Still Making Drogba Look Shite: Dempsey at Fulham IV [R]

10 league goals in 30 league matches is very impressive. If he scores 2 more he becomes Fulham's top PL scorer. If he scores 4 more before the season's over, he becomes the club's highest goal scorer in a season with 14.

He's had the best season in his career no doubt,

 

I thought it was a wonderful strike too! I'm sitting here watching the che/man city game and all these hi paid players just blowing shots left and right over the bar way into the stands.

Dempsey just slid it right in through traffic. Indicative of his ability as a player -

I think Dempsey means LOADS to the present and future of the USMNT and in general how US players are treated in european leagues. Much like McBride, I feel like Dempsey represents a player with incredible work rate, who has the technical ability (Mcbride maybe with his body/head more than feet) to change a game. What an awesome marriage between Fulham and Dempsey.

Although... I'd love to see Dempsey test bigger ponds in a different league... Villareal in La Liga, Juventus in Seria A, Munich or Lyons? Liverpool?

I don't know, i'm probably thinking too big on some of those.

 

BTW I don't think he owes anything to fulham. He's had to CONSTANTLY prove himself to new managers and I personally think he deserves a chance to be brought into a club where he's looked at as being a serious contributor FROM the start.

Maybe this is the best he can output, or maybe he's got another 2-3 years of this kind of output before dropping off and returning to the US? In that case, I see a lot of teams who could use him....

 

He likely would have been even more impressive last season if he hadn't had several months taken away from him by injury.

 

A ton of American players who went to college showed the tendency to continue to get better in their late 20's and even their early 30's. Its probably because their bodies don't start to take much of a hit until their bodies are matured and they are 21, 22 or older. Also they don't start to get higher level coaching until later in their careers.

Dempsey seems to be on that same trajectory. He has gotten better every single season. Even when he starts to slow down some, I still think he can extend his career some as a striker if coaches don't want to use him in midfield as much at some point. That and he has said that he does not want to return to MLS. That sentiment may wear off at some point, but Dempsey likely has plenty of good years left in Europe.

 

So long as he's got one good year left in 2014, I'm happy...

 

Unless something drastically bad happens, I'm pretty sure he will, which is why I was stunned at the audacity of so many American fans counting both Donovan and Dempsey out of 2014.

 

Who's doing that?

 

It was pretty common in the aftermath of the World Cup exit last summer. Maybe people were just being bitter and negative, but whatever the motivation, it wasn't unusual to hear.

 

One of the things I love about his career. It's a consistent, steady, and in the end remarkable trajectory.

He's earned every bit of it.

 

Fulham posted a video of Clint's 10 goals.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2011/March/Dempsey10Goals.aspx

 

Interesting that even though McBride and Dempsey genuinely are very different players, Dempsey's goals for Fulham this season all look like goals McBride scored for Fulham.

 

lots of goals off set pieces. he is the best player we have abroad.

 

Beyond the National Team shirt, I'm generally not a fan, but THIS. He's been amazing.

 

His game is amazingly adaptable. With the US he gets them in a variety of ways.

 

It does seem kind of strange that there aren't any WTF kind of goals among the ten. Nothing like the flick with his back to goal against Chelsea, the bomb against Stoke, or the chip against Juventus.

 

Here is a good article on Dempsey in France first sport paper, L'EQUIPE. I think you'll be happy to learn that it is full of praise.

 

Haha! love the headline (it calls Deuce the "Mad Rapper"). clever, especially considering the parallels to the actual Mad Rapper....Deuce is a confrontational, win by any means necessary kind of player, Mad Rapper was an alter ego provocateur known for partnering with an unknown 50 Cent on the leftfield hit "How To Rob", which describes the various ways in which specific established rappers were weak and vulnerable to the attacks of ambitious rivals.

 

He's a goal scorer. Which is why he needs to be played close to the goal for the nats and Fulham. He can poach, use his head, or create space to get a quick shot off coupled with the occasional golazo.

 

Link to quotes from Hughes on Dempsey and his impact, plus a comment on how younger players view him from Rich.

http://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/why-so-sad/

 

They wont let that penalty go (read the comments). Dempsey is just one of those players where you dont seem to want to reward him because he doesnt look like he really cares.

He is far and away Fulham's player of the year and this Baird business is definitely a show for a player that doesnt get the credit he deserves, but also sounds like them wanting an islander in there instead of a swarthy looking yank.

 

Brede Hangeland would beg to differ (at least about the "far and away" part). Two things got Fulham through the early part of the season (when they were so decimated by injuries up top Eddie Johnson was getting minutes), Clint's goals and one of the best defenses in the league. Brede Hangeland has been a rock for Fulham and is probably one of the best center backs in the PL.

 

And he's American imagine a subotic-hangeland CB pairing