Everton have prioritised attacking options during the current January transfer window with their intention understood to bring in a couple of new faces but beleaguered Blues could be forgiven for yearning for the days when their club was able to snap up a player like Landon Donovan in the New Year sales. Donovan is widely seen as being the best American player in history yet in 2010 Everton were able to pick him up on loan with the US international making his debut in a dramatic 2-2 draw with Arsenal at a snowy Emirates Stadium on January 9.
Donovan had been with his parent club Los Angeles Galaxy for five years when he embarked on the first of his loan spells at Everton in 2010 with the intention of keeping sharp ahead of the kick-off of the Major League Soccer season in spring. Although he knew his time with the Blues was only ever going to be a temporary stay, he felt a rare bond from the start.
Back in 2021, Donovan told the ECHO: “It’s rare for a footballer to show up and be so welcomed and respected. I hadn’t experienced that in my life. I’d been at the Galaxy for a long time so there was a lot of mutual respect there with the fans.
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“But from the first day I showed up at Everton – I travelled on January 1st and arrived on January 2nd – I arrived for half-time for an FA Cup match (a 3-1 home win over Carlisle United), I was walking through the stadium just to get up to my seat and everybody was so welcoming. Everybody at the club was just fantastic to be around and to work with plus the fans were terrific.
“I’m the type of person when I see all that kind of welcome, that acceptance and that loyalty, I’m going to reciprocate. I have a mentality that I play with anyway but that made me want to do anything for the club.”
Asked if there was any part of him that wished he could have stayed longer, Donovan added: “Sure. I’m a very loyal person and was committed to the Galaxy. The only way they were going to let me go was if I gave them my word that I was coming back.
“David Moyes and I had a very good, long chat at the end of my spell there. He told me: ‘I know that you’re committed to going back but I feel that I need to at least let you know that I’d love to have you if you want to stay’ and I really did appreciate that.
“Of course I felt the same way but I needed to stick to my commitment with the Galaxy. I loved my three months there, of course I was there on two separate occasions, and my spells playing for Everton are one of the best memories of my life.
“It’s difficult going from sunny southern California to Merseyside in January so that part was certainly a challenge but I actually liked that contrast. I lived in Manchester at the Hilton Hotel on Deansgate, found some great restaurants to go to and met some people there who I was able to hang around with plus my family was over a few times.
“However, my favourite moments of course were on the training ground at Finch Farm and at Goodison.”
Although Everton finally secured their first win at the Emirates on St George’s Day 2021 when Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno deflected a Richarlison cross into his own net, it came against the surreal backdrop of a coronavirus-induced behind-closed-doors environment and Donovan’s debut remains the closest they’ve come to triumphing at a stadium they first visited in 2006 in front of fans. The Blues led twice, going ahead through Leon Osman on 12 minutes only for the same midfielder to put through his own net on 27 minutes before Steven Pienaar’s delicate chip over Manuel Almunia restored their advantage with 10 minutes remaining only for Tomis Rosicky to earn a share of the spoils a couple of minutes into stoppage time.
Although Donovan was used to being, as the Los Angeles Times’ Kevin Baxter described “The Big Dog” in MLS, he was happy with the way he was welcomed into an established dressing room at Everton. He said: “Tim Howard was great the whole time. From the recruitment process until the day I got there he made my transition so easy.
“But to be honest, the culture that David Moyes and the senior players had set there was really easy to come into. You had no choice but to fall in line and be part of what everyone else was doing because if you didn’t then you wouldn’t be accepted.
“Tim Cahill also great as was Phil Neville, Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Leon Osman, Tony Hibbert – they were just a bunch of good, solid human beings to be around.
“They made you feel welcome but they were also demanding. Everyone held everyone else accountable and that’s what made those teams so great.”
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