MLS should have encouraged a bidding war in the first place. The league needs to understand that since it owns all contracts, it must do the work of a club in the transfer market.
FAR better fit than the Premiership. I don't even want Clint if I'm a prem team. They aren't allowed to dance on the ball or any of the stuff that Clint is good in. In England, Passing, pace, and pure technical ability are the best assets for Attacking mids. None of those are strengths for Clint. With Spain, he'll get a shot to show off his flair and creativity.
People not named Ronaldinho don't dance on the ball in Spain if they don't want their asses kicked, either. There's a prevailing myth that Spanish soccer is less physically demanding than the English game that I just don't see. Just a different style, but not a less demanding one that I've seen. Regardless, Atletico is bigtime. Would be cool if there was real interest there for Clint. As far as pure technical ability, I haven't seen a better first touch in a US jersey than Dempsey's. Do shooting and heading not count as technical ability, either?
Who says that wasn't the plan all along? I think they're going to do just that. Since the other offers got shot down, he's only done stuff to raise his selling price, and there's one last hurdle (lifting that trophy in front of his parents) that'll max out the price. I'll say it before and I'll say it again: letting him go in January 2007 was the plan the whole time.
Yes, but MLS is so incredibly bad at engaging the media. Had they just named a price for Dempsey, word would have gotten out all over Scottish (and British) media. That could have been used in so many different ways. I said in another thread that I would value Shalrie Joseph at $7 million. Would anyone pay that? It doesn't matter. It never matters. You must engage the media and use the publicity. What you say is not what you negotiate, but you say it anyway to try to get new bidders and improve the transfer fee.
I've always felt that defending is more positional in Spain, as opposed to England which is more confrontational. Meaning you have to play smarter in Spain on the ball because you don't have many open players to slot the ball to. I was thinking more along the lines of Short Range passing, Long Range passing, and crossing in terms of technical ability, but you are correct. I should say the aspects of his technical game don't match up well with t he English game
I think those late runs into the box for the headers would do well in England as well, though. Someone on the Fulham messageboard watched a highlight video of Dempsey (which included lots of header goals) and described the clips as "pretty tasty."
They kick people's shins in La Liga far more frequently than in the Prem. There may be more pushing and holding in the box in England but La Liga can get plenty chippy. Atletico is a good team with a lot of talent (Torres, Mista, Aguero, Petrov, Maxi Rodriquez, Maniche, Costinha, Leo Franco), so its profile is likely to be considerably higher than of Clint's hereto known options of Charlton, Fulham and West Ham. "El Vasco" Aguirre is also considered a very good coach. (buddies with Steve Sampson, oddly enough) And Madrid's a pretty hap'nin' town.
I was watching those little videos on ussoccer.com and on the training day one clint dempsey was the lead runner in the 6 min fitness test so I think he's the fittest on our US team actually. Too bad that in soccer you only run for 20-30 seconds at a time, lol.
I'm not talking about the chippiness factor....just the style of defending in general. Then again, I watch a LOT more Premiership football than La Liga. I only get a chance to watch La Liga on that HD channel
Nah, that's not from soccer, the Brits look like that anyway. All those generations without diluting the gene pool.
La Liga defenders are a lot better in playing the ball on the ground or defending against a top dribbler/passer than the Prem defenders on average (top Prem teams are more talented defensively than the top La Liga teams) and being hard on the tackle is often the style used. ("El Raton" Ayala doesn't stand out for his .... ahem, style, in other words) The competition is heavily Latino-Americanized with both the pluses and minuses of that game. Last Saturday, for example, all three goals in the Atletico Madrid -Recreativo Huelva match were of dubious quality - two dives in a penalty box and a clear hand goal by Aguero. The Prem is far more gentlemanly as a rule, Stephen Hunt notwithstanding.
So many opinions in such a short time. I agree with appoo about the style of defending. I think that La Liga is a lot less confrontational, and much of that is due to the fact that many of the smaller "fouls" aren't called in the EPL, so players consequently foul a little bit harder and more often to push the envelope, since they know some won't get called. However, I disagree with appoo on the technical argument. Sorry appoo. For my money, the technical ability in Spain far surpasses that in England. England seems to really value the "tougher" guys who don't mind bouncing around off of people and playing a kick, run and gun style. It's not that the players are actually faster (they aren't), but more that they play the faster style of game, partly due to cooler weather temperatures no doubt. I personally think that he would survive in either place, because he has the size and toughness to compete in the Prem, but the ability to play in a more technical atmosphere as well. This would be great for him, and I hope it works out. I just wish he would quit with the negativity about the league, on the way out the door though.
Either way, I'm looking forward to watching him test himself. The man has never backed down from a challenge in his life, and I doubt he'll bat an eye at the competition level either league will offer. He's also an incredibly hard worker. To get ready for the Jan. National Team Camp, he apparently worked every day on getting better form the moment MLS Cup was over. He doesn't accept anything less than greatness from himself. EDIT- I doubted him once. I'm not about to do it again.
I'd really like to see him in Spain and generally agree about the style being more suited to him. If nothing else, it would be good to show off a little American talent in Spain to open the market up.
Ya know what I realized while watching the gloomy Reading/Chelski game Saturday? I'm used to watching bright, sunny, fall afternoon college football games. I say Dempsey should go to Spain simply for nicer weather.
I don't know about y'all, but for those that say they want to "see" him in Spain -- how are you planning on doing so? My selfishly motivated opinion is that 1) I'd like him go to a place where he has a good chance to feature regularly at the highest possible level and 2) where I have the greatest chance to see him play with some frequency. Only the PL fits both for me.
Gol TV. They play 2 or 3 games each Sunday usually, and A. Madrid will probably have their share. For me though, I will be happy with either scenario.