Fulham Yourself If You Don't Believe It: Dempsey VI

Its been fun watching Clint develop at Fulham and I just hope he can avoid a situation where he lands a huge contract at a big club but doesn't get to play much.

I can see him landing at one the the better French clubs (who are all seeking the best talent they can get with their limited wallets) or at Arsenal, where Wenger has been keeping an eye on him. I can also see him playing in Spain....but only in the right situation.

 

Talksport reporting Arsenal "determined" to sign Dempsey

 

going to an Arsenal website the fans are kind of split. A few feel he's exactly what they need to take pressure off of RVP, but others feel there are better options out there.

 

Arsenal fans are weird like that. Of course we'd rather have Hazard or Gotze but neither of those are happening. Arsenal also need depth, yeah they have good players in the starting 11 but the bench is not very good. I would much rather have clint instead of benayoun and ramsey atm. We can get clint for about 1/10 what hazard and gotze cost and why wouldn't you?

 

I'd be curious to know who is available for reasonable money in a similar package. I don't think he's an outside mid anymore. Clint is a 2nd striker as first role, and plug n play in about any other forward or mid position. I can't think of another player that would offer his goalscoring along with the versatility to be a utility player. He's what Aaron Ramsey hopes to be someday.

VdV is a similar, and probably superior player in the 2nd striker role, but he's nowhere near the utility.

 

He's filled in up top for the last two games because pretty much every other viable striker on the squad is injured at the moment, but more than two thirds of his appearances this season have been at left mid.

 

He lines up at the LM but plays like a CAM with a bit of defensive duties.

If the Podolski deal goes though they will have a pretty good central attacking rotation.

 

Arsenal always want the sexy name instead of the proven (older) goalscorer, and it always seems to come back to haunt them. They have had plenty of opportunities to scoop up Dempsey and have always passed. I hope he ends up at a rival and sticks it to them properly in the upcoming season.

 

With Arsenal it's not necessarily the name, but Wenger's modus operandi in the transfer market is to buy young and from outside the Premier League. I may be wrong, but I'm not even sure that Arsenal have paid a transfer fee to another PL club in the decade preceding the signing of Arteta at the start of this season.

However Arsene Wenger's transfer policy has come in for criticism as their fortunes have declined a bit and as I mentioned he paid £10 million for Arteta, a PL veteran at the start if this season. The primary reason behind Wenger's adversion to Premier League players seems to be value for money consideration, but Dempsey is out of contract at the end of next season and Fulham it seems to me will want to get a fair amount for him and so he will likely be available for a reasonable price this transfer window.

Also, reading between the lines in the rumour mills, it seems that the Dempsey to Arsenal rumour has substance.

I would only describe Dempsey as nominal LM (how often is he on the end of a cross vs how often is he on the end of a cross?), he's more of a centre forward/'hole' player and I'd say that that is how a club that is likely to buy him would view him.

 

He won't hug the touchline or whip in crosses from the left -- he understandably tends to play quite narrow when Fulham are attacking. But it's still pretty off-base to call him a forward, and you've been saying it since the Hodgson years when it was even less true.

Soccernet does an average position chart for all of the Premier League fixtures. In games where he plays the full 90 as a midfielder (the most recent ones if you want to check were against Swansea, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton, and QPR), his average position is almost always the deepest of the 4 attacking players and often a good 10 to 15 yards behind the lead strikers.

He defends deep as well and stays back to help out in possession and build from the back. If you don't watch Fulham regularly or closely (not saying you do or don't) you probably see Dempsey crashing into the box a lot and assume he must be playing as a third striker. But most Fulham fans will tell you that's not really the case.

 

I think you must have us confused with Chelsea or Man City.

We never spend enough money to get the "sexy name." If anything, we're the bargain hunters of the EPL's big teams. Who ever heard of guys like Joel Campbell, Ryo Miyaichi, Carl Jenkinson, and Thomas Eisfeld before Arsene signed them?

Arsene is all about value for money. Dempsey to Arsenal makes some sense because allegedly Arsene is looking at some established contributors to help make an immediate impact. I think Benayoun is playing the role that Dempsey would've played if we had signed him. And we were allegedly interested in the summer. It's hard to say we had "plenty of opportunities to scoop up Dempsey" without knowing the details. Were there bids? What was the asking price? Was it realistic or ridiculous?

Who knows?

 

I guess instead of outside mid I should have said winger. He does play the "inverted winger" cut inside from the left. It's Dempseys cutting runs that open the nice lanes for Riise to maraud through.

He also plays in the hole quite often, and I think that is his best role.

Benayoun is exactly who and how I had in mind Arsenal using Dempsey. The thing that makes me a bit nervous is how and how often he'd be used when Wilshere is healthy along with Arteta, Song, Ramsey, Rosicky, etc.

 

Do you somehow see an older Rosicky and Arteta being on the field MORE than in the past few years?

as far as I'm concerned, Dempsey has forced his way on the field at every stop, no matter how determined managers were to leave him out...long may he continue to do so.

 

Arteta and Song do not play the same position as Dempsey. Dempsey can beat out Rosicky and Ramsey easily imo.

EDIT: Just looked at some Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs boards. the difference in transfer culture is pretty interesting.

 

I know Song and Arteta are different players in different spots. However, one of them is taking a spot, or will make room for Wilshere, unless he pushes up more into attack like Cesc did his last couple of years (in a spot similar to where Dempsey should be played). I also think he can beat out Ramsey. Rosicky on his game is a very good player. He's just getting back to form, and he's up and down. Is he better than Dempsey? Probably not, but he's competition for him.

Just spitballing. Dempsey has a spot locked down at Fulham, where he is THE MAN right now. I hate to see him relegated to spot duty.

 

I am not so sure about Rosicky given his recent form. Much different player than Clint and Clint doesn't leave people in his wake like Rosicky. Ramsey, yes. Ramsey has recent played as that outside midfielder and added very little and been pretty bad in front of goal. I think it is clear he would not play as much as at Fulham but Arsenal are in lots of competitons and at 29/30 I think less than 50 games per year is fine.

 

and with the CL all but assured next year, there will be a lot of games and a need for more depth. Also, RVP has played more than you really want or can count on every year. Rosicky is playing out of his mind, but its not assured he'll continue that level. Dempsey would be really useful. I think he'd be the first choice left wing pretty soon. He can fill that pinched in role that Benayoun does better.

But Wenger is not going to buy a lot of players where he'll eventually take a loss on transfer fees. Arteta is already a loss, and Podolski if he signs. A third player where he won't get much transfer back is likely too much.

 

Whether at Arsenal or Tottenham or any other CL team, I see Clint starting off as on the bench or mainly a super-sub until an injury here or there gives him a chance to start. Maybe he'd be giving a starting role in cup matches or so. But the thing is Clint will have to fight for his spot at any club, if his ambition is as strong as he says, then he will gladly fight for the chance at any club currently in the Champions League. I believe he has what it takes to start for Arsenal but it won't be easy. Even if he's only starting 50% of the matches as opposed to 100% for Fulham, Clint can make it happen and it would still be a success.

 

Soccer fields all over the world are littered with the remains of people who doubted Clint Dempsey.

 

Rosicky rediscovering his form for perhaps the first time since 2007 is one of the bigger stories in Arsenal's resurgence. IMO.

 

it would be extremely sad (and ironic) that he goes to a CL club and yet ending up not ever playing a CL match because of the fierce competitions on those teams for minutes.

 

He is reminding me of the guy that thumped one into the upper corner vs. the U.S. in 2006.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/IRA6k7Au7jc

 

So true. It's pretty crazy, given the #s and performances he's racked up this year, that there are still even people doubting him.

 

Seriously this aint Brek Shea we're talking about. Only two players have scored more goals in the EPL over the last two seasons.

RVP and Rooney.

That's it. Stop worrying Deuce is mother********ing world class he's got this.