UPPER MONTCLAIR, N.J. – New York Red Bulls forward Luke Rodgers lashed out at LA Galaxy star Landon Donovan on Monday after the two were involved in a heated conversation during the teams’ dramatic 1-1 draw on Saturday night.
Rodgers, who played against Donovan for the first time in his MLS career and logged 72 minutes in the draw at The Home Depot Center, called the Galaxy star out for questioning the referee’s decisions throughout the match.
“He talks too much. Someone like him, he’s done okay for himself,” Rodgers said. “He’s played in the MLS, scored a lot of goals. Been in the All-Star teams. In the Premiership, I know people in the Premiership who said he did well while he was there.”
“I just like to get on with the game. It is just a bit annoying,” Rodgers added. “It is like having two referees on the pitch. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
In the second half, Rodgers and Donovan got into a heated face-to-face conversation where Rodgers walked away from the interaction, making a talking motion with his hands.
The message was clear from Rodgers – that he was tired of Donovan’s talking.
Donovan responded via Twitter on Monday.
"I'm confused," Donovan tweeted. "Who is Luke Rodgers?"
Rodgers also questioned Donovan’s actions after Thierry Henry’s early goal, which put the Red Bulls up 1-0 in the fourth minute. Donovan responded in the 41st minute when he thumped a header into the back of the net off a David Beckham corner kick, his fourth goal in three games.
“When Thierry scored, he’s running the whole length of the pitch to yell at the linesman,” Rodgers said when asked by MLSsoccer.com about Henry’s goal. “You know, he must have eyes like a hawk to see [if] Thierry was offside.”
Kristian R. Dyer can be followed at twitter.com/KristianRDyer
