Season 2012-13 
Everton News
Donovan contemplates life, Everton...
US star uncertain of what he wants to do
Some Excerpts:
Donovan admits his hunger for the game has waxed and waned. "I feel like there is a physical point which you hit when your body can't take it like it used to, but there is also a mental place where your mind can't do it anymore," he explained."It's different for everyone. A certain number of games will do it for one person. The road trips will wear out another. But if you do it for as long as I have, you realize you hit a barrier and have to work really hard to keep it going."
"I've struggled with motivation at many points in my career," he said. "I've had times where it all came easily but there have been stretches where I have questioned it."
"This year has been challenging because I have played non-stop and gotten physically injured more," he said. "At different times I have pushed through stretches that have not been enjoyable, but right now, I am at a point where I realize that if I am to come back I need to do so with the right mindset."
When asked if he expects to play at World Cup 2014, Donovan strives to be as transparent as possible. "I don't have the answer to that," he responded. "There are a lot of moving pieces: Will I be playing, period? Will I be part of the team? Will I be good enough to be wanted?" he continued. "If I had to guess I would say it is 50-50. I will have more clarity after I take a break."
Everton also remain dear to Donovan, referring to the club where he enjoyed two successful short-term loans as "a fling that grew into a full-blown affair."
"I do think about them because they really stole my heart when I walked into Goodison Park," he revealed. "Everyone was so unbelievably welcoming, from Mr Moyes to the tea lady."
While the allure of Everton presents one option for his future, Donovan still has one year left on his Galaxy contract and intends to use the offseason to review his future. "Right now, I need time to think and that is impossible to achieve while I am playing," he said. The decisions he must make are simple yet weighty. "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."
Donovan has given a lot of thought to his decision-making process. "I plan to spend a lot of time with my family and traveling 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 mention that everyone should be so lucky as to have the opportunity to self-evaluate like that and Donovan chuckles. "They can," he exclaims. "That is the beauty of life."
More at ESPN
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E.g He'll ask the MLS to free him of his contract (to play for Everton), in exchange for his participation in the world cup.
That or you can take it on face value. I don't get Peter's take on it. Its like people scoffing at Stan Collymore when he came out and said he has depression. What? When you're a footballer on £Xk per week? Never!
Because he has been playing club football since 17, has almost 150 caps for his country and probably he feels he has achieved all he can for (current) club and country.
Depression, motivation, aspiration are states of mind and cannot be bought and sold.
Take a look at this article on Darren Eadie
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/lifestyle/2012/08/darren-eadie-fighting-depression-football
There may be some professional footballers who don't even like football&just view it as a job, something they happen to be good at & can make a living from. I don't include Donovan amongst those, I just make the point.
Players, financially secure, can retire early now theres plenty of examples.
After exposure to the Premiership, one of the elite European leagues ableit technically inferior, maybe the MLS just doesnt fill him with zest anymore and, as has been mentioned above, he has achieved all he can.
It must be frustrating for him as he doesnt look at all out of place in the league. He is a highly effective wide attacker, his assists count was fantastic last loan, a team ethic wide player who provides verve and penetration.
He is an athlete who has been playing at the top of his sport for a long time. He is bound to tire mentally and physically. We do not necessarily need to feel sorry for him, but as human beings we should at least try to understand.
Me, I've found that money - not that I have a lot of it right now - was never the magical solution to everything. As for being adored by fans... well, the opposition fans don't ever adore you and as for your own - ask Hibbert, Osman, Howard, Neville, etc etc etc
I'd love to see him leaving Ashley Cole in an absolute mess on the floor again, in every way!!
As for the motivation aspect, people don't appear to hold jobs down for 5 minutes these days, let alone for 13 years, personally i've never been on such a low wage but I love my job and love life!!
Donovan is a good egg and is sensible to consider his future, preferably with us.
Personally I think Mirallas in the very near future is going to be a revelation he's younger quicker and got a better eye for a goal so that position is covered.
Anyway, What sane man would take a bird back who's chased him twice after telling him she loves him over and over.
Donovan is perfect for the system Moyes tried to open up with at QPR, that wide attacking role that also requires you to drop in and work in mid as well. Hes a flexible, intelligent player. But then hes the experienced finished article.
I think one of the reasons the system didnt work at QPR is that, being light in mid and with Vic right & Mirallas(who I think can play it but is still bedding in), we didnt have the players to play it on the day.
We need a deep mid, but I also think we need another wide attacking player in the club as well as Mirallas. We need options.
With his age etc and the way we need to do things, we should only mainly take players aged 25/26 and under. I feel unless it was 3/4 millio, maximum, then Donovan is a non starter despite being in good nick and doesnt pick up injuries.
However I do feel we need another player of that kind in, we need options and variety. Ince rumours have resurfaced since Moyes was at Forest v Blackpool the other night. I hear hes a player but ive not seen to judge.
Like all modern day top players, his ability will give him the financial security to exercise choices that the vast majority of us will never have. Maybe most of us will never appreciate what he has to give up to maintain his standards.
One thing is for sure: time marches on, whether we like it or not, and I think his time at Everton is done... so thanks, Donovan, for your contribution to our story but I would like to think we have moved on. You do what you feel is right for you and your, like we all do in our own way, I think you could have written your own little chapter in our history but that opportunity has gone and now that will just be a footnote.
I still shudder when people see big Vic playing up front and think he is good enough to replace him. I remember only too well the before and after games when he played and he brought a new dimension to our game, quality, and it's still lacking today.
If he came for a peppercorn fee or on a Bosman then I would grab with both hands, play him selectively and enjoy it while it lasts.
Remember, we're talking about a player who stated, and frequently, his career in Germany went nowhere because of himself, not the club.
I'd like to think Al Reddish and Nick Entwistle got it right, but who knows?
He has a knee injury and he's 30 years old. If, by some chance, his head clears before January 31st? MLS won't hold him or charge an exorbitant price.
Shit, they should pay EFC to take him after he all but begged to be sold to EFC post-2010 WC and the league set a price they knew Everton couldn't afford. Many EPL teams could have foot the bill easy, but LD only wanted Everton. So pricing him out of the move was easy.
As I said, I take him at his word. But if he doesn't retire, being back at Goodison for the next couple years wouldn't surprise me.
In the meantime, there's no point worrying too much about a relatively average player whose annual cameos only highlight how mediocre the "greatest league in the world" is.
Last time we had him we beat Chelsea even with Straq upfront and they went on to win the CL, so.......i've confused myself. Maybe everyone's crap.
The main thing is, and this is the important thing, don't bottle it yet again on Sunday, Moyes - COYBB!
This from a guy who can't even spell his last nameorrectly. Elvis must be spinning in ............
I can almost see what he is saying and almost see why he is probably bored with footy, American footy anyway. Look at it this way, Jasaon Stratham, (sp) who ever thought he would ever get bored of banging Kelly Brook?
One thing worries me about Landon's mentality, this is the man who broke down in tears in the World Cup press conference......tart!
We have become dependant on loans, cameo appearances, and handing out crutches to those past their sell by date.
We do not need Donovan, he needs us!
I would consider his reintroduction to the club as a retrograde step — Move on, Moyes!!
I fear that he won't get another chance to pull on Everton shirt. I hope I'm wrong.
I really enjoyed the time Donovan spent with Everton and always wonder what could have been if he trained with top class players day in and day out for a career rather than a couple of loan spells. Sigh.
Like he's said in the past three or four interviews both here and back in the UK, he's been playing non-stop (that includes interanationally as well, which is more than can be said for some of his compatriots). For a player that hasn't had that many injuries relatively speaking, to now get injured more often because he's not sufficiently rested must do his head in.
As fantastic a player as he is, by the time he's had time away from the game to recharge and think about his future, he'd be a gamble age-wise and definitely not the player he's been for us during the past two loan spells, if we were to buy him on a 2-3 year deal.
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088 Posted 24/10/2012 at 17:54:39
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