The Official Site of Landon Donovan

Wed, Jun 3rd 2009, 10:21

L.A. begins life without Donovan

Landon’s pregame press conference

Landon Donovan has gotten used to missing a chunk of the MLS season due to his international duties. And once again, at the same time that David Beckham is absent stateside while on loan to AC Milan, Donovan is taking his own considerable star appeal away from league competition.

Donovan navigated the first 11 MLS games this year without missing a minute, but the Americans’ all-time leading scorer has joined the U.S. for a stretch that could overlap with as few as four MLS games – or as many as eight.

L.A. is off to a surprising yet odd start, with just one loss, but also just one win through 11 games. The Galaxy are 1-1-9, including a current undefeated streak of nine matches that is the fourth-longest in club history.

The Galaxy will try to extend their unbeaten streak to 10 matches at Toronto FC on Saturday, and also end a streak of five straight draws – a club record. Most impressive is the fact L.A. is 0-1-7 when conceding the first goal.

Donovan will be missed by the Galaxy, though not having Beckham for the first third of the season hasn’t made much of a difference for the club. L.A. won’t get Beckham back until mid-July, when there are just 13 games left in the regular season.

Donovan will likely miss the next four MLS games to play World Cup qualifiers, and then play in the Confederations Cup in South Africa that features world powers Brazil, Italy and Spain.

If U.S. coach Bob Bradley keeps Donovan on the team through July’s Gold Cup, he could miss four more matches.

“There are some possibilities in terms of players that may be able to do both. You have to understand the demands of the different clubs around the world and in MLS,” Bradley said.

Remember that with Beckham and Donovan in the lineup last season, L.A. wasn’t even a playoff team. The Galaxy haven’t made the playoffs in three years, even with Donovan.

That said, Donovan is a difference maker, arguably the best player in MLS. With six goals and four assists through 11 games, it’s going to be tough for L.A. to replace his production – much of which doesn’t show up in stats.

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