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Canales Daily: Arena Wants Donovan's Leadership
It's not all that often that a captain reclaims the title after over a year of someone else strapping the armband on, but the Los Angeles Galaxy clearly need someone committed to the squad to take on the role.
Mar 11, 2009 10:22:45 AM
Back in August of 2007, Landon Donovan waited for a chance to talk
privately with his teammate, David Beckham. While most of the players
on the squad parked their cars outside the stadium grounds where the
players train, Beckham's Porsche, for security reasons, was always left
underground in the loading dock near the locker rooms while its owner
was training.
Thus, it was easy to wait nearby and then ask the English midfielder for a minute of time to discuss a team matter.
The young striker wanted to hand the Galaxy captaincy over to Beckham. Donovan had himself only recently been given the honor in 2006, though he had served the team since 2005, when he led LA to the championship title in Major League Soccer.
Later, Donovan was blunt in assessing his reasons for turning the Galaxy armband over to Beckham.
"I'm not stupid," Donovan said. "[Beckham has] been a captain for England, one of the better teams in the world. For me, it's not as important to wear the armband. I'm going to play the same way and act the same way towards guys whether I have that or not."
Still, Donovan realized that the captaincy was an important symbol, a leadership role that resonated among the other players.
"I think it made [Beckham] immediately part of the team in a real sense, not just on the field," said Donovan at the time. "Guys looked at him differently, and he could say things to guys differently. I told him that if he was ready for it, I thought it was appropriate that he wear it."
It will be almost exactly two years after that moment that Beckham now plans to rejoin the Los Angeles squad, having paid out of his own funds millions of dollars to miss over half the MLS regular season so he could remain with AC Milan in an extended loan deal.
Donovan himself missed almost all of the team's preseason training, as he was away on a shorter loan to Bayern Munich. He returned this week to Los Angeles and took part in his first practice on Tuesday morning.
Though he admitted to hoping for a transfer while he was in Germany, Donovan said he would not have wished for a longer loan deal, pointing out the difficulty of keeping a spot open for a player not joining until midseason in MLS.
"I don't think it would have been fair to the (Galaxy)," Donovan said. "If that's what (Beckham) wants to do I'm happy for him. In my situation, that's not something I want to do."
Now, Donovan is focused on helping the Galaxy win.
"I genuinely feel passionately about that," he said. "I want to make that happen."
Donovan contributed 20 goals to the Galaxy's effort last season, but coach Bruce Arena, who took over for Ruud Gullit halfway through the year, noted that the team was short of a more precious commodity - leadership.
Whether that was possibly because Donovan deferred to Beckham and Beckham was perhaps more concentrated on gaining more England caps than leading the Galaxy, Arena wasn't interested in exploring matters in the past.
"It's absolutely critical to have Landon and his quality," Arena said. "This time around, we expect him not only to do what he does on the field, but we're asking him to do a little bit more."
Though Arena wouldn't quite promise that Donovan would be made team captain, the coach hinted strongly at that outcome.
"We're turning a lot of responsibility over to Landon," Arena stated.
MLS released recently its list of annual player salaries, and Beckham, of course, topped the names. He earns on base salary 6.5 million dollars, which, even if sliced exactly in half to compensate for missing slightly over half the MLS season, is still more than any other league player.
Money can't buy love or loyalty, however. Beckham's priority is England, which is partly why he was so intent on remaining with AC Milan, as England coach Fabio Capello indicated such a move would make future England calls more likely.
Whether the Galaxy are going to be able to become playoff contenders carrying a hole in their squad for the first half of the season will rest on the players still available to Arena. He has made a number of trades to try to strengthen the squad, but every MLS teams tries to improve in the offseason, and few struggled as badly as the Galaxy last year. Beckham may arrive too late to be of much help.
Donovan wasn't making any predictions yet.
"The chemistry, the vibe, seems good," Donovan said of the revamped Galaxy squad. "But the ultimate test will be stepping on the field and winning games."
Andrea Canales is Chief Editor of Goal.com USA
Thus, it was easy to wait nearby and then ask the English midfielder for a minute of time to discuss a team matter.
The young striker wanted to hand the Galaxy captaincy over to Beckham. Donovan had himself only recently been given the honor in 2006, though he had served the team since 2005, when he led LA to the championship title in Major League Soccer.
Later, Donovan was blunt in assessing his reasons for turning the Galaxy armband over to Beckham.
"I'm not stupid," Donovan said. "[Beckham has] been a captain for England, one of the better teams in the world. For me, it's not as important to wear the armband. I'm going to play the same way and act the same way towards guys whether I have that or not."
Still, Donovan realized that the captaincy was an important symbol, a leadership role that resonated among the other players.
"I think it made [Beckham] immediately part of the team in a real sense, not just on the field," said Donovan at the time. "Guys looked at him differently, and he could say things to guys differently. I told him that if he was ready for it, I thought it was appropriate that he wear it."
It will be almost exactly two years after that moment that Beckham now plans to rejoin the Los Angeles squad, having paid out of his own funds millions of dollars to miss over half the MLS regular season so he could remain with AC Milan in an extended loan deal.
Donovan himself missed almost all of the team's preseason training, as he was away on a shorter loan to Bayern Munich. He returned this week to Los Angeles and took part in his first practice on Tuesday morning.
Though he admitted to hoping for a transfer while he was in Germany, Donovan said he would not have wished for a longer loan deal, pointing out the difficulty of keeping a spot open for a player not joining until midseason in MLS.
"I don't think it would have been fair to the (Galaxy)," Donovan said. "If that's what (Beckham) wants to do I'm happy for him. In my situation, that's not something I want to do."
Now, Donovan is focused on helping the Galaxy win.
"I genuinely feel passionately about that," he said. "I want to make that happen."
Donovan contributed 20 goals to the Galaxy's effort last season, but coach Bruce Arena, who took over for Ruud Gullit halfway through the year, noted that the team was short of a more precious commodity - leadership.
Whether that was possibly because Donovan deferred to Beckham and Beckham was perhaps more concentrated on gaining more England caps than leading the Galaxy, Arena wasn't interested in exploring matters in the past.
"It's absolutely critical to have Landon and his quality," Arena said. "This time around, we expect him not only to do what he does on the field, but we're asking him to do a little bit more."
Though Arena wouldn't quite promise that Donovan would be made team captain, the coach hinted strongly at that outcome.
"We're turning a lot of responsibility over to Landon," Arena stated.
MLS released recently its list of annual player salaries, and Beckham, of course, topped the names. He earns on base salary 6.5 million dollars, which, even if sliced exactly in half to compensate for missing slightly over half the MLS season, is still more than any other league player.
Money can't buy love or loyalty, however. Beckham's priority is England, which is partly why he was so intent on remaining with AC Milan, as England coach Fabio Capello indicated such a move would make future England calls more likely.
Whether the Galaxy are going to be able to become playoff contenders carrying a hole in their squad for the first half of the season will rest on the players still available to Arena. He has made a number of trades to try to strengthen the squad, but every MLS teams tries to improve in the offseason, and few struggled as badly as the Galaxy last year. Beckham may arrive too late to be of much help.
Donovan wasn't making any predictions yet.
"The chemistry, the vibe, seems good," Donovan said of the revamped Galaxy squad. "But the ultimate test will be stepping on the field and winning games."
Andrea Canales is Chief Editor of Goal.com USA
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