Yeah, I keep flashing back to that split second after he connected where you could see it wasn't going to turn out alright...ugh. Damn pks. Funny how Clint is arguably the best U.S. goalscorer and yet he struggles from the spot. EJ would probably bury an unstoppable shot if by some cosmic absurdity he took a nerve-wrenching Premier League pk.
It's surprising to see him struggle with PKs considering he's also capable of this (goal v. Juventus): [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeL1DXp-PuU"]YouTube - Clint Dempsey Wonder Goal on Juventus 18/3/2010[/ame] Perhaps it's just something he needs to devote a little more training time to.
I wonder if Hughes even knows that Clintinho is a piss-poor PK taker. He probably doesn't know his history in MLS prior to taking the leap across the pond. It's a shame he didn't make it but he did a great job to earn the PK in the first place. No one at Fulham, either coaches, players or fans, is going to hold it against him. A draw, in the end, was a more than fair result. And sidenote - just how bad is Torres. $80 million, really?
That's kind of the whole point. The best penalty kick takers are usually the best passing midfielders. Strikers aren't usually PK guys. The US's go-to guy for PK's? Donovan, the driving force of the attack. Fulham's? Murphy. When Jozy drew PK's for Hull, Bullard took most of them. You can go down the list of teams throughout the world. IMO, the best players for PK's are generally more midfielders: Pirlo, Ronaldo, Gerrard, Lampard, Sneijder, Fabregas, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Blanco, Ballack, and on and on. Strikers can definitely be good PK takers also, but the point is that it is not exactly rare for top goal scorers to not be the best at penalty kicks.
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/petr-cech-save-from-clint-dempsey-penalty-8498395/ BTW, his follow-up was also horrible because Eidur was running onto the rebound and Clint chose to try a Chilena, whacking it way over the net.
To be fair, you have to disregard all national team play when it comes to English players and penalty kicks. They're cursed from birth. Its not their fault.
I think Dempsey was the wrong man to take the PK in that instance. If you are the guy that gets taken down in the box, you are too amped up to calmly slot the ball. At that point in the game, in that situation, all he could do was pick a side and hit it. It was a 50/50 chance and if Cech picked wrong, it's a goal. It's not like he put it over the bar - that's a choke. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter a lick for Fulham. The extra 2 points doesn't have a lot of impact for them, and Dempsey showed one more time why he is such a dangerous player at every level. He's had plenty of clutch, legendary moments for both the USMNT and Fulham. Even Michael Jordan and Larry Bird missed sometimes.
I know this isn't a US Nats forum, but I have to agree that I was surprised he took it and only somewhat surprised Cech saved it. For the Nats Donovan or a few other guys should be ahead of him in the PK order, but winning the penalty is still nice work. It shouldn't be too overshadowed by not scoring the PK itself. I hope for Fulham's sake he isn't the 2nd choice PK taker anymore.
He probably didn't know eidur was behind him and he just tried to hit it however he could. The ball bounced to him what the hell was he supposed to do?(assuming the first sentence is correct)
I think that is a little harsh on a Fulham side that has played better this year than four points above the relegation spots (particularly of late, though it was not a great showing overall tonight). If they had won today they would have gone up to 9th and been just four points off of Sunderland in 7th (and potentially another chance at Europe if the cups play out correctly). If you look at the table, the teams above Fulham (Sunderland, Bolton, Stoke, Newcastle, Blackburn) all realistically can be caught, particularly with Sunderland, Newcastle and Blackburn all likely to perform much worse the rest of the season than they have up to this point. Now Fulham are just a point above Everton and Aston Villa and five points back of Bolton - these were a bigger two points for Fulham than they may appear to be, especially if Zamora returns to form when healthy in the next month. All in all, Fulham probably would have been thrilled at a point before the game started (and should still be after the game since they were dominated), but its a tough two potential points to drop just because of the chance to steal the win.
As someone who has probably seen 80% of Clint's games as a pro due to the fact that I'm a New England and Fulham supporter, I always hold my breath when he takes a PK and am always relieved when Murphy steps up to take the PKs for Fulham. There is still some resentment from some NE fans that he declined to take a PK in MLS Cup against Houston, but after missing against DC in the playoffs previously and lacking a bit of sharpness due to an injury layoff, it probably wasn't a bad thought - too bad that it worked out the way it did though. He does so many things well, taking PKs has just never been one of them.
Every Fulham player would need to be a DP to "maybe" play in MLS, eh? And how exactly do you know what Dean was thinking -- or wasn't -- when he didn't call for a rekick? Oh, that's right...you don't.
As a Fulham supporter, I would have love to see them take 3 off those Chekey bastards. Objectively, they are better than their current standing and it is VERY unlikely they will wind up in danger of relegation. At the same time, no matter how well things go in the second half, they don't have a snowballs chance in hell of making back to Europa, Zamora coming back or not. It's going to take Zamora a few games to back in the flow. Even with Zamora, won't be any/much better than Sunderland, Liverpool, or Bolton, all of whom are ahead in the table, never mind Newcastle and Stoke. Even if you assume that all those sides are exactly equal, what are the odds of Fulham having a run of good fortune that carries them ahead of those teams. There is a good chance both Liverpool and Bolton will be even strong from this point on. They are too good to get relegated and not good enough for Europe, thus, it doesn't really matter.
Mr. Dean, posting incognito since 2004... Are you here all week? Do I need to tip my waitress? How's the veal?
Not sure what he was saying, but I'll say it. It was a clear PK. There was no argument Chelsea could make. Sometimes it doesn't get given that close to the end of a game, sure... but that doesn't make it any less of a clear penalty. Clint embellished a little, but he certainly didn't dive. There was a clearly bad challenge that got no ball and easily enough of Clint to knock him down.
1. That game was AWFUL until the last 10 minutes or so. Just awful...boring, and with poor execution by both teams. Yikes. I would have expected better. 2. Clint is a terrible PK taker. Whether that was Hughes' decision or Clint's, that cost them two points. To round it off, a Fulham player (Eidur, I think) had a very easy shot off the rebound, but Clint tried the overhead kick instead. Perfect climax to the match. 3. Duff still has the skill, but he's too slow now to make his moves work. 4. Danny Murphy...oh my God. How many giveaways did he make passing it 10 or 20 yards toward his own freakin' goal?!?! I coach my daughter's U8 team, and that's the kind of crap I see from the little girls. Well, it's OK for them. They're little kids learning the game. Murphy, what the ******** is your excuse??? I had to wash my eyes with bleach after that one.
Yeah, but you're not a Fulham fan. I was rooting for them, and I was pissed when Clint stepped up. You could see he was really tired, and he is poor on PKs. And, yeah, Torres. Wow, that was an elite level of suckitude out there, wasn't it? When you spend $80,000,000, you don't want garden variety suckiness, or even Prem level suckiness. You expect world class suckiness, and Torres delivered that. I think he'll bounce back, but he contributed more than his share to the dire-inity of that match.
And if he had managed to put that one in, he would have pushed Rooney off the front pages. Reposted for easy reference ...