Landon Donovan said he never perceived his relationship with Jürgen Klinsmann as tense before he was dropped from the USMNT roster ahead of the World Cup.
"I didn't perceive it as tense," said Donovan. "Obviously there are two sides. I came back and felt good about where I was, and certainly my decision [to take time off] didn't sit well with a lot of people. But I felt it was necessary and I felt good when I came back. I've never actually felt, even until the moment he said "You're not going to Brazil," I never got the impression there was tension. I've always been honest. I assume that he's been honest with me, and it sort of felt that way. Now, certainly some actions might say that there was tension there, certainly the tweet by his son made me think twice about whether he was honest or whether there was tension there.
Maybe I'm being naive, but I never perceived it that way."