Dempsey was playing with a partially healed separated shoulder during some of his time with Seattle. I'm not even seeing how his fitness is an issue after watching the game. All on should expect out of this laon is for Dempsey to get his sharpness back and a couple of goals.
Absolutely agreed; nobody should be expecting him to score a goal a game; its about that sharpness and timing. I saw encouraging improvement yesterday-he looked much better than I've seen him look for club since the end of the 2012-13 season. If he plays sharply and moves the ball quickly, he'll get a couple before he heads back stateside. Also, trying to infer drive and desire from watching a game on TV is a fool's errand. He didn't look any more or less driven than before. However, lets assume you are correct, and his desire has waned since he left Fulham the first time. Looking at it logically, is it really that stunning that a guy who is 31, who lost his chance at ever playing the CL, and has young children perhaps doesn't have the same drive he did when he was 25 and still trying to reach his peak? Players aren't robots; it would be unfair, IMO, to expect someone's desires and priorities not to change over time. Not everyone can be a hyper-competitive psycho like Kobe Bryant. That said, I would assume that the opportunity to captain your country in a World Cup is the last great motivating thing he probably can look forward to in his career (with all due respect to MLS Cup, etc), and thus I don't accept the idea that he won't do everything he can to be ready and get his form in like with his quality by May/June.
Fulham's top scorer in the PL. Are fans rushing out to pick up his jersey? And whats the chance this loan might be extended 1 more month or until May?
I respectfully disagree. I watched and he was very active and pretty good with his interplay with his teammates. He should have had a goal if Taraabt would have passed to him when he was wide open on the back post. It harkened back to Deuce's days playing with Defoe. I think having him out there with two guys who are prima donnas like Berba and Taraabt (sp??) is probably a bit frustrating for Clint. But, I think he made a better impression in this game than he did at Spurs.
From the first half Dempsey was "alright". That guy Taraabt squandered every chance Fulham have. Is he normally that bad or was it an "off" performance?
I thought he "took" whatever Sunderland "gave" him which wasn't much. He didn't force anything, it was an uneventful performance, pretty much like his games with Seattle.
I only saw bits and pieces but I thought Berbatov was the most profligate, esp. given expectations. He had two early on that BS would have spontaneously combusted over had it been one of our boys. He's got to be better than that or Fulham is toast.
He had 30 passes with only 1 key pass... which basically means he was doing much the same as what he did at Spurs; not making mistakes but not urging play forward, not being a creative conduit between midfield and attack, generally just not impressing himself on the match like he has done in the past. He wasn't good, he wasn't bad, but not really "there" either. Somewhat absent. So yeah, agree to disagree. Although I do agree he did look WORSE in certain moments and matches at Spurs, but he also looked much better in certain moments and matches. Really disagree about Taraabt from the few comments about him so far in this thread.... yes he's selfish, but he was also one of the few players for Fulham that was actually working hard and forcing the issue. Taraabt, Sidwell and Duff were the only players that looked like they cared.
The problem is the formation.... Fulham's attacking midfield has too many players that either aren't that good at defending/pressuring, or don't like defending, or both. This is a team that is going to get scored on by any EPL side with a bit of skill and intelligence in countering.
Average is about the level I'd have described Clint on Saturday. With regards to Taraabt, yes, he forced the issue, but ultimately made the wrong choice every time with his final pass or shot. That's an issue. Forcing the decision is fine, but forcing action and making bad decisions is not. His decision making has to improve. Of course, I'm judging this on a sample size of one game watched, so for all I know this is an outlier for him.
My impression of Taraabt is not one that I made from just watching that one game. I've seen him play for years. He would be described by some as "mercurial", and can really steal the show at times, but can also be what Americans call a "ball hog" and disrupt many attacking moves with his desire to score himself at all costs. I know this comes from a belief in himself that he is the best option to score on the pitch, but many times that is taken to an extreme and causes a better option to be overlooked. He is at times outstanding, but many others is frustrating. I don't doubt that he cares, but I know that for another attacker sharing the field with him, it must be a source of frustration that his first, second, and third decisions are to shoot, and his fourth is to try to get himself in a better position to shoot and if the ball caroms of him to another attacker, well that's also helpful. He ain't going to change though and certainly won't defer to a guy that will be gone in a few months (fits for both Berba and Demps).
Taarabt is also on loan, from QPR, which is another example of how badly Jol screwed over this team during his time here. As the highly disciplined, intelligent core from the Hodgson years aged out (Murphy, Gera, Simon Davies, Nevland), rather than infusing the team with some youth and athleticism Jol replaced them with a bunch of aging mercenaries and loan players with no stake in the team. He also made the mistake of selling Moussa Dembele in the same transfer window as Dempsey (destroying the team's central midfield), for the sake of getting a "marquee" prima donna like Berbatov. It also hasn't helped that Sascha Riether (who already wants out) is the only "core" signing of his that's contributed - Jol's failure rate with signings was close to 100%. Bryan Ruiz has been a massive bust overall, and Kieran Richardson, Maarten Stekelenburg and Ashkan Dejagah have spent most of their Fulham tenures injured, along with other walking wounded flops like Diarra and Derek Boateng. The entertaining counterattack style that was always guaranteed to knock off a couple of top 4 teams a season has been replaced with a dull knockaround where the entire team is subservient to Berbatov. The remaining holdovers from the Hodgson years (Duff, Hughes, Hangeland) are totally cooked, and still in the XI. The loss of Schwarzer has been way bigger than expected, as David Stockdale, a guy I was previously high on, has been a deer-in-the-headlights sieve all season. You watch Fulham now and it's easily the worst team in their PL history - it's not even close. Most MLS teams would beat them handily. Scott Parker is the only one out there who plays with any heart and it's sad to watch. They are GUARANTEED to go down this year. It's a shame as Fulham's youth system is pretty spectacular, and they might not get to reap the fruits of that in the PL.
Didn't realize that about Taraabt. Great post. Stinks as I have had a soft spot in my heart for Fulham since the McBride days.
The Fulham vs Norwich cup game today is televised and can be seen on FoxSoccer2Go. Not sure if it can be seen on TV in the US.
Cool Fulham vs. Norwich is the featured game on Al Jazeera Sports.... good for those of us in Qatar Seriously though, I have these two teams to get relegated along with Crystal Palace this season, but let's see what happens...
I don't disagree with any of this really, he was one of the few Fulham players in this past match that looked like he could do something. His vision is not why he's been a somewhat sought-after EPL player for the past couple years. He won't "defer" to them, nor should he look to. That's not his game. He plays to his strengths just as the other players play to theirs. I think the idea that selfishness effects team chemistry and player morale is often overstated by commentators and forum members. Losing is the biggest problem in that regard, and I think it's really difficult to draw a straight line directly from Taraabt looking to shoot the ball to Fulham being where they are in the table. Their problems are bigger than that.
He didn't make a mistake re: Dembele... the player's release clause was activated. The rest of your points are good ones though. I also think you're underselling your side a bit re: MLS.