The best coaches are the ones who are able to challenge their top players and make them more accountable to the group. US National team head coach Bob Bradley has been able to do that with Landon Donovan, and the US is expecting big dividends this weekend against El Salvador in a 2010 World Cup qualifier.
''We're always challenging Landon and the others who have been around to take more responsibility, take bigger roles,'' U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. ``I think in those ways, he appreciates that we hold him to a high standard and constantly challenge him. He knows that leadership is important for us to continue to become a better team.''
Donovan has spent most of this winter on loan with German power Bayern Munich, and was given the opportunity to train day in and day out with stars like Franck Ribery, Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni.
''It was a lot of learning for me,'' Donovan said Tuesday, a day after arriving in Miami to train with the U.S. men's national team. ``I think I came back a better player, a more experienced player. Training at that level every day makes you better.''
Hopefully the combination of training in that environment every day, along with the expectations that Bradley and his staff have placed on him, will have Donovan at a higher standard and help him spearhead the US attack in World Cup qualifying.
''Opponents playing against Bayern Munich tend to sit in and defend in numbers,'' Donovan said. ``I was trying to make little advantages when not having too much space to work with.''
''That was good for me, and it makes me -- when I come back in with the Galaxy and the national team -- that much brighter, that much sharper, when I'm around the ball,'' he added.
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