Indeed, for a whole generation of soccer fans in the United States, the name of Landon Donovan is one that has largely been hallowed, revered, and simply synonymous with the very being of the national team. Realistically speaking, who could blame these fans for holding Donovan in such a high regard? After all, it is he who has been, to a man, the best and most dynamic player this country has ever produced, and it is he who has been so very central to almost any measure of success the United States have accomplished over the last twelve years.
And yet, despite such an impressive resume, pedigree and reputation, Landon Donovan (barring injury to another player) will not be gracing the shores of Brazil this summer for one final go of it on the game's biggest stage. The script always said that Donovan would be there for his fourth World Cup, but as scripts go, they are often meant to be crumpled up and thrown away in the end. So it is that this fate has befallen Donovan in what looks to be the twilight of his career, and this reality has sent several corners of the US Soccer scene into histrionics.
Given that Donovan has been such a dangerous player for so long, it is understandable on one hand that some degree of handwringing would commence in the moments immediately following the announcement of the final World Cup roster that would ultimately spell the end of Donovan's summer hopes. Yet, even in lending some understanding to the collective reaction to Donovan's omission, much of the reaction to this new era for the United States has been over the top and nothing short of dramatic.
For all of the accolades that Donovan has rightfully garnered over the course of his wonderful career, there is but one reality that should be paramount to us now: he is playing at a level that his nowhere near the best we have come to expect from him. Indeed, he has been quite anonymous more times than not for Los Angeles so far this season, and this fact is one that will have hardly done him any favors in cementing his spot with the United States. With his relationship with Jürgen Klinsmann already being seemingly contentious at times, he was always going to have to be on his top form to win a place. He just simply hasn't been.
Leave it to a situation such as this to lead to every criticism and admonishment to come forth from a myriad of sources, whether fans or journalists alike. While some of the critiques have been valid, such as the opinion that Donovan might have been a solid option as a substitute, others simply have not been, such as the suggestion that Klinsmann is using this edition of the World Cup as a testing ground for 2018.
Make no mistake: this is Jürgen Klinsmann's team through and through, and he has constructed it with the pieces that he feels give the United States the best chance to progress from a daunting Group G. No, you don't have to agree with all of the roster selections (especially as it pertains to some of the very young and inexperienced nominees), but to believe that Klinsmann is somehow consciously not making the choices is absurd.
Klinsmann obviously views other options at his disposal as being more viable for his summer goals than Donovan, and accordingly he realizes that decisions stemming from this view will define, if not determine, his tenure at the helm of the United States National Team. If all goes well this summer, he'll be lauded. If not, he'll be lampooned. He understands that.
You have to think that Landon Donovan has his own understanding of this situation as well. Would he have wanted to have been on the plane to Brazil in a couple of weeks? Of course he would have. But, at this point in his life, not only as a player but also as a man, he has his perspective on life in general and has seemingly found peace in his own ways, regardless of what anyone else might have thought of him along the way. He, like so many other athletes, knows now that his time upon the summit was never going to last forever. Others would do well to realize that as well.
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