The pressure is NOT on Landon Donovan because of the Olympics

I completely disagree with Grahame Jones' article in the Los Angeles Times that the pressure is now on Landon Donovan to perform well in the World Cup qualifier against Guatemala because the team didn't perform well at the Olympics. What exactly is the correlation between the two? Is it just that some of the players were on the Olympic team and now they will play for the full U.S. National team? That is the case for many teams. Does that mean that Ryan Babel or even Lionel Messi have less pressure on them because they went to Beijing and their teams didn't win the Gold Medal? Does Grahame Jones really believe that Landon Donovan along would have made that significance of a difference in the Olympics? Its possible, but also a very big assumption. To me this article just makes no sense and is merely an excuse to create a headline.

The bottom line is that the pressure is on Landon Donovan to perform well against Guatemala in order for the U.S. to advance in World Cup qualifying and for him to keep his place in the starting XI just like any other player that plays in the game. Donovan is also looked at to be one of the leaders of the U.S. team in any game that they play so the pressure will be on regardless of the Olympics. If he doesn't deliver the questions will be asked of him even if he had gone to Beijing and won gold.