Felix Magath rips Landon Donovan via Facebook, calls him mediocre

Fulham manager and former German national team player Felix Magath ripped Landon Donovan via Facebook on Friday for being critical of Jurgen Klinsmann and the US National Team.

Magath wrote the message in his native German, but the translation indicates he was praiseworthy of the job Klinsmann did.

Here’s a Google translation of his comments:

Jürgen Klinsmann and the United States have earned their World Cup performance the respect of the football world. How to order now comes a mediocre player with a plaintive interview and false claims therefore, denounces the work of the coach. The player Landon Donovan at Bayern was once considered unsuitable for the second team, but now leads the talking. I find such behavior unspeakable, unworthy of a national player.

Magath was referring to Donovan’s loan to German power Bayern Munich, which only lasted three months before the club decided not to extend his loan.

Donovan has been critical of Klinsmann since being left off the 23-man national team for the World Cup, which would have marked his fourth time competing in the tournament. He specifically pointed to the coaching as the reason for the team’s struggles.

“I thought the guys did everything they could, they did everything that was asked of them,” Donovan said in an interview with MLSsoccer.com. “But I don’t think we were set up to succeed, and that was tough to watch.

“They were set up in a way that was opposite from what they’ve been the past couple years, which is opening up, passing, attacking – trying to do that. And the team’s been successful that way. Why they decided to switch that in a World Cup, none of us will know.”

Admittedly I’m not a soccer genius here, but I sure felt like the US had an excellent showing at the World Cup. Donovan’s criticism comes across as an extension of personal bitterness rather than justified commentary.

H/T Yahoo! Sports