The U.S. men’s national team is on a tear unlike anything veteran Landon Donovan has ever seen, and Donovan, who has played in three World Cups and scored more goals andregistered more assists than any player in U.S. history, has seen a lot. “I’ve never been part of a run like this,” the L.A. Galaxy playmaker said of the USA’s current run, which includes 22goals in five consecutive wins. “It’s a lot of fun, not only the goals, but we’re creating lots of chances and that’s enjoyable.” Donovan, by the way, has been directly involved in exactly half of theteam’s impressive tally, scoring five goals and adding six more assists.
“There’s really good chemistry in this group,” the 31-year-old said. “For whatever reason, it’s a group that’scome together really well and meshed really well. And we understand each other. There’s been a lot of different combinations, a lot of different lineups. But the guys sort of understand their rolesvery well and we’ve all sort of fit together seamlessly.” The USA plays Honduras in the Gold Cup semifinal later today.
There’s always a bit of luck in any run of this sort. However, since the JK “Boo-birds” will be out in force as soon as they lose, it’s probably a good time to consider how no matter what happens in the next couple games, JK’s experiments with the roster (for which he has taken constant heat) have resulted in a depth chart far improved over the past. In addition, the style of play has indeed changed to a more aggressive, possession oriented play. Plus there are now a good number of players that can actually be said to look comfortable on the ball — and that comfort level actually seems to be improving. Barca, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Man City still don’t need to worry but for the USMNT it is great and foreshadowsmore improvement on the way.