Dempsey, Donovan, Friedel Donnybrook

I sighed a little reading about the dust-up stirred up among fans when Brad Friedel made some remarks to the effect that Landon Donovan took "the easy road" by staying in Major League Soccer, as compared to Clint Dempsey, who plays in England for Fulham.
Friedel backtracked a bit by going on to explain his comments were not meant to disparage Landon or any other MLS player.