5 Players Who Can Step Up and Replace Landon Donovan for the USMNT
Last week, Landon Donovan played in his final game for the United States Men’s National Team. As the great American soccer star sets below the horizon, the inevitable question must be asked: Who will rise to replace him?
The answer is, quite simply, no one.
There are no players on the current USMNT as complete as Landon Donovan. Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore could conceivably approach Donovan’s goals record (57 in 157 caps), but neither can compare as a playmaker.
Donovan’s 58 assists exceed the combined assists of the next three players in the USMNT record book (Cobi Jones, 22; Claudio Reyna, 19; Eddie Lewis/Eric Wynalda, 16). While the US fields better passers than Dempsey and Altidore—Michael Bradley and Graham Zusi come to mind—no player complements scoring and distribution like Donovan.
It may be several generations before the next player of Donovan’s caliber arrives. Such is the case when the best player in his sport (at least domestically) retires.
With that said, the following five players can become “the next Donovan” not by matching Donovan’s quality, but by carrying the torch of US Soccer into the next generation.
*All statistics courtesy of ussoccer.com, mlssoccer.com and premierleague.com.
Clint Dempsey
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Apart from Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey was the most recognizable US star at the 2014 World Cup (partially because Jurgen Klinsmann controversially excluded Donovan from the 23-man roster). Dempsey scored in the first minute of the first match in Brazil and solidified his claim as the new face of American soccer.
Unfortunately, he’s only a year younger than Donovan.
Still, Dempsey hasn’t showed signs of slowing. He’s scored 13 goals for the Seattle Sounders in 2014 after returning from a prolific run in the Premier League where he netted 57 goals over seven seasons.
In international play, Dempsey has amassed 39 goals, 18 behind Donovan. If he continues playing for another four years—and Dempsey admitted in July during an interview with “CBS This Morning” that he wants to play in Russia for the 2018 World Cup—he could break Donovan’s scoring record.
It's a big if, but one more World Cup run—perhaps to the semifinals as Jurgen Klinsmann has targeted—and Dempsey will enter the discussion of the greatest American soccer players of all time.
Jozy Altidore
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Like Donovan, Altidore lacks the vision and passing skills of Landon Donovan, but he packs as much scoring punch. Altidore has knocked in 23 goals in 73 caps for the USMNT, a clip on par with Donovan and Dempsey.
Unlike Dempsey, youth is on Altidore’s side: He’s only 24. If he continues his current pace for another eight years, Altidore will threaten Donovan’s goals mark and perhaps Cobi Jones’ record of 164 caps.
But Altidore has been enigmatic throughout his international career. The striker suffered a prolonged goal-scoring drought before scoring twice against Nigeria in the final warm-up match before the 2014 World Cup.
Riding the slump-breaking high into Brazil, Altidore sank back down when he pulled his hamstring in the first match against Ghana. Without Altidore, Klinsmann was forced to realign the midfield, and the US attack suffered.
The same peaks and valleys have defined Altidore’s club career. After an impressive stint at AZ Alkmaar, Altidore now finds himself firmly fixed to the bench at his new club, Sunderland.
If Altidore is to step into Donovan’s mantle, he must find some stability in what has been a roller coaster career.
Michael Bradley
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After a tough World Cup, Michael Bradley is in need of redemption.
When Jozy Altidore went down with a hamstring injury in Brazil, Klinsmann was forced to play Bradley more up front instead of his usual defensive midfield position. Although Bradley covered more distance than anyone other player at the World Cup during group play, he never found a comfort zone.
It’s a shame, because Michael Bradley had been one of the National Team’s best players leading up to the World Cup. He's is not a natural goalscorer, but his field vision rates closer to Donovan than Dempsey or Altidore, as demonstrated by his beautiful over-the-top assist to Julian Green in the Belgium match (more on this later).
Like Dempsey, Bradley proved his mettle in Europe before moving to the MLS. But it’s been a disappointing year at FC Toronto—Bradley has scored only two goals in 21 appearances—and Jurgen Klinsmann recently questioned whether Bradley’s fitness suffered in stepping down a level of competition.
Still, at just 27, there is time for Bradley to recover from Brazil and regain his status as one of the best players in the American camp.
Julian Green
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Some will say it was a miss-hit, but there’s no mistaking that Julian Green burst onto the national scene with a stunning volley (worth one more look) against Belgium in the World Cup.
The question is whether the 19-year-old will continue his meteoric rise.
Wrangling the German-American Green from the Germany Football Association was a coup for Klinsmann, and Green didn't disappoint in Brazil. Playing up front as a winger or attacking midfielder, Green has the pace and scoring prowess to become a mainstay in American soccer for the next decade.
His youth is both a blessing and a curse: Green has time to develop, but there’s no assurances he will blossom into a star. Others have recognized his promise—Green signed with Bayern Munich as an 18-year-old before going out on loan to Hamburger SV—but there’s never any guarantee that it will be fulfilled.
Unfortunately, Green is currently sidelined with a rib injury, which has kept him off the pitch for Hamburger and left him unable to participate in the international friendlies to end the year.
For now, the wait must continue to see if Green has the right stuff to become the next American star.
Mix Diskerud
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Who better to replace Landon Donovan than the man already wearing No. 10?
Mix Diskerud, another one of Klinsmann’s dual-national recruits, is poised to break out. Fittingly, the attacking midfielder scored the only goal for the US in Donovan’s farewell game last week against Ecuador.
The Norwegian-born Diskerud was one of the few outfield players that did not see any time on the pitch in Brazil, but he did not grouse about it. Instead, Diskerud stepped up his game.
His storming takeaway in the September friendly against the Czech Republic led to the only goal of the match (potted by Alejandro Bedoya). Klinsmann recognized the midfielder’s composure and quality in a recent interview with Tim Reynolds of the AP (via Yahoo! Sports):
"Mix is growing. I think the message to him after the World Cup was: If you want to break into this team as a starter one day, you've got to step it up. You have to become more aggressive. You have to challenge more one-against-one situations. You have to become physical. And can he play? Absolutely. Does he have tremendous vision? Yes. But he needs these other elements on the international stage to break through.
"
If Diskerud takes Klinsmann’s advice to heart and adds a physical and aggressive dimension to his game, it’s possible that the next No. 10 for the US will in fact remain, No. 10.
