Bayer Cross Fingers On Donovan 12/11/04

Following a meeting U.S. star Landon Donovan, Bayer Leverkusen boss Klaus Augenthaler reiterated his desire to bring the attacker back to Germany in January. “A few details will have to be settled,” he told the club website. “But I hope he will join us during the winter.”
Following a meeting U.S. star Landon Donovan, Bayer Leverkusen boss Klaus Augenthaler reiterated his desire to bring the attacker back to Germany in January.

“A few details will have to be settled,” he told the club website. “But I hope he will join us during the winter.”

Donovan’s loan deal with MLS and the San Jose Earthquakes expires soon, but the 22-year old has thus far seemed reluctant to return to the Bundesliga club that signed him when he was 17.



Now I wonder why Donovan could have ANY reservations about playing in germany?

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Strider

Its official, Jan 1 the Bundesliga will have the best US player in its league.

I just hope that Mathis is snapped up by a good team as well.

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Strider

Donovan on how Bayer Leverkusen plays:

"They're not the typical German team," he said. "They play attractive, good soccer.

His first game will be against Hannover..............

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Strider

keith wrote ,,

i read a couple landon articles after the move back to germany was announced & i didn't hear him say anything like that. do you have a link?? landon seems to have a little bit of a attitude problem concerning germany- he had a bad experience as a teenager & got comfortable playing back home in california. the quotes i read seemed to be more luke warm about returning and i didn't read anything bad mouthing the bundesliga... landon did get some bad press here as he didn't seem as excited to return to germany as he should be. As a big usa national team fan- i hope he scores a ton of goals (except against hanover of course) and becomes the world star i think he can be-- if he works hard & doesn't get discouraged the first time he is a sub. he should do good.

Nice article on Donovan at MLSnet.com but the writer does not seem to know all too much about the Bundesliga. Or if he does it is not apparent from lines like these:



First of all, Leverkusen's roster - as is true for all clubs - includes more foreign players than Germans. Their starting line-up for the last match included only 4 Germans, for example.

Also, Kaluzny is not really a staple of the team, having played only two games this season. And badly. Their most distinguished foreign players are probably Bulgarian Berbatov and Brazilian Franca. These are also the guys that Donovan will have to compete with for a spot on the team should he be considered a striker.

However, the biggest beef I have with the article is the impression that German football consists of big guys playing without much skill. While there certainly are a few players who this might be true for, all of the better teams in the do rely on skillful play and creativity. In our team, almost all of our offensive players are medium-sized guys. Hardly any behemoths to be found.

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Konjugation eines unregelmäßigen Verbs

Ich bin fest.
Du bist eigensinnig.
Er ist ein dickköpfiger, unbelehrbarer Hornochse.
(Bertrand Russell)

German soccer has the REPUTATION of being physical, with large fit specimens well drilled in defensive tactics and teams with primarily an arial attack.
Certainly most successful German players who have featured overseas have been big tall guys if you think about it.

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Strider

i can remember watching the great german teams in past world cups & big & direct was a term used- but not in a negative way. while brazil would pass twenty times to get forward- a big/fast german midfielder would power past & launch a deadly ball to a big powerful striker. i loved watching the contrasting styles of play- the latin 'samba' passing & the german power game. with less success in the past few years- a few(but far from a majority) seem to use the big & direct as a negative- like cumbersome, without imagination ect... i think they are off base- while you can see some difference in watching a south american club team & a german club team play- the play in germany for the most part is great to watch & seems very high quality to my somewhat untrained eye -

side note- maybe a new thread needed here- but was talking to a cool german has been living here in southern california area for about 8 yrs now- he seems to be sure of a poor german showing in the world cup. on home turf- i can't see germany doing any less than semi finals- & with the home crowds- would be a little surprised not to see them in the finals-- maybe take 2nd place to the usa!!! (a man can dream can't he)

Germany will need a ref like Hugh Dallas to progress that far! - apparently basketball is a growth sport in Germany

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Strider

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Strider

keith wrote
ha/ha- well- maybe germany not quite the powerhouse of years past- but still- should have pretty good side- & with tons of home support- i wouldn't bet against them. , as far as basketball goes- it's amazing- i went to the 84 olympics in los angeles and they have come a long way since then. nowitski is a true all-star. basketball is a good sport- but i prefer soccer & baseball (ice hockey also but can't think about that now)

Ok, that may well be true. Certainly, many German players are more athletic and somewhat less skilled than your average Brazillian player. But if you take into consideration that the roster of most Bundesliga teams is made up of two thirds foreign players, this doesn't really reflect on the Bundesliga at all. If you think about it.

As far as the world cup goes, the new German coach is trying out a lot of young players right now, among them our very own 20-year-old defender Per Mertesacker. Now that guy will raise the quality of the team, he has the best statistics in the whole Bundesliga!

If Germany can manage to scramble a team of mostly young and gifted players, we may have a shot of advancing into the semi-finals. But I am wary as the national team hasn't really been playing well for years.

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Konjugation eines unregelmäßigen Verbs

Ich bin fest.
Du bist eigensinnig.
Er ist ein dickköpfiger, unbelehrbarer Hornochse.
(Bertrand Russell)

There is a very good young German player - 20 years old - playing in the Premier League for Aston Villa, Thomas Hitzelberger. Isnt he known in Germany?I would think he wsould feature for the National Team.

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Strider

I think his chance is coming up very soon.

_________________
Konjugation eines unregelmäßigen Verbs

Ich bin fest.
Du bist eigensinnig.
Er ist ein dickköpfiger, unbelehrbarer Hornochse.
(Bertrand Russell)

what about Moritz Volz? he's become very popular with fulham (english premier)-

Well, it's sort of the same predicament Cherundolo is in. Since these guys have never played in the Bundesliga, many people don't know about them. And the influential press doesn't support them much, whereas pretty much everyone who's ever had a good match or two in the Bundesliga is being reported as a candidate for the national team.

But the new coach, Juergen Klinsmann, will give them a chance, I think.

_________________
Konjugation eines unregelmäßigen Verbs

Ich bin fest.
Du bist eigensinnig.
Er ist ein dickköpfiger, unbelehrbarer Hornochse.
(Bertrand Russell)

There is also a young gun called Zeigler playing for Spurs - brilliant player. Has to be a Kraut, no?

http://skysports.planetfootball.com/ima ... iegler.jpg

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Strider

Squig's answer: No one will stop here from moving to Germany, we do have English Universities here, and Donocan has a cnotract to fulfill. When he play in Madrid or Barcelona she'll be happy to come with him...
And I guess he'll make enough money to jetset a bit... ;-)

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veni vidi vici
Gegen Rassismus
Remember Lara!

Its hard to believe Donovan is going to Germany and leaving this behind!!!!!!!!!



http://msn.foxsports.com/pgStory?conten ... geNumber=3

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Strider

Squig, do you know what the word "pedantic" means?

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Strider

Actually, just looked it up, menas the same as in german... I understand you, but you should know that I just started this 'job' a year ago and am just considered as a help-sherif, if you know what I mean. 96 wants the Forum to be run a bit pedantic, and that's what I am doing...
If you referred to my comment I just blame it on the German humour ;-)

_________________
veni vidi vici
Gegen Rassismus
Remember Lara!