I was at the MLS final. Ralston and Noonan were invisible. Dempsey and Twellman both seemed like they were at least trying.
I'm just jealous of his hot girlfriend on his myspace....(I'm such a playa hater!)but seriously, he has a tendency to dive too much for my liking, and still hasn't proven to be worthy of a start for the national team. By no means would I write him off, just don't think he is ready, needs to work on consistancy of his performances.
My take on Clint is that he is a dynamic, skillful, relentless, creative, athletic player who still requires one touch more than he should to bring his best ideas to life. If he can cut three touches to two (and so on) he can and will play anywhere he wants before his career is through.
Sorry if this sounds ignorant but what is Dempsey's rap name again? And does anybody have a link to hear some of his stuff besides that Nike freestyle about "having mo ice than alaska"?
I have nothing against Dempsy as a person... he's just a cornball rapper and a mediocore player. We have much better IMO. A squad player at best. McBride and Johnson END OF STORY
Please post a pic of his chica from MySpace or provide a link. . . for research purposes only, of course.
welcome to bigsoccer! this place is like a barrel of monkeys. whenever anyone gets a little attention/props everyone else has to pull him down.
Please don't tell me you think Dempsey deserves a spot for Germany? I'm no hater, just a realist. And we have better.
I like Dempsey. He's a good player. I liken him to a pre-injury Ben Olsen. That's nothing to shake a stick at. He'll be a good MLS player and certainly capable of playing against CONCACAF competition. I'm looking for the midfielders who are going to take us to that next level, though. You know what I mean. We need our Lampard or Gerrard if we want to win the World Cup.
taylor twellman is not good. he scores goals for the revs sure, but he has no skill. he might have a knack for the goal but its only if he's in the 6 yard box. there is no way hes getting a ticket to germany. jaqua is 2 times the player he is, and he's deep in the forward depth chart. he is better than ching though.(at least he can trap the ball)
Sigh. You can admire a player and and still conclude he shouldn't go to Germany for the US. That isn't hating the player. I like Freddy Adu. But right now (might be different in 6 months, but right now) he's just not good enough as a forward. As an A-mid, I'd take Donovan, Reyna and maybe O'Brien ahead of him. Probably Convey as well. So he's also competing with Martino and probably another player or two. You can think Freddy Adu is a dynamic, exciting player with a huge upside and also conclude he doesn't have the skills to play in Arena's 442 at this point. That's not inconsistent or "hate." Take Dempsey. Love how aggressive he is and his energy level. I think his skills, courage, and technical ability are far beyond what you'd expect of him at this stage (late first round pick, 2 seasons, originally a D-mid). But where does he play in Arena's 442? --Is he a withdrawn forward? Don't think so. Even the Revs don't use him as a forward much. It would have to take a lot of injuries (or a major goal scoring streak in MLS and in International warmups) for Dempsey to be perceived as a withdrawn forward at this point. The USA has a lengthy list of reasonable withdrawn forward candidates. As an withdrawn forward, he'd be no better than 5th on my list and probably closer to 9th (I'd take Donovan, EJ, Cunningham, Noonan, Rolfe, and Wolff ahead of him). --Is he an attacking mid? Again, Donovan and Reyna are light years ahead of him. If those two were down, I'd take O'Brien at A-mid over Dempsey. And even then, you're talking several other players (Martino, Adu, DMB has played A-mid, Convey has played A-mid, Gaven was strong in central midfield a year ago and then got pushed to the flank and his game disappeared). I don't think Dempsey is a better (or even equal) A-mid than the guys I've just mentioned. Now right now he's probably a better soccer player than a bunch of the guys I've the guys I just mentioned. But he's not as good an A-mid as they are. Martino and Adu might be the exceptions (and even then--I think Adu is better technically and has better vision). So as an A-mid he's no better than 3rd choice and probably about 6th or 7th in terms of Arena's preference. --Okay then, let's see how he stacks up as a D-mid (the position he was originally drafted at). Right now, he'd be behind Mastroeni for sure. I think Brian Carroll, Chris Armas, and Ricardo Clark are better than he is as a D-mid. John O'Brien (if he gets slotted into D-mid) is better. Heck, Mulrooney would be an excellent choice if he's fit and in-form. So as a D-mid, he's probably the team's 6th choice, no better than 4rd. Where Dempsey is a superb pick is as a holding mid in a 3-5-2. But that's not the formation of choice for Bruce Arena. And even if it was, I bet he'd go with Donovan at A-mid, Reyna as holding mid and Mastroeni as D-mid. Dempsey has one card up his sleeve in terms of going to Germany: he's versatile (ie: can contribute at several positions). But unfortunately for him, the positions he can contribute at are all in the middle of the pitch where the USA has some depth. Where some additional depth would be welcome is: outside midfield, outside defense, and target forward--positions Dempsey doesn't really play. Dempsey is a fine player but until the USA makes a shift to another formation OR he becomes better at one position, he's not going to Germany.
Dempsey has good size but as central midfielder he plays small too often. DMB--who is 40 pounds lighter--brings a harder edge to the position. Echoeing other postyers, he needs bring more consistency both in terms of toughness and in the passing game. He needs to get his mentality in line with his skill-set.
hehehe... Of COURSE it is... This is Big Soccer!!! And if you dare say anything bad about someone like Reyna, then you're REALLY in trouble. I have to admit my recollection of the 2004 season isn't that strong anymore, but I'm pretty sure Dempsey has more games with the national team at d-mid than with the Revs. Although Joseph, Ralston and Kamler all spent considerable time as backs in 2004 due to injuries, so anything is possible. With the Rev's now, depending on who's available, he plays the middle of a 3-5-2 in front of Joseph, behind Cancela; or the point of a 3-5-2 in front of Joseph and Dorman or Hernandez; or as forward. Typically, if all the mids are available, and one of Noonan or Twellman isn't, Dempsey plays forward. As for college, he played forward/amid, with dmid covered by some guy named Ricardo Clark. He is the Rev's third forward. Whether he SHOULD be is a good question, but if a forward is out, and most of the mids are available, Dempsey covers the forward slot and Dorman, or now Hernandez, plays mid. Yup, certainly his college coach agreed with the last one. Here's my take on Dempsey and Germany. If Mastro, Reyna, and O'Brien are all healthy enough to go, Dempsey goes and no pure d-mid goes as Mastro's backup. If one of those three doesn't make it, Dempsey is likely not going, and his slot and the injured player's slot are filled by a d-mid (Olsen, Carroll, Z, whoever) and a forward or a-mid. Or possible 2 d-mids if Mastro is the one injured. If more than one of the big three are hurt, it becomes too tough to call. Reasoning is, with those three on the roster, there is a good chance all three go down and a good chance none of them get hurt. You don't want to bring a d-mid that you never use if they don't get hurt, but you need some cover because the chance is there that they will. Dempsey goes because he's higher on the forward depth chart than Olsen, Carroll, etc and he's higher on the d-mid depth chart than Twellman, Rolfe, etc.
if you go to nikesoccer.com click on the red sneaker says something about the movement I think then there is a stereo and says the anthem by deuce. that is clint you can download his song dont tread and for the myspace thing his personal profile is no longer up it seems to have been deleted in the last few days but he still has his music one which also has the dont tread song on it. if you click into his friends you can find his girl and his brother. i know i sound a little crazy but trust me. us girls on the Hottest USMNT thread have put some research into this. I hate to admit it but she is pretty.
There is a very simple answer to this thread. He did well in the begining of the '05 MLS season, didn't do well with U.S. national team ever and went down hill the whole MLS season. That is why people we're saying he's good then now saying he sucks. cause it's true. don't get me wrong though he's still a good MLS player and I want him on the Revs but he's not national team material.
i don't think he deserves a spot. i do think we have better. i just think that he should be given a chance to show his stuff. so far though he has disappointed at the international level. i do think that the reaction to dempsey is pretty ridiculous. he arguably isn't ready to play at the international level, but if you read most of the comments about him at bigsoccer you would think that he should just retire...
that's funny, because I read most of the posts at BigSoccer and I've come to the conclusion that some folks feel Dempsey should have been nominated for FIFA World Footballer of the Year. maybe we have a difference in perception.