Yes, I understand that (you need not be so condescending...). And as I said above, I believe they are a better team with Dempsey in the side than with Davies.
Thats fine, but its the comment that he should move because has to keep proving himself at Fulham drives me insane. Should he just be guaranteed a starting place? Of course he should have to constantly prove his worth in a team with other good players that play his position - its called being a professional. Out of any of our players in Europe, Dempsey has proven that he is capable of competing for his place and should be the last person we should be worrying about in their current situation - except maybe Timmy and M.B. I am not saying that he shouldn't make a move, but my issue is with people that think he should move because the situation would automatically be better than the very good situation he has at Fulham currently.
He should move if what was keeping him at Fulham was out of a sense of loyalty, a trait most Americans playing in England have exhibited. Fulham haven't shown him a great deal of loyalty (in spite of his production), aren't a particularly good or ambitious club, and I think it's safe to say that a club who is willing to splash cash on him will also give him at least as much of an opportunity to prove himself.
I am not being condescending you horrible little man I can see why (beyond being a Dempsey fan) you might prefer Demspey there. Demspey is maybe Fulahm's most skillful player (certainly in the way you'd traditionally use the word 'skillful') and defintely their best finsiher, but Davies is Fulham's best crosser whereas crossing is something that is conspicously lacking from Dempsey's game. Myself I don't know, I wouldn't come down strongly on either side as to who's th best leftwinger for this team. With Davies the team has a better attackign shape which is what Hodgson has gone for.
Nobody's saying he shouldn't be receptive to offers from top teams, if there are any. But he's in an incredibly good situation right now. There is no reason to go actively seeking something else.
BBC Matchtracker again: From Pete in the USA "Biggest game in Fulham history, looking for glory from Dempsey today.. GO ON YOU WHITES!!!" Rep to Pete.
Who said I was a Dempsey fan? I was a Fulham fan before I'd ever heard of Clint Dempsey. I've watched a lot of Fulham this year (more than you, I'd guess) and their best performances against good teams featured Gera and Zamora up front with a Dempsey, Duff, Murphy and Etuhu in midfield.
He won't have to actively seek something else. My point is really pretty simple. Hopefully any sense of loyalty that was keeping him at Fulham is no longer present. If he deems it his best situation, then stay. If not, then go.
Agree with this. The reality is that mid-table EPL is basically where Dempsey (and, for example, Donovan) belongs...and FFS his club is in the UEFA cup final today
Hey, like I said, I understand why he's going with the lineup he's used with success in the past few Euro games (and I think he's done an amazing job this season). With that being said, Roy isn't infallible... If he had had his way, Bobby Zamora wouldn't have been with Fulham at all this season....
anyone else getting an error from the UEFA.com website? totally worth throwing down the tenner for this match but does not seem to be working in three different browsers! ARG 9 mins to go
If not starting in the final which should be a reward for the work put in to get there as well as being easily one of the top 10 players on the club then he should rightly leave as this is anything but a incredibly good situation. This man is the main reason they are in fact still in this competition.
He'll be in soon enough. If Zamora is anything like he was against Hamburg, he shouldn't be starting and will eventually be pulled.
I assumed as there weren't many Fulahm fans in the US before McBride (that aren't even that many Fulham fans in London) What I am saying is is wahtever you're feelings about whether Dempsey should start or not the fact that he hasn't started should not be seen as a snub and to be fair I don't think you're syaing it is.
Not sure about your last sentence, but unlike Davies, without Clint they wouldn't even have been in the competition in the first place.
I hope for Roy and Clint's sake Fulham hasn't dug too big of a whole before Dempsey comes on, like almost occurred against Hamburg, or Hodgson deserves a lot of flack for the failure. Roy is not infallible (iad beat me to this exact point and wording). In games that mean something you play your best. You don't base your decision on some small sample correlation. If it was over a much longer stretch, and applied to multiple situations (like in the PL), I could understand it. But it wasn't and didn't. So you employ Clint. It's not that hard to figure out.
It was going to take an incredibly audacious shot to beat the Juve defense in that game after they tightened up the back to secure advancement. Who else has the nuts on Fulham to pull that off?
No one, but given the game situation, they probably had a 50% chance of advancing even without that shot.