What’s eating Clint Dempsey?
At the risk of turning this into a Clint Dempsey site, here’s more on our flamboyant new signing. Today he and his countrymen licked Ecuador 3-1 in Tampa, Florida. Boca played and did okay, but I wanted to get a feel for how well Dempsey played. Understanding the sort of form he’s in would go some way towards explaining his use (or lack thereof) at Fulham. Well, there’s a good forum for this sort of thing at Big Soccer, a site at which I spent a lot of time last summer in the hunt for World Cup tickets.
Anyroad (I say ‘anyway’ too much, it’s lazy writing or something), I went to Big Soccer and looked around a couple of the relevant discussion boards. Here’s the combined wisdom on Dempsey’s performance:
Dempsey, what a disappointment. How long does it take a man to be game fit?
Demps seems to have lost his mojo.. missed a sitter and looked lazy and uninspired..
Dempsey- never really seemed to get into the match much and missed that horrible sitter. Still, I think the position is his to lose.
Dempsey was not the player I (we?) expected today. Perhaps it is the England weather. Perhaps it is because he has only had a month off over the past year. But he looked off.
I think Dempsey is still showing the rust of not getting consistent minutes at Fulham. regardless of his form now, he’s still our RM for this cycle.
Dempsey: disappoointing. Missed a sitter. Otherwise uninspired.
Beas and Dempsey can sit, based on today’s performances.
Dempsey is just in a fog. It looks like he just isn’t in any kind of rythm, which is understandable. I think he’ll come around, but it may not be as soon as we would like.
Dempsey, come on bud that was the worst show ive seen him give in a long, long time. He needs to step up i dont know whats going on with him. Realistically wouldnt mind seeing Mapp at RM next go around against guatamala just to give him a run for his money.
Dempsey - I guess riding the bench at Fulham isn’t helping his game much. At least he’s making more money. He needs to take a long look at himself and figure out where he’s going cause hs’s starting to fade. The other thing is that maybe he’s just not an outside mid? That was not the position he had most of his success at. He didn’t have a bad game, we just need more from his position.
Beasley and Dempsey are really killing the myth that players need to go to europe to develope. Neither was good.
Dempsey has had a long season and is learning the fastest most physical game in the soccer world on the fly. Maybe he shouldn’t even be in camp right now so that he can get a rest… but his two-way play IS better since going to Fulham, and I think we ought to cut him some slack.
Dempsey - Clearly not a good performance, but I’m not concerned. He has the goods but is out of form right now. He hasn’t had much pt in 6 months. I think that will change, and we should be patient.
He didnt do anything except lose the ball. Why was he on field for 80 minutes?
Looked off during the game. A few flashes, but overall not his usual self.
A rare underwhelming performance from Demps. Not only did he miss that sitter, but anytime he took the ball wide he lost it.
Not a very good performance. Looks tired I would of put fresh legs in for him in the second half.
Not bad, showed a few flashes, but the weakest spoke in the midfield alignment.
Out of sync with the rest of the team, made bad decisions.
he was willing to try, and I’ll give him that. But did he look like he was even on the same level as the Ecuadorians? Lethargic, like some old player who used to make brilliant moves, but time/injuries took their toll. I’m not sure what’s up, but hopefully he turns it around.
Just looks out of it, not really putting himself in position to be dangerous, and looks slow in his thought processes when he does have the ball with some space
yikes, you know things are going bad when he can’t even get the step-over to work! Whiffed on a goal that he ALWAYS puts away. Clint is not sharp now and looked disinterested today but I know his form will improve
Yikes. These are generally thoughtful posters so I trust their opinions. Seems like Clint’s in a funk now. It could be that changing country’s just got to him a little, these things do happen, but perhaps some of the comments above shed light on Coleman’s reluctance to throw him into the first team. Or is it a chicken/egg thing where that’s exactly what he needs?
Who knows? Interesting to ponder though.
UPDATE: some replies to my question here. Also, be sure to check in with Bruce at duNord later for his overview of the game, etc.
Right, well I’ll leave you with the thought that while things have been pretty dire for Fulham lately, there’s a reason for optimism: Vincenzo Montella. The Italian poacher is now back from suspension and I can’t believe Coleman will dare to leave him out of the Portsmouth game. If things go his way from now until the end of the season our situation could change massively.
Great Fulham blog!!! Dempsey isn’t his best right now. He didn’t play great in either the Mexico or Ecuador game. He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t a threat.. which he was last year at this time. Who knows what it is? He’s a a good player and will do good things eventually at Fulham. Probably needs some time though.
Francis Marion
26 Mar 07 at 5:36 am
I assume these aren`t the same posters who peppered TOOFIF board with adulatory messages about `the Deuce` before we signed him?! (Interesting to see that message-board illiteracy extends across the Atlantic - “would of” for “would have”.”
Americans do seem to have difficulty in grasping that MLS soccer is not of a very high standard - no better than mid-table Championship as far as I can tell. So `stars` like Bocanegra and Dempsey are just not going to shine as brightly in the Premiership. Unfortunately, some people in this country seem to have been fooled by this too. People, say, like . . . Chris Coleman.
I`m not a club manager and never wiil be but oughtn`t it to be
an absolute rule that you don`t spend £3.5m of your small transfer budget, without seeing the player with your own eyes playing in a competitive match?
And remember, Dempsey cost more than Bullard. Mind you, if things go badly for Bullard, Dempsey might end up playing more than him.
Wing Half
26 Mar 07 at 5:59 pm
As a great English mind once advised - Don’t Panic! The folks at Big Soccer can be pretty harsh and reactionary. Dempsey wasn’t his best, but was far from a disaster. His whole career, he has been a player that feeds off confidence and playing time. But he is also one of the scrappiest US players, and I think that success on the Euro stage would mean more to him than just about any other US player so expect him to bust his a$$. Hope it works, he’s the most dynamic and creative in the US player pool.
BTW, don’t call him a yank - that’s an insult to us southerners!
Eric
26 Mar 07 at 5:59 pm
Ah, not panicking, it’s just slow news time and Mr Dempsey has intrigued me. I don’t know how good he is, but sometimes you get vibes about players and I like the look of him. I think he’ll come good. So I’m trying to do my research as best I can… one of the reasons I was gutted to miss him in the reserves last month, would’ve given me a good chance to judge with my own eyes, something that’s largely and sadly lacking throughout all of this.
But words like dynamic and creative mean that no fair-minded Fulham fan should fail to be somewhat excited. As I mentioned too often and we’ve all seen, we’re really lacking spark at the moment, and if he won’t play Claus or Routledge, Dempsey’s our only other option. Sigh. I’ve gone on enough and I guess you all get the point! Part of me just wants to be entertained, after all….
Are we saying that Coleman had never seen him before the purchase? I thought that he had him well scouted? And wasn’t the fee £1.5 million? Interesting point about MLS soccer, I wonder what’d happen if we ever saw some transatlantic showdown? It may be nearer than we think, of course, what with Arsenal and Colorado forming links. Hmmm.
Ah well. Portsmouth awaits us soon, and I’m thinking we’ll pull something out of the hat for that game… or is this the deluded thinking of a starving and desperate man? (not in any real sense, just as a fan of good football, you understand). Ah, I’m being unfair, we had a few passing moves against Man Utd and… and a few more back in November against Arsenal. Then there were a couple against Charlton before that I think…
weltmeisterclaude
26 Mar 07 at 6:20 pm
Hello all,
I’m from Los Angeles California. Since Fulham has 3 of my favorite boys on the team, I will be keeping track of you.
First of all, as someone said above, people on Big Soccer are horribly reactionary. Very “what have you done for me lately.”
Clint just needs some time to get into a comfort zone. He’s playing a bit tentative right now. Too careful. I suspect everyone will worry about him a lot more before the brash and fearless Duece returns. Your coach is going slow with him.
He has a tremendous amount of potential. I think you will be happy with him by the end of the season.
Derek
Kurgen99
26 Mar 07 at 7:50 pm
Cheers, Derek, good to hear from you.
Thing is, we’ve only got eight more games or so, and aren’t yet safe from relegation. And it’s a million quid for every league position you gain too, so there’s no such thing as a soft game even if we are safe. Which means that Coleman’s playing it very conservatively, which means we might not see Dempsey enough. I hope you’re right though.
weltmeisterclaude
26 Mar 07 at 7:57 pm
Thanks Claude!
Well, I’m really not sure what you can expect from someone who comes on in the 75th minute or watches from the bench?
This kid has a freakin knack for being in the right place at the right time and scoring. If you want big things from Clint, he’s gotta play. Otherwise, he’s some sort of next season project.
D
Kurgen99
26 Mar 07 at 8:32 pm
No, quite agree. We have a precedent here: Wayne Routledge got 15 minutes here and there and didn’t impress much (I saw something but I’m a sucker for these wide players). Finally he got a run in the team and started to play pretty well. Now he’s out again…
weltmeisterclaude
26 Mar 07 at 9:00 pm
Yet another USA fan for whom Fulham is now must see tv. One good sign of Dempsey’s maturity in the Ecuador win was his defense and tracking back. His rep is as a creator with the ball at his feet, but he made a number of good tackles and showed a lot more discipline than in the past. I agree with the “he needs minutes” argument, and when his offensive game comes back watch out!
Jim
26 Mar 07 at 10:05 pm
Hi Jim,
How else would you suggest picking a team allegiance for a Yank?
I don’t live in a particular neighborhood of London. My family hasn’t been routing for a particular team through relegation and promotion for 50 years. Wouldn’t you agree that cheering for Fulham is better than jumping on the Chelsea or ManU bandwagon (as we say.)
You must realize that most US Football fans are very jealous of your relationships with your clubs. We pretty much only come close with the national team.
I apologize for cluttering up your board. Boring day at work…
D
Kurgen99
26 Mar 07 at 11:02 pm
You’ve done well with Fulham - I can’t see how a Chelsea supporter can get the highs we can when they expect to win every week!
I wrote this in November, the day after the (shocking) Arsenal win:
http://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2006/11/30/the-morning-after/
which about sums it up I think.
weltmeisterclaude
27 Mar 07 at 6:19 am
Just to respond to the transatlantic showdown comment- it is always a rough comparison since MLS plays April-November and not August-May. There have been several exhibition matches between MLS all-star teams and European teams, as well as individual MLS teams- Chelsea, AC Milan, Real Madrid, and even our beloved FFC have come over for tours, usually in the European pre-season. Fulham were beaten by the MLS all-stars and the Columbus Crew in 2005. It was pre-season, mind you.
The injury that has kept Joe Cole out all season happened against the MLS all-stars last August.
No MLS team is on par with any of the big teams, especially over a 38-game season. But the games have not been embarrassments, and I think it would be interesting on a fantasy level to see an MLS team in the Championship just for fun- I don’t think they would be bad.
Come on Fulham, from a yank who was a fan before Dempsey got there.
Fougs
27 Mar 07 at 10:35 pm