Landon Donovan: 'Premier League players misjudge MLS'

Landon Donovan suggests that Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard misjudged the pace of MLS in their first season in the US.

Published: November 20 2015 | 03:36

Last updated: November 21 2015 | 09:31

Landon Donovan has suggested that former Premier League stars such as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have been guilty of misjudging the pace and intensity of MLS when they move to the US.

Gerrard signed for Los Angeles Galaxy on an 18-month deal from July after leaving Liverpool, while Frank Lampard finally made his debut for New York City this summer after a loan spell at Manchester City in the final months of last season.

However, neither player was able to inspire their franchise to the MLS playoffs, but former LA Galaxy MVP Donovan is backing them to have a bigger impact next season after they get used to the fact that MLS is not as easy a ride as often suggested.

"[Gerrard and Lampard] have been perceived well but it is not easy," he told The Guardian. "Sometimes people have this impression that you can go there and it will be easy – people from the outside.

"The players will tell you – and I think Steven has spoken about it openly – that it is quite difficult. Not because there is more quality from Liverpool but it is difficult to travel and the pace of the game is fast.

"The Premier League is probably the fastest in the world but the pace [in the US] is faster than you realise. There are a lot of different issues so I think that both of them will come back next year and be more prepared and make a much bigger impact."

Former US international Donovan is both the all-time leading scorer and all-time assists leader in MLS history after playing for 14 seasons in the league with the San Jose Earthquakes and Galaxy.

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Eastern Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Miami Inter Miami	34	22	8	4	79	49	30	74
2	Columbus Crew	34	19	9	6	72	40	32	66
3	FC Cincinnati Cincinnati	34	18	5	11	58	48	10	59
4	Orlando City	34	15	7	12	59	50	9	52
5	Charlotte FC Charlotte FC	34	14	9	11	46	37	9	51
6	New York City FC NY City	34	14	8	12	54	49	5	50
7	New York Red Bulls NY Red Bulls	34	11	14	9	55	50	5	47
8	CF Montreal Montreal	34	11	10	13	48	64	-16	43
9	Atlanta United Atlanta	34	10	10	14	46	49	-3	40
10	DC United	34	10	10	14	52	70	-18	40
11	Philadelphia Union Philadelphia	34	9	10	15	62	55	7	37
12	Toronto	34	11	4	19	40	61	-21	37
13	Nashville SC Nashville	34	9	9	16	38	54	-16	36
14	New England Revolution New England	34	9	4	21	37	74	-37	31
15	Chicago Fire	34	7	9	18	40	62	-22	30

Western Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Los Angeles FC Los Angeles	34	19	7	8	63	43	20	64
2	Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy	34	19	7	8	69	50	19	64
3	Real Salt Lake Salt Lake	34	16	11	7	65	48	17	59
4	Seattle Sounders Seattle	34	16	9	9	51	35	16	57
5	Houston Dynamo Houston	34	15	9	10	47	39	8	54
6	Minnesota United Minnesota Utd	34	15	7	12	58	49	9	52
7	Colorado Rapids Colorado	34	15	5	14	61	60	1	50
8	Portland Timbers Portland	34	12	11	11	65	56	9	47
9	Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver	34	13	8	13	52	49	3	47
10	Austin FC Austin	34	11	9	14	39	48	-9	42
11	Dallas	34	11	8	15	54	56	-2	41
12	St Louis City	34	8	13	13	50	63	-13	37
13	Sporting Kansas City Kansas	34	8	7	19	51	66	-15	31
14	San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes	34	6	3	25	41	78	-37	21