It was fun. It was exciting. It was madcap. And it appears to have been a bit draining, as well.

For all that, I’m sure it was 10 weeks Landon Donovan won’t soon forget, his 2010 loan to Everton of the English Premier League.

But it is official: He is on the big bird back to Los Angeles International in a day or so, to return to the Los Angeles Galaxy just in time for the seemingly likely players strike.

Let’s do a little recap of his stay. But before we get to that, have a look at this New York Times piece, if you will. In it, author Chuck Culpepper talks to Everton fans, and they love little Landon to death.  When they didn’t know they would.

Interestingly, the story includes nothing from Landon. Maybe Culpepper missed him. Or, more likely, Landon didn’t talk to him. Which sometimes happen in the Premiership.  Getting access to players can be a trick.

OK. Now we will recap Landon’s Everton spell.

First, some stats:

–In 63 days, he played in 13 matches. Every match Everton played while he was there. He started 11 of the 13 matches, all but the final two, when coach David Moyes seemed interested in getting some minutes for the kids who might replace him. He played 90 minutes most of February. And, again, he didn’t miss a match, playing an average of one match every 4.6 days. Also, playing at a very high level.

–He played in 10 Premier League matches,  two Europa League matches and one FA Cup match. Everton had a nice run with him in the lineup, winning seven matches,  tying two and losing four, all but one on the road (Birmingham, at Liverpool, at Sporting Lisboa, at Tottenham).

–He was on the pitch against some of the best-known sides in the world: Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Sporting Lisboa … And he played at some great venues — Anfield, Emirates Stadium and White Hart Lane, among them.

–He took part in one of the great Derby pairings in England, the match vs. Liverpool. Sadly,  it was Liverpool 1-0.

–As Landon himself noted, he played for a team that defeated both Chelsea and Manchester United in an 11-day span (with a match vs. Sporting Lisboa in the middle), “and how many guys can say that?”

–He scored two goals (against Sunderland and Hull), set up a few (including one in his debut, on the road vs. Arsenal).

At the end, Everton coach David Moyes was trying to figure out ways to keep him in Everton blue, but it just didn’t work out, and there goes Landon, back to Los Angeles.

I believe it’s better this way. He seemed to wear down a bit, toward the end. Landon isn’t a big guy, and the Premiership is a tough, rough and physically demanding league full of hard sprinting.

He can stand some time off, and we assume he will get plenty, in the two weeks before Major League Soccer is due to begin. And far more than two weeks off if the players strike.

He will not be hurt by a strike, unless it lasts into May. He just turned 28, and he knows how to get ready and stay ready. He would be better served by a month off, actually, and maybe he will get it.

Coming up is the World Cup, and he will be a critical component of the U.S. team, the one that opens against England in Rustenberg, South Africa, on June 12. Against a team with a batch of guys he now has played against in the Premiership.

This whole loan has been a huge success. Everton fans and officials love him and want him back (and that could happen, sure, again next winter), he played with a competent side that had a hot patch while he was there (no coincidence, in fact) and was considered a serious threat on the pitch.

But he gets a chance to catch his wind, rest his legs, chug through a few MLS matches (or maybe just stay home, if they strike) and begin focusing on South Africa. No down side to this. None at all.