let's compare Spurs and Nats: ------------------Defoe------------ ---------------- (Jozy) Bale------------Dempsey--------Lennon- (E Johnson)------------------- (Donovan) -----------Sandro------Dembele-------- ---------- (J.Jones)----- (Bradley) This would mean dropping Williams in the 6 role he plays. He would be a back up to Jones or Bradley. I think we compare pretty well except that Jozy isn't anywhere near Defoe.
Ok, but Eddie scores goals and is in form at the moment. I am a fan but Bale has his faults, too. I guess we will have Zusi instead of Dono for Honduras In Feb. GATT mite not be so unlike Lennon if he had more experience - straight line speed up and down right wing with suspect finishing.
Gareth Bale is pretty much better than all of the USMNT players just as an overall player given his age and abilities. No offense to our players. we have some players that are better in their positions sure. but as an overall player....no....he is better.
I never get into those arguments because to this day I have never seen an individual win a football game.
How on earth do you compare Bale and the GAM other than on the fact that they're both humans and breathe air? Eddie Johnson isn't even close to being at that level, and cannot remotely recreate any of Bale's skillset. We should all be appreciative of his performance against the semi round opponents, but he's always beaten up on minnows. Once he faces real teams and real defenses/midfields, he vanishes like it's The Prestige. He should be considered suspect going forward in this cycle until proven otherwise.
I didn't I compared two teams. Should Ronaldo or Messi get the Ballon d'Or. Who cares? Actually, many people do care about that stuff. For me it is like a dog fight where the fur flies and nothing gets settled. Is Barca better than Real? That is a question I will discuss and the question will be answered on the pitch eventually anyway.
Eddie Johnson is in his off-season at the moment and hasn't played a game in the last 4 weeks. Since August he has scored 7 League goals and 2 National team goals in 17 total matches. http://www.football-lineups.com/footballer/1216/ Jozy Altidore played 90 minutes for AZ 5 days ago (Sat Dec 2) and has scored 9 league goals and no National team goals since August, in 19 total matches. http://www.football-lineups.com/footballer/7683/ So, which of these players is or isn't in form and does or does not score goals? **************** I'm mostly just yanking your chain, because you made a valid comparison that Altidore isn't as good as Defoe, but ignored the equally valid comparison that Eddie Johnson isn't as good as Bale. The error of omission could be seen as a suggestion that Eddie Johnson (failed BPL and mediocre short stint in the Championship) is comparable to Bale, a top-quality, starting BPL player.
I think it's a work in progress, but I agree. That's one aspect of Dempsey's game that he's lacked, and I think it's part of the problem that we were suffering from last year. Klinsi was putting him in a position where we needed creativity out of him as well as goals, and while he was supplying the goals, and dropping back to get the ball to supply the creativity, there wasn't much creativity there. Nevertheless, Klinsi apparently saw what AVB sees, which to be honest I think most people have seen even if they didn't know exactly what should be done about it, which is that Dempsey possesses the tool kit to be a creator, but apparently lacked the mentality, the experience or know-how to effectively be one. In any case, it looks like he's learning on the job rather quickly.
To be fair to Clint, that creative point man sitting behind the forward(s) and central to the wings needs other players to be smart and effective in their movement. The strategic aspect of the USMNT that is the most deficient is off the ball movement and the associated combination play. From what I have seen of Tottenham this season, back to Clint's first game, his struggles have had more to do with unfamiliarity than anything else. Not only that, but his struggles are overblown by people who don't know what they are watching. Just because you are not scoring goals does not mean that you aren't doing what your coach asks of you, especially if your coach is asking you to link to the forwards so they can score goals. Now that Dempsey is having a run of excellent form, it has quieted some of those who don't understand what they are watching.
No. He has played poorly. He admitted it and he went to AVB to get better and to play better and AVB coached him and said you need to do this. Whereas a player like VDV comes in and immediately pays dividends or Adebayor last year immediately pays dividends or scotty parker comes in and IMMEDIATELY pays dividends even though they were last day signings and NOT familiar. This argument doesnt hold water. It is about quality. Clint has to learn to get there. He didnt know what to do. AVB showed him and he worked on it and he made it happen. GOOD ON HIM. YOUR NARRATIVE is not the story being reported out of white hart lane. He is a good player but he was playing poorly. And it wasnt unfamiliarity. He didnt know what to do. After training and watching video with AVB and AVB coaching a 29 year old professional about how to play on the field he got it. And he made the changes and he has done well. Happy to see it. But not deluded enough to think somehow he was unfamiliar with players so didnt know how to pass or hold the ball up.
I haven't read any of that, anywhere. I'm sure AVB has coached him, but he was never playing as badly as the meatball faction of Spurs fans thought.
Ok the meatball faction still think he is playing poorly. they are idiots. the people who had a legitimate gripe with his play admit he has done well these past two weeks. There is a massive difference. He was anonymous and played poorly in his first 12 matches. There is no other way to hash out his performances in those matches. they are sickly bad. he has don much better. There is an article above that talks about AVB sitting down with him and showing him how he needed to change what he was doing on the field to play better.
So the Varsity plays the JV except the JV has Klinsmann at cf and the JV wins. The Varsity had them beat 10 to 1 on paper. So what happened? The better team wins, not the better players. My example was meant to be easy. The comparison between Spurs and USA was more difficult. I am pretty sure you know that I would not rate EJ ahead of Bale, so why only the comment about Jozy? It should be sufficient to say that EJ would score from the wing position. I could go on, e.g., We were comparing USA v Spurs, not Alkamaar v. Spurs, it is therefore fallacious to use Jozy's goals on his club as your primary evidence. I could go on, EJ's defense doesn't have to be as good as Bale's, as long as it is sufficient for the purposes of the USA team. All these considerations would have required a book, not a post, so I commented on what I thought was our salient inferiority should we emulate the Spur's line up. I know Jozy has a lot of fans who would disagree with my opinion.
Part of it is Clint coming in w/ no training in quite a while, Part of it is AVB apparently not having explained the role properly in the 1st place. a) every coach has his own system. b) if you're going to take a player, play him in a role he's never played before at any level, and make him the fulcrum or your offense, it's going to take some time for him to "get it." Part of it is no, he's no VdV, and that's not much of a knock on Dempsey. But he is the 3d best scorer in the PL over the past 3 years and he didn't suddenly turn to sh*t. My guess is that you'll be quite pleased w/ CD by the end of the season. And, he may even convert the yobbos in the terraces. Watch this space.
I want to be pleased. I have been more pleased the past two weeks. if he keeps it up I agree with your prediction.
What I saw of Dempsey at Spurs was a player thrust into a new role who had good moments and had sloppy moments. That's to be expected. "Struggles" were overblown.