Upcoming Hazard Deal Carefully - The Transfer Thread

Sorry but if Dempsey wasn't American he'd likely already be on one of the squads fighting for CL spots. His passing still isn't great by Arsenal standards (although he managed 6 Prem assists this season, double his usual and the poor finishing of those around him suggests that this could increase at clubs with more talented goalscorers. only RVP, theo and Song have more assists) but he scores which is not something you can say about most of our players. Out of Arsenal's squad only RVP has scored more than Dempsey with Theo scoring less than half as many Prem goals. This isn't surprising since last season only RVP outscored Clint although Nasri came close (two goals short). He also is more direct and would offer a different kind of threat than our usual attack. He is better than many of our players at making those late runs into the box at just the right time.

I like the fact that many of his goals are game changing and that he is Prem tested while many of our likely targets are not. We all know that many players who score well in other leagues simply can't adapt to this league so paying a bit more for a proven Prem adapted player isn't a bad idea. To that point, Dempsey's scoring compares pretty favorably to a certain Podolski that many are excited about joining Arsenal. Podolski has scored one league goal more than Clint this season and last (although in less appearances) but there are seasons when he barely scores (less than six goals scored in 3 out of the last 6 seasons) at all which never happens to Dempsey who has never scored less than 6 goals in a league season. They both spend time playing out of the central striker spot but I can't find stats that show how much time each player spent at those positions so it is hard to judge how this impacts their scoring stats. Clint also stays healthy which would be nice change of pace compared to the usual Arsenal player.

Having said all that I wouldn't want Wenger to pay much more than the rumored offer from last summer because of his age. I expect one of the other clubs around us will spend more than that to get him anyway so all of this conversation is even more useless than usual.

 

I don't see any interest in him from a club bigger than Fulham. Maybe Liverpool might try, but if Clint had to choose, Arsenal in London and Liverpool in wherever, who do you think he'd pick?

Clint holds all the cards because he's in the last year of his contract. He will go to wherever he wants. And if Arsenal want him, I would expect him to do an Arteta and push it through.

 

Dempsey and Donovan are the faces of soccer in the US. Donovan seems keen on staying at LA Galaxy with loan spells at Everton in the MLS offseason, but Dempsey is very much available this upcoming offseason.

Many of the big English clubs have American owners or Americans in the boardroom (Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United just off the top of my head). How long before one of these teams grabs Dempsey just to market themselves over the pond a bit? Is Dempsey any riskier then Podolski in the grand scheme of things? I would think Dempsey would be a very attractive option for a Champions League team with American owners. It might help Man U or Arsenal get some more TV time on ESPN here in the states.

I personally would love to see Dempsey go to Arsenal. I think he would play very well up top with RVP being the central striker and Dempsey on the wing. Dempsey doesnt have the pace of Theo or Gervinho obviously, but he brings a dimension that is sorely lacking from my preferred EPL side, secondary scoring.

Also, it sucks being an Union-Arsenal fan with Thierry Henry playing for New York Red Bulls. It just feels wrong hoping Henry misses the net.

 

You made a point I was thinking of -- if we speculate about teams buying Asian players to reach the Asian market, then certainly the same could be true of the most popular U.S. player.

 

I heard him linked to the Spuds on the Sirius XM Soccer channel today.

 

I don't see Dempsey wanting to come to Arsenal because he'd be behind Wilshere, Song, Arteta, probably Ramsey (based on Wenger's bias) and battling with Tommy. God knows what would happen when Diaby is fit.

He'd be higher in the pecking order at Sp*rs.

EDIT: Not saying it's justified, but based on Wenger's selection history and favoritism, that is how I see it shaking out.

 

if dempsey wasn't american you would all be singing a differn't tune

fulham play differently than us and he wouldn't fit into our team

people just see stats and think OMG!!!

has he ever dictated the tempo of a game? dembele and danny murphy create everything at fulham and dempsey works off target strikers, he would have no idea how to play with rvp

be arfa/dembele/sessengon are all players i would pick over him for our team due to how they play

 

I think both sides of this argument would be singing different tunes if Dempsey wasn't American.

 

I see Dempsey battling for time with Theo/Ox/Gerv and subbing in for RVP. I would not be surprised in the least to see Dempsey get lots of playing time out wide.

He can't stretch the field like Ox/Gerv/Theo can but he can dribble and score.

 

I can't tell if you're being sarcy or not, especially the underlined bit.....

 

Dempsey wouldnt be an adequate substitution for when RVP needs to come off?

 

No.

 

absolutely not

I agree with you completely.

 

Dempsey is getting a little old for us, he'll be 30 by the end of next season and for a winger/forward that's close to the end of the road. He'd probably be better off going to a midtable team, like Liverpool.

 

Tried to rep your for that. No dice.

 

Don't get me wrong; I'm a Yank and I respect Dempsey but there are numerous logistical reasons why he would't work:

1) Regarding the "subbing in for RvP" nonsense, Dempsey is a trequartista at best, not a striker.
2) As Antifan pointed out, he's almost 30.
3) Re-educating in Arsenal tactics is hard enough with a 25-year-old. We play a totally different style from that which has allowed him to dominate at Fulham.
4) He'd be behind RvP, Arteta, and Vermaelen (hard to argue Tommy shouldn't be given the occasional Riise chance) for freekicks. Don't think he'd be too pleased about that.

 

i wish we had pipped dortmund and got reus!!!

 

for real! re: dempsey...where does he think he can go? dude is 30, the only old man team is chelsea and he won't go there. i can't see him at any big prem team. dude is at his peak now anyway.

 

I would like to see Hamsik here tho. Don't think it will happen.

 

i'm not really arguing whether wenger should/should not attempt to acquire dempsey (especially after such a season), just wanted to point out a different side to your arguments.

neither was van persie who originally considered his best position to have been the right-side attacker amongst the front three and is considered by, amongst others, dennis bergkamp to be best as a withdrawn forward. additionally, the comparison isn't really about whether dempsey is a superior option to van persie because, well, there isn't anyone in the world who is but, rather, whether dempsey is a superior option to ButSch, er, chamakh, park, bendtner, vela or, in our worst nightmares, arshavin.

dempsey is a few weeks shy of being exactly one year younger than arteta. that one . . . worked out okay. (even if he was a last minute panic buy.)

absolutely great point. i don't think he'll ever be at the appropriate level for our passing game and that's a legitimate concern. the only possible saving grace is that he wouldn't be brought in to be a part of the passing game as much as he would be brought in to be on the end of it. if we think back for a moment to the trio of fabregas-nasri-van persie when people kept calling them the "golden triangle", walcott was not at the level to participate in their intricate passing game (and is not now) but he was still a crucial cog in that because he was the runner that those three released. also, we currently lack somebody who understands the importance of attacking the back post and dempsey would fill that niche rather nicely.

fair point. not only that, he would be leaving a full-time starting position for, at best, squad member status. and, more than losing out on free kick hierarchy, that is more likely to be a sticking point for him.

on the other hand, we'll be playing champion's league football - which was the lure that got arteta - and, if he's interested in that, he'll have to learn to deal with it.

i don't see it happening because podolski will be there, gervinho will be back and wenger will already be struggling to fit his younglings into the lineup as is. but i am of the opinion that dempsey would be a valuable addition to the squad/lineup.

 

Totally get where you're coming from. I didn't think you were attacking my position.

 

cool, cool.

 

LOL, I tried to as well, but already given too much recent love to Anti.