I was really confused about this for about five minutes....hope it wasn't just me. Moussa v. Mousa Dembele v. Dembélé France v. Belgium.... http://www.fulhamfc.com/the-teams/u18s/player-profiles/moussa-dembele
Still rusty from the comments I've seen. There's talk of giving a chance to this Ange-Freddy Plumain kid instead, who plays the same positions as Clint (AM, RAM, LAM, SS). I've been reading concerns about Clint's speed and reading of the game from people who attended (Fulham Independent Forum, massively active --finding threads again after an hour or so is hard). They love Clint but are concerned that bringing him back to form may require more than the two months.
Actually a good thing the match ended in a draw, as the extra fixture will give Demps more playing time to get up to match form.
fof thread with link to Norwich highlights, http://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=fdjiv0rgrootp8st58k102hq82&topic=35306.0
Sounds like a player that needs a proper pre-season to work his way back into shape. Something that he missed transferring to Seattle in early August….and something he's going to miss again by going on this silly adventure.
When Henry went to Arsenal, he started the MLS season like a man possessed. Playing is more important than "a proper pre-season."
Having watched the game, for me Dempsey was unimpressive. He didn't really have an impact good or bad. I was hoping for more from him. USMNT needs more from him.
Basically this. He wasn't a liability out there like he was for the Sounders at times, but he didn't do anything really impressive - kind of a drab performance. Fitness also seems to be an ongoing issue. My hope was for at least 3 goals, but I'm not sure how much of an impact with only 6 more games left (Lpool, Arsenal, ManU) he'll have based on what I saw vs. a bad Sunderland midfield today.
Muelensteen needs to figure out which of Taraabt and Berba he wants to play. I don't think you can have both at the same time.
He's had a lot of time to get healthy. There's a difference. The stamina required for an EPL match is not something you can replicate through strictly training or running on a treadmill. Anyone who's played sports at a decent level knows this. How anyone can question his hunger because he wasn't deemed fit enough after playing a single match since Sea got booted from the playoffs months ago is asinine. Timing and stamina comes back the more you play at a certain level. It's not an accident he started alright then began to fade. I don't get this complete lack of understanding regarding how fitness works. When an NBA player is not playing for two months and comes back, his mins are limited as he gets his stamina back and back up to the speed of the game, his hunger for the game isn't questioned as that would be ridiculous. Same for an MLB player going to AAA first upon return. You can't replicate the stamina/speed/timing of the top levels of pro sports by practicing/training. It's time spent playing in games at that level which allows it to come back. Every former athlete knows this. The idea Clint would somehow have the same stamina/timing after not playing matches for 2+ months as guys playing in the EPL every week makes little sense. There's no substitute for playing games. It's part of the reason Cupcake is overrated btw. Also part of the reason time and time again BS posters don't want a guy called up who's playing. We either have too many fans who've never played sports or too many who think video games are real life.
Not the ideal start, but there's still time. I'm sure Dempsey wants this loan to go as well as possible.
There were two plays today when he passed expecting for the guy to make a run and pass it back to him. It didn't happen and the ball was lost. I think it's basically adapting to your mates, this Fulham is not the team he knew. He'll be ok, but doubt the loan period is long enough to leave the Fulham fans satisfied.
You left out option C, which is that you're a bit off base with your claims. Let's get away from the platitudes and slogans and examine the exact situation in front of us. Clint played 9 matches for the Seattle Sounders, starting 6 matches. Let's look at his playing time for those 6 matches: 10/13 77 minutes 10/19 Full 90 10/27 Full 90 10/30 Full 90 11/2 Full 90 11/7 Full 90, season over After training with Seattle for many weeks and starting in these 6 matches, Clint was match fit. I haven't talked about sharpness or timing, so you must have been addressing someone else in that part of your post. What I did say is that Clint has had a lot of time to get fit. He's match fit on 11/7. He suffered a calf injury on 11/13 while training with the USMNT. So he takes 2 weeks off to get healthy. He's had 6.5 weeks after that to maintain or improve that fitness. No, you can't replicate exactly the match conditions in training, but you can certainly stay very fit. That he was going on a winter loan could not have been a surprise to him. Let's take a look at Landon Donovan's trip to Everton in 2010. He finished the MLS season and then came to Everton in January. He faced a similar layoff as Clint. This was also a World Cup year for Landon. He knew what was at stake. LD played 69 minutes in a very energetic and productive debut on 1/9. CD played 79 minutes on 1/11 where he had a somewhat muted game and faded in the second half. Dempsey also played 90 minutes on 1/4. Let's not leave out this important detail. In any event, Clint has had enough time to get fit. His issues now should be about touch, timing, and rhythm. I have little doubt that his play will improve, but I do wonder if he has the same drive that he had with Fulham 2 seasons ago.
Those are some very good points and ones that I've considered as well. People keep making excuses for the guy but he's had a ton of time to "get fit" yet to me, he still looks a little heavy and about 5 to 8 pounds overweight. His game has never been about speed but it has been about quick feet and agility and he never showed any of that in his Sounders games. With Landon and Dempsey I'm sure getting the starting nod this summer, I just hope to god that we're not one of those teams that look really, really old, kinda like Italy in 2010.
Donovan also has elite level Stamina and speed (well the latter definitely at the time we're talking about, it's waned a tad since then), he's always going to have an easier time jumping back in than most players. It's easier to be "energetic" when you can run all day and run faster than most people can; even if other parts of your game aren't back up to snuff, you have that to help you. Deuce has average to slightly above average stamina and average to slightly below average speed. IMO it takes someone like that longer to get sharp.