After turning their backs on the Premier League and heading to Major League Soccer, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have hardly set America alight.
Lampard now plies his trade with New York City FC, with Gerrard swapping Merseyside for California as he signed up with the LA Galaxy.
Landon Donovan, one of the Galaxy’s former favourites, has now claimed the pair may have underestimated the quality of America’s top domestic league.
“Sometimes people have this impression that you can go there [to MLS] and it will be easy – people from the outside.
“The players will tell you – and I think Steven has spoken about it openly – it’s quite difficult.
“The Premier League is probably the fastest in the world but the pace [in MLS] is faster than you realise.
“There are a lot of different issues so I think both of them will come back next year and be more prepared and make a much bigger impact.”
Donovan, who also spent time in the Premier League with Everton, ended his career in 2014.