the MLS Cup final this year — but he passed a stern test against Arsenal. Fabio Capello should pay heed.
Cross-posted from The Times Online (Pete would have posted this himself, but his work hates soccer bloggers)
