ESPN Analytics: "Dempsey not as lethal as advertised"

Donovan: good technical ability; highly intelligent off the ball movement; excellent speed with and without the ball; good to very good soccer IQ; good finisher with both feet; mentally average to good player relative to natural abilities.

Dempsey: very good technical ability; good to very good in the air; ok speed; good to very good finisher; ok passer; ok off the ball movement; decent soccer IQ; good finisher with both feet and head; mentally good to very good player relative to natural abilities.

just random work in progress, thinking out loud. I am sure both descriptions can be tweaked. debated. Clint, to me, lacks Donovan's speed and game reading and movement. But Clint has seemed to possess for a more consistent period of time a more intense competitive fire and has better technical ability and is more comfortable/confident with the ball at his feet in tight spaces. Clint also seems to possess that unapologetic "strikers" lack of shame in terms of a willingness to shoot or "try shit."

I love both players but have grown to appreciate Clint, given his improvement year by year at an age beyond when most folks believe improvement is likely.

 

Yeah, it's a good point. I mentioned Pele because many people actually do try to use the "he played in a bad league" thing to bring his all time ranking lower, and it hasn't worked, because of his international play.

 

Brasil too at the time was arguabely the stronger league in the 70s.

Many players chose to stay in south america no matter the money because of how good south america was/ the Brasilian league.

One good example is probably one of the best CB's the game has ever seen, Elias Figueroa had offers from Juventus to go across the pond in the 70s. He instead chose to go to Brasilian Giants Internacional (in his opinion, the league was tougher and was the best place to prove his value), where he proved himself to be the best CB in all of south america during his prime.

 

Re: ESPN Analytics: "ESPN not as analytical as advertised"

Donovan's penalties may not be equal to goals scored in the run of play, but they sure as hell are relevant to him being a strong player. It is not some freak accident or gratuity that he takes PKs. He takes them because he is the most trusted player on the squad to make them.

Dempsey is not as well trusted. He has not hit penalties well when given the chance. In this area, Donovan is a superior player. These are facts that should not be ignored.

 

Re: ESPN Analytics: "ESPN not as analytical as advertised"

There's a reason why penalties count to tie and win games. Manchester Utd. has a Champion's League trophy that's due to John Terry missing a penalty. Ghana would have gone to the World Cup semifinals in SA if Gyan could have hit that penalty against Uruguay. And if he did hit it, people would then be subtracting it from his international goal totals.

And if we've gone off topic here, it's because since that article came out, Dempsey has put to bed the whole "not as lethal as advertised" idea. If he wasn't then, he is now.

 

One could argue that Pele was playing on the best(or one the top 5) clubs side in the world at the time.

Also, both Donovan and Dempsey have missed penalties.

 

That's about as relevant as saying both Chad Barrett and Messi have scored goals...

 

Re: ESPN Analytics: "ESPN not as analytical as advertised"

As a coda on the original question, this from Bobby McMahon at Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbymcmahon/2012/04/16/clint-dempsey-a-case-of-irrational-exuberance/2/

 

Re: ESPN Analytics: "ESPN not as analytical as advertised"

What's funny is that headline kind of echoes the "not as lethal" one.

Wasn't that phrase "irrational exuberance" used to describe the bubble economy before the crash?

Dempsey is looking real lethal though, and from his own quotes about being calmer, more composed, taking advantage of his experience, he's feeling more lethal as well. I'm just excited to see if he can just keep this up from here on out. It really seems like this is no bubble, but just stepping up to a new level.

 

Re: ESPN Analytics: "ESPN not as analytical as advertised"

Yeah, in that sense, it's a poor word choice, because it implies his season's a fluke, and I don't think that's what McMahon is really trying to say.

I think what he's really saying is not much different from what Coleman has said, which is that he can certainly play at a bigger club than Fulham, if he really wants to, but when it comes to CL group stage or better-type teams, the circumstances don't seem right (in terms of the age, fee, and the stylistic fit). I don't know if they're right, but I'm hearing a lot of that type of opinion.

 

Re: ESPN Analytics: "ESPN not as analytical as advertised"

Sounds like another way of saying too old, too slow, and not worth the bigger money. Dempsey needs to keep disproving that.

 

Regardless of whether it's true, most of those are fairly reasonable concerns that I'm sure all of the clubs that are looking at him at the moment are weighing in their decisions.

edit: what McMahon said, not what gmonn said.

 

Personally, there's not a doubt in my mind that if he were available on a free or for a token fee, just about any club would take him and let him try to disprove the doubters (even on a good salary). It'd be a slam dunk.

For a significant fee, though, I have my questions. But you never know what the clubs' respective braintrusts are thinking.

 

I believe it was Alan Greenspan who popularized it during the tech bubble of the the late '90s. Talking about crazy stock valuations without the revenue to back them up. In this case we have a stock that has had above average earnings and a low valuation for a few years and now earnings have jumped and the stock price is moving with it.

I'd hope that clubs realize that because his game relies very little on pace that his form is less dependent on age than others.

 

Clever girl

 

I agree here. I think you could counter that he spends an awful lot of time picking himself up off the turf after brutal tackles, and that's a consideration the other way. But I have to think that he's good for another four years at a very high level.

 

American Clint Dempsey finishes fourth in EPL player of year balloting

http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/...nishes-fourth-in-epl-player-of-year-balloting

 

Another dissappointment for Dempsey. If the guy were only more lethal, he could have finished first.

It's a pattern in his career, like settling for the Bronze Ball at the 2009 Confed Cup.

 

Given what teams the 3 guys who finished above him play for/national teams.... it speaks highly of him!

 

Yeah, and it makes the idea that he's Champions League material seem a little less ridiculous. Personally, I think the voting pretty much got it right. You can't take this season away from Van Persie, he totally deserved it. And yet, putting Dempsey and his season on the list of runners-up with Rooney and Scholes is also appropriate.

 

Considering that for a free AC Milan were willing to take a flyer on Gooch, I'd say you're probably right. That doesn't necessarily mean that they'd give him a lot of chances, though. (Which is where the discussion of exactly what club with what manager with what competition with what system/stylistic fit comes into play...) I don't think there's a club this side of Barcelona or Madrid that wouldn't be a little interested in Dempsey if he were free or at a steal of a price (which isn't the case). ANY club in England I'm sure would be interested in at least letting him compete for playing time if money weren't an issue. But it is.

 

This is exactly why I say americans still don't get enough respect in europe, because the big teams aren't willing to back up buying a player as 'proven' as dempsey, but they would if he was say from Africa or Uruguay, Brasil, or Argentina.

 

Well that's just the thing, but guys like Dempsey are doing for American players as we speak what guys like Keller and Friedel did for American keepers. Nobody thinks it laughable to consider a young American keeper a possible top-drawer talent.

 

I agree....our keepers get more respect.... but IMO still underrated. Howard, our best can still go out and play day in and day out for any of the top clubs in the world... why is he still at everton?

 

Brad Friedel, who has been one of the best for years, only now is playing for a top English side. I wouldn't say Howard is in his class yet, but will be after another 10 years of starting. Goalkeepers age like wine.

Why DeGea is starting for ManU as opposed to someone like Friedel is anyone's guess though. That one befuddles me.

I'm fine with TH playing day in and day out for Everton. He'll get another shot at the big time soon enough IMO.