"Yeah, I meant to do that" - The Dempsey at Fulham thread. III [Rs]

I'm curious which games you've been watching.

 

As part of the Konchesky to Liverpool deal, Fulham have added Lauri Dalla Valle, a young highly touted Finnish striker (as well as Alex Kacaniklic, a Swedish winger).

 

Gudjohnson is about to sign with Stoke

 

In which matches was he played at midfield?

Unless Sparky sees him as a replacement for Murphy, which might not be a bad idea, he has played in the middle of the park behind or ahead of the other striker.

It just feels like we are regressing back to the Sanchez days when he was placed here and there and played nowhere.

He gave it everything, but how long can that hold up?

Davies plays ont eh right, sometimes on teh left. Duff plays on the left sometimes on the right. Zamimal plays up top. Gera plays behind the lead striker. Murphy is the AM of sorts. Etuhu destroyer....everyone has a place. Where does Dempsey go? Also, which position has he played this year? Lastly, which positions is Sparky actively looking to upgrade?

writing is on the pitch.

 

Clint Dempsey to Liverpool?

2.44pm John Reddington has been in contact and says that Clint Dempsey is currently doing a medical in Fulham and results being faxed over to Liverpool - fac!. John's cousin plays for Fulham reserves and Dempsey has been in saying goodbye to everyone. Knochesky and Dempsey will be liverpool players before 5pm. We will wait and see!

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2010/0831/deadline.html

 

Hmmmm.... things just got interesting.

I don't follow liverpool much but what does his competition look like?

 

That would be shocking.

 

You know Liverpool's a quality club and all, but I would guess that Dempsey's chances of getting significant playing time there are similar to what they will be at Fulham this season, especially if the rumored Gudjohnsen transfer goes through.

That's partially based on Hughes apparent tactical and personnel preferences for Fulham.

 

It's almost 5 PM!

 

West Ham has turned down Liverpool's 9 million pound offer for Carlton Cole as they cannot find a replacement in time according to the live tracker on ESPNSoccernet.

Could this be related to a late push for Dempsey?

 

Or for that matter the Hodgson days (when the entire squad was healthy)... Again, I ask you Sam how is he being played any differently than he was the second half of last season (when healthy) under Hodgson?

 

According to BBC the deadline is at 6 PM this year, so we've still got 90 minutes.

 

So what? Deadline is 6.

 

The previous quote said "Dempsey may be in Liverpool by 5 pm today." But thanks for the clarification.


Also, from ESPN Soccernet: "Chris Murphy: I should mention that Fulham got Finnish striker Lauri Dalla Valle and Swedish winger Alex Kacaniklic from Liverpool as part of the Konchesky deal."

EDIT: I see this was posted about an hour ago. Nevermind then.

 

Just keep in mind that the deadline isn't the end of it. There'll be deals that are in the works, but unfinished. There'll be more in the next day or so, I'm sure.

I'm really hoping that Clint doesn't wind up at Liverpool. There's no way that club is going to do anything but use him as a stop gap until they get fresh funds from a new buyer. Then they'll gladly bury him on the roster for another "name". My own cynical opinion.

I'm hopeful that this rumor is a load of crap that's grown out of U.S. fan unrest at his not playing EVERY minute at Fulham so far this season.

 

oh shut it! if he moved to Liverpool it would be awesome. then I could see him playing his guts out again for playing time, but at Fulham?

 

I would certainly hope that he's "playing his guts out" now at Fulham. If he's not, that would be indicative of an attitude problem on Clint's part. With respect to a potential Liverpool move (and to be clear, this Irish report is the only one I've seen linking him to 'pool) he would be nothing more than a squad player there.

 

See 2008-2009, EPL season. They did that thing where they shot to 7th, got to the EL, then all of 2009, he rode some spectacular early play in both the EL and EPL until basically boxing day when it all caught up to him.

Hodgs has his rotation set for the EL and Gera was a man on fire. You definitely dont play with that. Then a healthy davies was better than an 80%, tired Dempsey.

But start of this season? sorry dude, he should have been out left, but Sparky is a man trying to tie the record for ties.

 

Both Dempsey and Gera seem to be out of favor at Fulham. Dempsey has been at Fulham for a long time, and a change would be refreshing. If he does move to Liverpool, and that is a big if, I doubt he'll be buried on the bench. The manager there may know a thing or two about him, and possibly may even rather like him.

 

Sam, I'm in the camp that prefers him on the left (and would prefer him starting over Davies) but it's clear that his last two coaches don't agree with me (both Hughes AND Hodgson have started Davies over Clint when both are healthy).

 

Simon Davies was healthy for parts of the autumn of 2009 yet Hodgson repeatedly preferred Dempsey over him when given the choice.

 

Babel would be a competitor for playing time, and he is apparently going to Tottenham (although his Twitter says he is staying put).

That deal may need to happen for Pool to sign Dempsey.

 

You can't do that indefinitely. No one can. He had earned his spot with Hodgs in regular season play at LM. In the EL, davies and Gera were just playing too well.

The beauty of the Konchesky, Dempsey pairing was that if dempsey cut insides, and Konch went out, konch's left cross was better than most LM in the game. Also, his speed was good enough and his passing good enough to negate most runs out wide. Dempsey would move his man inside almost every time.

Hodgs had created a real thing of beauty out left where each complemented the other.

 

He was coming off of foot surgery, I believe, and not really fully healthy until November.

 

The problem is that so far Hughes has only played Dempsey as a striker. Zamora has one of those spots locked up. Clint's competing with Gera, Dembele, and possibly Andy Johnson in a couple months for playing time alongside Zamora, and so far there's reason to think he's not the preferred option there.

If Hughes sees him as an option out wide, then that opens up possibilities for him. Otherwise, Dempsey's arguably a squad player at Fulham right now.

Hodgson's preference was to play Dempsey out on the left, but he was comfortable slotting him in at a number of attacking positions. So while Liverpool's attacking options might be superior to Fulham's, there might be just as many opportunities for Clint to get playing time at Liverpool.