Dempsey joins
- Thread starter onthetwo
- Start date
smudger
Well-Known Member
- Jul 20, 2006
- 1,630
- 1,188
its because 2 was his first ever number he wore. so its sentimental, still won't look right though
danielneeds
Kick-Ass
- May 5, 2004
- 24,183
- 48,814
Hate that he's No. 2. I guess it will only be for this season and Cudicini goes, then he'll take 23 again.
Gbspurs
Gatekeeper for debates, King of the plonkers
- Jan 27, 2011
- 27,017
- 61,942
He switched to 10.
13VanDerBale13
Well-Known Member
- Jul 12, 2011
- 14,580
- 34,270
Clint is a great inspiration and a true fighter, something which will be integral to our team.
Welcome Aboard Clint, Many Respects.
smudger
Well-Known Member
- Jul 20, 2006
- 1,630
- 1,188
I know i think kone does for wigan and didnt gyan have it too?number 2, that's just wrong for a forward player
Mr Pink
SC Supporter
- Aug 25, 2010
- 55,376
- 100,890
Yeah, I think you're right mate...
lenny7
Don't worry. Bill Murray.
- Jan 28, 2011
- 11,103
- 39,441
Clint Dempsey is the gift that keeps on giving. Not only is he pretty keen on scoring, a real workman, great professional (that debatable Fulham business aside), humanitarian, Knight of the Realm for services to John Terry's fucking face, a gentleman off the pitch and even had the good grace to furnish us with a phenomenal replacement for recently departed Sylvie van der Vaart on our WAG list in his stunning wife, Bethany, but we get all of this AND we don't have to deal with this shitstorm >>>>
Brilliant. Proving an effective signing already.
Brilliant. Proving an effective signing already.
DEFchenkOE
Well-Known Member
- Feb 13, 2006
- 10,527
- 8,052
AUSpur
Well-Known Member
- Aug 31, 2010
- 1,145
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Good read:
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-t...uture-of-u-s-soccer-the-rise-of-clint-dempsey
On Friday, transfer deadline day in European soccer, Clint Dempsey did what he’s done his entire career when facing a challenge: He succeeded. Heading into the day, Dempsey essentially didn’t have a team to play for. He was coming off a career year, probably the best ever by an American in Europe: 23 goals for his club, Fulham, 17 in the English Premier League, fourth in the league behind international superstars such as Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie. But when the 2012-13 Premier League season started a few weeks ago, he wasn’t playing for Fulham. His manager, Martin Jol, said he refused to play. Dempsey tweeted that there were two sides to the story.
We may never know exactly what was communicated between Dempsey and Fulham brass and why he didn’t play for the Cottagers in the first three matches of the season. What we do know is this: After last season, Dempsey, always seeking the best competition, voiced his desire to play for an elite English club, one capable of playing in the Champions League. Liverpool, while not in the Champions League this season (or last season), is one of the most successful clubs in the history of European club competition. The Reds expressed interest in Dempsey, publicly and privately, and all summer long, Liverpool fans have awaited the news that the club had finally signed the American.
That never happened. Rumors remained rumors. Early on Friday, Aston Villa made an offer (reportedly for £7 million)and Fulham accepted it, but Dempsey rejected the move. Liverpool reportedly made an offer, one that, again reportedly, insulted Fulham. Then Tottenham Hotspur, who finished fourth in the Premier League last season, got into the action. They made an offer: a reported £6 million transfer fee. Dempsey took it. Tottenham tweeted a picture of him with a Spurs jersey. When the final terms of the deal came out, Dempsey became the highest-paid American soccer player ever.
A discussion about Dempsey’s achievement on Friday, just a few days before he joined the U.S. national team for its upcoming home-and-away World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica, makes for a fitting end tothis series on player development in the U.S.: His circuitous route to success — America sent this kid from Nacadoches, Texas, to Tottenham Hotspur, a storied London club in one of the world’s richest and best leagues — speaks to all the potential and pitfalls facing American youth soccer players.
The first post in this series addressed U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy, which the U.S. Soccer Federation formed in 2007 with the aim of providing American kids better coaching, more training, and fewer — but more meaningful — games. It also gives more kids a quality training environment, with roughly 3,000 youths in its 80 clubs.
Prior to the Development Academy, certain programs, particularly the U-17 national team residency in Bradenton, Florida, (formed in 1998) worked to identify and train elite young American players. Recent national team regulars Jozy Altidore, Kyle Beckerman, Michael Bradley, and Oguchi Onyewu all attended Bradenton.
From the standpoint of player development, what’s so compelling about Dempsey is that he succeeded outside of many American development initiatives. As a teenager, he didn’t train at Bradenton with a youth national team and he didn’t play for a European club. He progressed through a more traditional model, the one American players have been taking for several decades: In high school he played club soccer and on his regional Olympic Development Program (ODP) team. He played three years of college soccer at Furman — where he led the team to a couple of conference titles and two NCAA tournament appearances, and was an all-conference player each year and All-American once. Notable achievements, but nothing that suggested he would have a successful international career. In fact, when he entered the MLS SuperDraft in 2004, FC Dallas, his hometown club, passed on him twice.
But Dempsey has two traits that have been instrumental in his success: The first is his drive. When you talk to anyone who’s ever played with or coached Dempsey, they always mention his competitiveness. Dempsey has had to prove himself at every level: in college, with the New England Revolution in the MLS, with the national team, at Fulham.
L.A. Galaxy assistant coach Dave Sarachan, who coached Dempsey as an assistant for the USMNT, said: “When you’re picking teams, he’s a guy that you want.”
Cobi Jones, a veteran of the ’94 and ’98 World Cup teams and the leader in all-time appearances for the USMNT, described Dempsey this way: “Clint went through the ranks. [He] comes off as a fighter.”
Dempsey’s other defining trait is his creativity. As Adam Spangler details in this profile of Dempsey, Dempsey is a product of his Nacadoches environment, where he played with his brothers and friends, trying to imitate Maradona. Many people attribute his success to that independent development.
Sarachan remembers that when Dempsey first played on the national team, “he was a guy that played very free and with confidence.” He recalled that Bruce Arena once said, “He tries shit.”
By stereotype, American soccer players aren’t supposed to play free and “try shit.” They’re not supposed to chip goalies from 18 yards out, which is exactly what Dempsey did in 2010 against Juventus.
Nothing about Dempsey’s youth accolades suggested he would one day earn the largest transfer fee ever paid for an MLS player ($4 million), or save his EPL club from relegation (which he did for Fulham in ’07).
Or score the goal to give the U.S. its first-ever victory over Italy (which he did in March).
The second post in this series discussed the era of determination, the Americans who qualified for the 1990 World Cup and played in the ’94 World Cup. Jones, a member of that group, said of today’s young players: "There will always be people that are gonna be missed and they’re gonna come through a circuitous route ... [Players] are going to make it because they’re some type of fighter."
The U.S. Soccer Federation’s Development Academy will provide thousands of young American soccer players better coaching, training, and competition than their predecessors. But to make it, those kids will need to develop one thing that's all but impossible to teach: unrelenting determination. Just ask Clint Dempsey.
Andrew Lewellen, a former college soccer player and youth coach, is now a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. He writes about soccer on his blog, AndysPitch.com.
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-t...uture-of-u-s-soccer-the-rise-of-clint-dempsey
On Friday, transfer deadline day in European soccer, Clint Dempsey did what he’s done his entire career when facing a challenge: He succeeded. Heading into the day, Dempsey essentially didn’t have a team to play for. He was coming off a career year, probably the best ever by an American in Europe: 23 goals for his club, Fulham, 17 in the English Premier League, fourth in the league behind international superstars such as Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie. But when the 2012-13 Premier League season started a few weeks ago, he wasn’t playing for Fulham. His manager, Martin Jol, said he refused to play. Dempsey tweeted that there were two sides to the story.
We may never know exactly what was communicated between Dempsey and Fulham brass and why he didn’t play for the Cottagers in the first three matches of the season. What we do know is this: After last season, Dempsey, always seeking the best competition, voiced his desire to play for an elite English club, one capable of playing in the Champions League. Liverpool, while not in the Champions League this season (or last season), is one of the most successful clubs in the history of European club competition. The Reds expressed interest in Dempsey, publicly and privately, and all summer long, Liverpool fans have awaited the news that the club had finally signed the American.
That never happened. Rumors remained rumors. Early on Friday, Aston Villa made an offer (reportedly for £7 million)and Fulham accepted it, but Dempsey rejected the move. Liverpool reportedly made an offer, one that, again reportedly, insulted Fulham. Then Tottenham Hotspur, who finished fourth in the Premier League last season, got into the action. They made an offer: a reported £6 million transfer fee. Dempsey took it. Tottenham tweeted a picture of him with a Spurs jersey. When the final terms of the deal came out, Dempsey became the highest-paid American soccer player ever.
A discussion about Dempsey’s achievement on Friday, just a few days before he joined the U.S. national team for its upcoming home-and-away World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica, makes for a fitting end tothis series on player development in the U.S.: His circuitous route to success — America sent this kid from Nacadoches, Texas, to Tottenham Hotspur, a storied London club in one of the world’s richest and best leagues — speaks to all the potential and pitfalls facing American youth soccer players.
The first post in this series addressed U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy, which the U.S. Soccer Federation formed in 2007 with the aim of providing American kids better coaching, more training, and fewer — but more meaningful — games. It also gives more kids a quality training environment, with roughly 3,000 youths in its 80 clubs.
Prior to the Development Academy, certain programs, particularly the U-17 national team residency in Bradenton, Florida, (formed in 1998) worked to identify and train elite young American players. Recent national team regulars Jozy Altidore, Kyle Beckerman, Michael Bradley, and Oguchi Onyewu all attended Bradenton.
From the standpoint of player development, what’s so compelling about Dempsey is that he succeeded outside of many American development initiatives. As a teenager, he didn’t train at Bradenton with a youth national team and he didn’t play for a European club. He progressed through a more traditional model, the one American players have been taking for several decades: In high school he played club soccer and on his regional Olympic Development Program (ODP) team. He played three years of college soccer at Furman — where he led the team to a couple of conference titles and two NCAA tournament appearances, and was an all-conference player each year and All-American once. Notable achievements, but nothing that suggested he would have a successful international career. In fact, when he entered the MLS SuperDraft in 2004, FC Dallas, his hometown club, passed on him twice.
But Dempsey has two traits that have been instrumental in his success: The first is his drive. When you talk to anyone who’s ever played with or coached Dempsey, they always mention his competitiveness. Dempsey has had to prove himself at every level: in college, with the New England Revolution in the MLS, with the national team, at Fulham.
L.A. Galaxy assistant coach Dave Sarachan, who coached Dempsey as an assistant for the USMNT, said: “When you’re picking teams, he’s a guy that you want.”
Cobi Jones, a veteran of the ’94 and ’98 World Cup teams and the leader in all-time appearances for the USMNT, described Dempsey this way: “Clint went through the ranks. [He] comes off as a fighter.”
Dempsey’s other defining trait is his creativity. As Adam Spangler details in this profile of Dempsey, Dempsey is a product of his Nacadoches environment, where he played with his brothers and friends, trying to imitate Maradona. Many people attribute his success to that independent development.
Sarachan remembers that when Dempsey first played on the national team, “he was a guy that played very free and with confidence.” He recalled that Bruce Arena once said, “He tries shit.”
By stereotype, American soccer players aren’t supposed to play free and “try shit.” They’re not supposed to chip goalies from 18 yards out, which is exactly what Dempsey did in 2010 against Juventus.
Nothing about Dempsey’s youth accolades suggested he would one day earn the largest transfer fee ever paid for an MLS player ($4 million), or save his EPL club from relegation (which he did for Fulham in ’07).
Or score the goal to give the U.S. its first-ever victory over Italy (which he did in March).
The second post in this series discussed the era of determination, the Americans who qualified for the 1990 World Cup and played in the ’94 World Cup. Jones, a member of that group, said of today’s young players: "There will always be people that are gonna be missed and they’re gonna come through a circuitous route ... [Players] are going to make it because they’re some type of fighter."
The U.S. Soccer Federation’s Development Academy will provide thousands of young American soccer players better coaching, training, and competition than their predecessors. But to make it, those kids will need to develop one thing that's all but impossible to teach: unrelenting determination. Just ask Clint Dempsey.
Andrew Lewellen, a former college soccer player and youth coach, is now a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. He writes about soccer on his blog, AndysPitch.com.
SandroClegane
Well-Known Member
- Jun 27, 2012
- 3,717
- 13,842
SandroClegane
Well-Known Member
- Jun 27, 2012
- 3,717
- 13,842
