Every so often, the rumor mill starts grinding on the name of Freddy Adu, D.C. United’s teenage attacking midfielder. Several years ago, the rumors had him signing for an Italian team in Serie A. Then it was Chelsea expressing some interest, after which he eventually signed an MLS contract which allowed him to play for D.C. United, near his home in Maryland. His Mama had some influence there, because she was insisting on young Freddy being able to continue his education.
Then there was speculation that he might be asked to play for his native Ghana in the World Cup. After that idea fizzled, soccer pundits all over the place wondered whether Bruce Arena would select him to go to Germany with the United States. That was not to be, because Arena considered that the young player hadn’t shown enough as a substitute in MLS to earn his place on the national squad.
Now out of England comes another rumor, originally published in the Sun tabloid newspaper (almost everything in the Sun is rumor, so don’t bet any money on this). The story goes that Adu could go on loan in January (after the end of the MLS season) to Reading F.C., newly-promoted to the Premiership. If he went, and eventually was offered a contract (the club deal is supposed to be five million quid, or about nine million bucks), Freddie would join two other Americans, both World Cuppers, Bobby Convey and Marcus Hahnemann.
Given my attitude that in almost any human endeavor, the best learn from the best, I think a move to the Premiership would teach young Freddy a lot. Not only would he be (eventually) competing against some of the world’s best players, but he would be under the tutelage of one of the Premiership’s top managers—Steve Coppell.
Coppell, you may remember, was a classic winger for Manchester United in the days of Tommy Docherty, and unusual in that he was also a university graduate (in economics at the University of Liverpool). He ended up with almost four hundred appearances for the Red Devils, and more than forty for England. Could this world-class player, whose career was ended prematurely by a vicious high tackle that shattered his knee, teach Freddy Adu something about attacking soccer? Something that the U.S. needs?

At twenty-five years of age, with two World Cups and a prima career in Major League Soccer already in his scrapbook, he pockets a salary of $900K per annum. Landon Donovan is a genuine U.S. soccer star, and a home-grown one to boot. But so far, he hasn’t cut it at a higher level of play. Now let’s look at the context of his career, and what it may mean for the development of other young players and for our national team.

Donovan’s successes were initially with the San Jose Earthquakes on 2001 and 2003. The coach there was Frank Yallop, who had played for the Tampa Bay Mutiny in MLS from 1996 until his retirement at the end of the 1998 season. But what was more important was Yallop’s experience before joining MLS.

Yallop signed with Ipswich Town in the English League at 16 in 1983 and was a member of the team that became a founding member of the English Premier League at the end of the 1991-92 season. He played 376 games for the club, for many years alongside Terry Butcher, a stalwart defender for the England team in the 1986 World Cup. Frank Yallop had competed at the highest level of professional soccer, with and against world-class players.

Could Landon Donovan learn from him? Of course he could, and the combination of Yallop and Donovan produced two championships for San Jose. Andrea Canales of ESPN Soccernet wrote that Yallop refused to take credit for developing the U.S. star, stating that “Landon’s been a good player ever since I’ve had him.” The important thing about their relationship was that Yallop was able to give him some useful guidance, could help Donovan produce his best, by passing on his own vast professional experience. It seems to be working again in Los Angeles.

Could Bruce Arena do that as coach of the national team? Could Steve Sampson, former head coach of the national team and then the Galaxy? Sampson has no professional playing experience; Arena only a game or two in the “A” league; Sigi Schmid, another prominent coach now being considered as the national team boss, played for UCLA in the seventies, never in the NASL or MLS, or in any professional league.

This, I believe, reinforces for us a lesson from soccer history: except in very rare cases, the most successful coaches are those who had playing experience at the highest level. They can teach and guide our young players, as Yallop has done with Landon Donovan, and now is doing again after recently taking over the reins of the Galaxy. Amateurs rarely teach professionals; first-aid instructors don’t teach future surgeons.

Is there a message from the story of Landon Donovan for those in charge of selecting a coach for our national team? I believe there is, but I am also afraid that because of perfectly-understandable chauvinism, but a false pride, it will go unheeded.

Ever since he was a talented teenager, Landon Donovan, of the Los Angeles Galaxy and the U. S. National team, has been one of the most hyped of American soccer players. Generally recognized as the best home-grown player the country has ever had, Donovan was nevertheless a disappointment in the 2006 World Cup, having a couple of listless performances and scoring no goals. What went wrong? How good is he? Will he ever be world-class?
In one sense he is the beneficiary of a progressive development program for young talent, but after graduating he has in another way become the victim of the way things are for U.S. professional players.
Emerging from a soccer academy as a teenager, he made his first appearance for the national team in 2000, scoring one of the two goals and being named “Man of the Match” in a defeat of Mexico. Since then he has been a fixture in the team, and now has more than 80 appearances. But if you look carefully at his history, a few key things emerge that should give us pause to think about how we prepare American players, American coaches and our national team.
Donovan quickly became a star in MLS in his rookie season. He had played as a non-starting teenager with Bayer 04 Leverkusen of the Bundesliga in Germany, but returned on loan to the San Jose Earthquakes where he won MLS titles in 2001 and 2003, played in all-star games, scored lots of goals, and was named Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2003. After that success, Bayer 04 wanted him back in 2004-5.
He played, but did not do too well. He appeared in only nine games, did not score, got frustrated at his lack of playing time. When you believe you are a big fish, even in a small pond like MLS, it is hard to accept the fact that you are not going to swim every week.
The culmination came on March 9, 2005, in a Champions League match against Liverpool, a good test for any player, especially a midfielder aligned against world-class opposition like Steve Gerrard.
The match report from ESPNStar says it all:
“Steven Gerrard was the outstanding player on the pitch, running Leverkusen ragged. Gerrard started the second half in increasingly dominant form. Bayer failed to get to grips with his roving role and he kept popping up in critical positions to break up play and feed Baros, Riise and Luis Garcia. The England midfielder was everywhere, prompting, surging forward and finding space to drag the Germans out of position with clever, telling passes. Leverkusen sent on Clemens Fritz for ineffective USA international, Landon Donovan, eight minutes after the restart.”
Donovan did not play in the next two matches for the German club, and by the end of the month he had had enough. He let Leverkusen know of his distress, they released him from his contract and out came the announcement that he had signed for Los Angeles of MLS. He was back home, and pretty soon, a star again.