The British press seems to like him, and suggests that he’s offering quite the valueable boost to Everton.

Tags: Everton, Landon Donovan, soccer media

The American is marking a strong presence right from the git-go. Proof in the EPL that the US produces more than just good goalies:

[via The Offside Rules]

Tags: Everton, great goals, Landon Donovan

Fresh off making a hilarious run for the border, Landon Donovan debuted Saturday for Everton at Emirates Stadium against home side, Arsenal. His inclusion in the starting team was something of a surprise, considering he’s been idle since skying a spot kick over the bar in MLS Cup and has only been training on Merseyside for a week. Regardless, it took him all of 12 minutes set up a Leon Osman goal off a corner.

Following the 2-2 draw, Everton manager David Moyes was quoted in The London Times as saying, ““Donovan did very well. From what I have seen of him his football’s simple, quick, lively and he was intelligent today. He tracked people back and we know he can play off the front or wide. I thought he made a good contribution.”

Most of the other games in the Barclay’s Premier League were cancelled on the weekend due to weather, but Donovan’s USMNT teammate Clint Dempsey led a slew of highlight shows with this cracker against Stoke mid-week.

Quite a finish. Still lost to Stoke. Looks like English punters will see plenty of the Americans leading up to the US-England World Cup tie on June 12.

Tags: clint dempsey, Everton, Fulham, Landon Donovan

Discovered something interesting while home in Dallas for the holidays … my brother-in-law has a niece who apparently takes her soccer pretty seriously. And her team: The Reds.

She’s very proud to play on Liverpool. My first guess was this has to be some sort of Tom Hicks gig. Sure enough — Liverpool FC America, “combining the traditions of Liverpool with the pride of Texas”.

Brilliant concept, really … considering how many bajillions of American kids play soccer, it’s a shame that none of us were taught about the greatness of the EPL until after our own play had been relegated to the Sega/Playstation/Xbox leagues. But now, American youth soccer players come with a team to root for right from the pre-pubescent git-go.

Will be interesting to see if this catches on and expands. I’d so want my (theoretical) children to go to Aston Villa Goalie Camp, for example.

UPDATE: Everton has something similar (out of Connecticut, I believe):

http://www.evertonamericact.com/

Tags: Everton, Everton America, Liverpool, Liverpool FC America, Tom Hicks, youth soccer