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

This is going to be one of the biggest Platini era changes IMO.Far fewer international dates and mandatory releases.

It's ruining international club play.

 

No Dempsey= 1-0 loss. At least he'll be real fresh against Everton

 

Fixed.

Really... I listened to the whole game on BBC Radio. Dembelee's Red Card was an embarrassment and their Polish opponents should've been down to 10 men after the 2nd minute "Nigel DeJong-esque" kick to the chest on Hangeland.

 

Embarrassment is not strong enough- Dembele foolishly pushed the Wisla player in the shoulder after getting a dirty kick to his achilles well after the ball was gone (questionable if his push was even a yellow) and the Wisla player went down holding his face even though Dembele's hands never got remotely near the face of the Wisla player.

I missed the first few mins yesterday so i missed the de Jongesque moment and have been unable to find video of it anywhere, so I can't comment on that.

 

Apparently it was more that Fulham were on the end of some cynical play+poor offcialing.

Dempsey's non-inclusion though should not be seen negatively, it was almost certainly the case that Deempsey was greatly in need of a rest and Jol thought they had enough to beat Wisla Krakow without him. He's still one of Fulham's top players.

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVot8p0hFyM"]Bryan Ruiz First goal in the Premier League - YouTube[/ame] How's this for a CONCACAF connection? Dempsey to Bryan who beats Howard, nice to see two North American players linking up so well in the Premiership.

 

Apparently ole Sparky said some not-so-nice things about Fulham to some reporters this past weekend. Fulham's Chairman responds:

http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2011/October/FFCStatement.aspx

My favorite line:

 

My favorite was "What a strange man Mark Hughes is". This from the guy who erected a Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cottage.

 

One of the all time great official club statements. The only thing missing was comic sans font.

 

Strange for an owner to be in the press room at the Confederations Cup a few years ago:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIi81vGoQhA"]3 most stupid questions about footbal/ soccer - YouTube[/ame]

 

Nice combo - great shot from Ruiz and Dempsey's run forced Timmeh to stay with him instead of backing on to his line where he could have saved it.

 

What the heck was that?

 

This is hilarious, can't believe I haven't seen it before. Landon can barely keep it together. And Bob Bradley using his trademark coachspeak to discuss Michael Jackson's career is priceless.

 

Poll: Is this Fulham winger the best in the Premier League?

[ame="http://rutube.ru/tracks/4957143.html?v=202cc115375cede238fd31b8920b059f"]video[/ame]

 

i love how bobby z always makes sure you know it was his pass.

dempsey has been a top 10 midfield player for 3 years running.

I dont think people understand how difficult it is to manufacture goals with OK talent in the EPL.

Look how he puts his head down and chugs it out, beating the defender from midfield. When it's time to score, Dempsey is usually a step ahead of everyone else.

 

Just for reference, here is a list of all of the midfielders who have played at least half their club's matches on the left this season in England (according to football-lineups.com).


Agbonlahor (Villa), Arshavin (Arsenal), Hoilett (Blackburn), M. Petrov (Bolton), Juan Mata (Chelsea), Dempsey (Fulham), Downing (Liverpool), A. Young (Man U), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle), Pilkington (Norwich), Wright-Phillips (QPR), Etherington (Stoke), Larsson (Sunderland), Sinclair (Swansea), Bale (Tottenham), Thomas (West Brom), Moses (Wigan), Jarvis (Wolves)

 

I would take Silva and Mata ahead of him. It's a close call between him and Young, while some of the flashier names like Arshavin, Downing and Bale haven't been consistent year-in year-out. Underrated would be Etherington and Jarvis.

Anyway, I think this comment demonstrates that Dempsey is not involved in the rumored unhappiness between Jol and some of the Fulham veterans.

 

Well he's the first Fulham coach that didn't start out with Clint on the bench, so that should count for something.

 

The question for all of the players mentioned is how do they produce with very little help or at best average talent around them?

There is a very physical element to Dempsey's game because he is a hold up man and is expected to bang in the box to get goals. But he is also expected to create from midfield, generate the attack, trail the play and either get the cross or create in the box for a score.

One attribute that is rarely noticed is his ball winning ability on 50/50 plays. He rarely loses these challenges.

The only player in the mix who can probably make the claim for better all around player for production is Bale. But he is oft injured, so pound for pound, Dempsey on any team brings more value than those mentioned.

So often in life the show pony gets picked for the glam or the workhorse for the doggedness, but rarely do you get the mix of both in one player.

 

Anyone know how many assist Dempsey has gotten at Fulham?

 

My recollection (confirmed by a quick look at the stats) is that he's averaged about 3 or 4 a season at Fulham. This includes assists in cup matches.

 

On the Premier League website, I counted 13 assists. He has 2 or 3 assists per season since 2007.

 

I can only assume you missed Ashley Young's name on that list. 30 PL assists and 21 PL goals since the 08/09 season. There's a reason why he made the move to Man U this past season. I think he can make a pretty compelling case that he's been a better all around player "for production" than Clint over the past 3 plus seasons.

 

Now imagine if Clint was English

 

He still wouldn't be as productive as Young?