If Major League Soccer follows through on its threat to lock out the players union, does that mean Landon Donovan gets recalled from Everton?
I haven’t seen anyone else ask, and I figure I should, because if it’s true, it would suck on several levels. Donovan played awfully well in his first Premier League match, getting an assist on a well-placed corner kick, smoking Arsenal left back Armand Traore on the wing, and getting the English press to take notice. He showed signs of challenging Clint Dempsey’s position as best non-goalkeeping American footballer in England.
If he has to sit in England because of a labor dispute in America, that does nothing to help the U.S. Men’s National Team in a World Cup year — and really, wasn’t that the primary reason MLS was launched in the first place?
3 responses so far ↓
1 jen // Jan 13, 2010 at 10:02 am
Good question. I would assume LD has enough clout to extend his loan at Everton, assuming Everton is keen to keep him. I can’t imagine US Soccer telling its best player, “No, you need to just sit from mid-March until the World Cup. Then, go get ‘em!”
I think the players chose a good year to hold their ground. With the World Cup looming there will be a lot of pressure on MLS to resolve the dispute.
2 Dave // Jan 13, 2010 at 11:18 am
The question isn’t whether Everton would want to keep him until the end of the EPL season. The question is whether an MLS lockout on February 1 would require him to STOP PLAYING ALTOGETHER. LD’s a union guy, and it wouldn’t be fair to other union members if he could keep playing (and keep getting paid) while the rest of the union couldn’t work.
The question also applies to David Beckham, because technically, he’s still a Galaxy player, too.
The only way LD is assured of continuing at Everton is A.) a lockout is averted (not likely), or B.) if Everton buys out his contract prior to a lockout, which would require AT LEAST 10 million pounds. Everton’s midfield is stretched, but so’s its budget, and LD will have to score some goals in these next 3 ties at Goodison — Man City, Birmingham (FA Cup) & Sunderland — to prove he’s worth that.
3 a different Dave // Jan 15, 2010 at 4:16 am
IIRC we only have the union’s word that the owners are threatening a “lockout”. This could just be the union’s attempt to shift the blame to the owners and to keep the word “strike” out of the public discussion.
Either a strike or a lockout would kill MLS. It better not happen. It is an interesting question though; I don’t know how a strike or lockout would effect loan players. I’d rather we not have to find out through actual experience, though.