I was very excited to see that soccerbyives was reporting that Landon Donovan has completed a loan deal to Everton. Although the details have not been released and the Everton website does not indicate this, I thought I would take a couple minutes to comment.
I can only really see a couple of negatives to this move, while there are a host of positives. The positives are that: Landon would be on vacation otherwise for January, February and most of March; he would be playing in a highly competitive league; there are a host of injuries at Everton at midfield and at forward; and the African Cup of Nations will take Yakubu out for January.
One of the negatives is that the loan could be for longer than the MLS break and the Everton regulars could be healed up by then, which might put Landon on the bench for a couple of months before the World Cup. Another negative is that the English league is quite physical and Donovan could pick up a serious injury.
If this loan is from January until late March, then that may be better than from January until the World Cup. When looking at the injuries at Everton, most everyone should be back playing by sometime in March, so it would make sense to come back at that point anyway. During January, Landon Donovan should see the field immediately because Yakubu, Anichebe, Arteta, and Osman will most likely all be out. After that Donovan might struggle for playing time, unless he does such a great job that the manager won’t take him out. Here’s hoping Donovan succeeds in England.
This will be good for Donovan if he doesn’t quit like he always does when the competition gets too tough for him. If he wants to compete on the world stage Donovan needs to play in the EPL and or Europe.
I noticed Philly. I am a Philly kid. I am living in LA. Go Eagles.