Donovan proving his worth, but will he stay?

Landon Donovan belongs in England. But we already knew that. Even before Everton’s impressive 3-1 win over Manchester United Saturday, America’s best player had established himself as an asset to the Toffees. Unfortunately, it feels like an enjoyable yet ultimately excruciating tease.

Grant Wahl’s informative piece on Donovan’s future strongly hinted at the fact that the speedy midfielder will head back to Southern California when his loan is up. Maybe Everton will find a way to pay MLS and snatch Donovan away from the Galaxy, maybe not. I guess it further proves that nothing is easy for an American soccer player.

Take Donovan. He must be high as the Goodyear Blimp right now. His team just beat one of the best sides in the world. He helped set up the winning goal too, threading a ball to Steven Pienaar, whose cross was knocked in (it wasn’t exactly an artful strike) by Dan Gosling. It was a pretty passing display.

I wonder if that kind of moment – there have been a few great ones produced by Donovan, Everton’s player of the month, over the past few weeks – is fleeting. Even when American soccer looks like it’s floating on air, the balloon always seems to pop. After a surprising Confederations Cup run and successful World Cup qualifying campaign, a tornado of shit demolished much of joy created last summer and early fall.

Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu and Clint Dempsey all went down with potentially catastrophic injuries. (Davies obviously was the scariest of those three. It’s great to see he’s even on his feet at this point.) At least Donovan’s knees are in good shape. At least he’s playing in the Premier League. At least he has that to fall back on.

I just wish it could continue. It’s not a total disaster if Donovan crosses the pond again next month. Hell, he just signed a $9 million contract with MLS. He’ll stay fit. But come on. He belongs in England leading up to the World Cup. He has a greater chance to be at his peak in South Africa if he stays in the Premier League than if he ends up back in the States.

Don’t get your hopes up though. Sustained soccer success is the United States’ white whale. It’s not Donovan’s fault. But once, just once, I’d like an American to capture it cleanly, without any complications.

For now, try and enjoy Donovan’s English experiment – even if he may become a target. Anybody else gasp after watching Wayne Rooney’s hard challenge on Donovan Saturday? I thought he was going to snap the diminutive American’s legs in half. Sadly, the day could’ve been even better for Donovan, who whiffed on a ball in the box – the thing was sitting there like an egg for him to crush – in the 38th minute. What a tease. The announcer on ESPN then said Everton is playing into the sun and made a decent crack about that “not being a problem for a Californian.”

A Californian who belongs in England.

(Note: In the above picture, Donovan is wearing a Photoshopped version what's presumably America's World Cup away jersey. What do you think? I kind of like the beauty pageant sash.)