The Premier League Owl
Landon Donovan’s loan move to Everton after Christmas has almost become a Winter tradition on Merseyside, but it doesn’t seem as if the American will make it three years out of three in the Premier League:
“Right now, I need time to think and that is impossible to achieve while I am playing.
I need to determine if I want to play, and if the answer is yes, I need to work out where and for how long.
I plan to spend a lot of time travelling to distant places, alone. I am not sure where.
I want to take time to have some freedom and not worry about my next game or being fit. It may take me two weeks, two months or a year.
I don’t plan on worrying about the end result. I want to focus on being present and making the decision when I am ready.
I am at a point where I realize that if I am to come back I need to do so with the right mindset.”
More than anything, it sounds like Donovan just craves a break from football – and fair enough, he’s played almost continuously since the 2010 World Cup. Fair enough.
From Everton’s perspective, it isn’t really a blow – this is a different squad to the one Donovan has joined in the past, and one which doesn’t have the same amount of deficiencies. With Nikica Jelavic, Kevin Mirallas, and Victor Anichebe, would the US forward actually be guaranteed any game-time if he came over again? Probably not.
This is a good Everton side, and one which Donovan probably wouldn’t improve – which isn’t to dismiss his contribution in his previous spells, just an acknowledgement that the club has evolved a bit.
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