The Necessity of a Scapegoat
- Thread starter Dempsey2
- Start date
ethanedwards
Snowflake incarnate.
- Nov 24, 2006
- 3,380
- 2,505
At least they were amusing
SlickMongoose
Copacetic
- Feb 27, 2005
- 6,258
- 5,043
I blame Jenas.
balalasaurus
big black member
- Dec 29, 2012
- 2,065
- 3,101
Can we agree that we support the club and ALL the players?
balalasaurus
big black member
- Dec 29, 2012
- 2,065
- 3,101
i think he needs more delivery. dempsey is the type of player who will score if you give him the right number of chances. he might not always score but he does make the effort and with his decent level of skill you can be sure that goals will come.
KeaneIsKeane
Active Member
- Nov 6, 2006
- 1,203
- 12
I think Holtby is a better player. Not that I hate Dempsey, I'm an American, but he is just a squad player. I'm glad we have him, but don't want to see him starting every match is all. He is very Defoe like in terms of how I feel when I watch him play. Wasteful on the ball, but has an eye for goal. The difference is he seems to find himself in important positions with the ball and lets me down more often than not.
E17yid
Well-Known Member
- Jan 21, 2013
- 17,140
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I agree. I think the fact that whenever he has played really well, so has the team. Which really goes to show how important that role is to the whole way we like to approach games. I think you could see from today's performance that he hasn't done it enough. The good thing, from what I can tell, is that Dempsey himself knows he is not playing as well as he should be and there's more in the tank. Some of the criticism he gets is harsh, I too often find myself shouting at the tv (not at him when I'm at the lane though) but at the same time he's had quite a lot of opportunities that he is letting pass him by when he should BR grabbing them with both hands.
KeaneIsKeane
Active Member
- Nov 6, 2006
- 1,203
- 12
Also to the constant citing of his stats; Darren Bent is always good for a decent goal return, but we all hated having hin in the squad. Not saying Dempsey is Bent, but it is worth noting. To be fair to hin we were all spoiled by VdV.
Ionman34
SC Supporter
- Jun 1, 2011
- 7,182
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Thread should have been locked after this post.
- Jan 14, 2004
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- Staff
- #51
I think it's been tough for Dempsey this season. He's scored a few important goals for us but often his general play has flattered to deceive, his touch has been poor and some of his decisions have been bad (maybe out of trying to do too much). Mostly I think he joined the wrong team at the wrong time. Firstly he's effectively filling a van der vaart shaped hole and he's always going to be hugely inferior in terms of talent but maybe more grinding is he seems to be significantly inferior in terms of effort and balls. Secondly our biggest deficiencies as a side are creativity and potent finishing. Dempsey is neither a good creative outlet or an efficient potent striker so despite playing in the right part of the pitch he doesn't offer what it is clear to most fans that we need.
If he wasn't our only solution he'd be a reasonable squad option. He'd be good at other clubs too. I just don't think he has the natural talent to ever make up for what we lost last summer.
If he wasn't our only solution he'd be a reasonable squad option. He'd be good at other clubs too. I just don't think he has the natural talent to ever make up for what we lost last summer.
JayB
Well-Known Member
- Aug 24, 2011
- 6,667
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I've seen a lot of Dempsey over the years and have defended him a bit so I think it's only fair that I try to provide an objective opinion of his abilities and place in the team.
From the outset of the season I felt as though Clint was being asked to play outside of his natural position. He's at his best as a forward in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, where he can utilize his instincts to find dangerous areas and score goals, but where he isn't as important to build-up play. In his current role he surrenders possession and slows down our attack with poor first touches and difficulty passing the ball forward quickly. He lacks the athleticism, though not the desire, to press effectively for 90 minutes, and his general lack of creativity means that he'll rarely cut open a defense the way that Holtby will.
That being said he has pleasantly surprised me with his contributions so far this season. Believe it or not IMO his technique and ability to supply chances for others have improved since his time at Fulham. I've been telling my friends who ask how he's doing at Spurs that he's doing things I never expected that he'd be capable of, particularly when it comes to how many assists he's getting. He's not scoring as many goals as he normally would because he's being asked to play withdrawn rather than get on the end of chances.
I think the reason that he is treated so harshly by the fans is that he stepped in following the abrupt departure of a legend and struggled at the beginning of the season to adapt to an unfamiliar role that did not utilize his strengths as a player. He's gotten on with the job of improving and found a nice run of form in January, a time when the rest of our team wasn't exactly banging them in.
Realistically he'd best be used as a substitute late in games where we need goals and as a backup to Lennon and Bale if switch to a 4-3-3. Holtby is clearly heads and shoulders above him at CAM. IMO he's a very useful squad player at £6m and will contribute plenty during his time at Spurs.
From the outset of the season I felt as though Clint was being asked to play outside of his natural position. He's at his best as a forward in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, where he can utilize his instincts to find dangerous areas and score goals, but where he isn't as important to build-up play. In his current role he surrenders possession and slows down our attack with poor first touches and difficulty passing the ball forward quickly. He lacks the athleticism, though not the desire, to press effectively for 90 minutes, and his general lack of creativity means that he'll rarely cut open a defense the way that Holtby will.
That being said he has pleasantly surprised me with his contributions so far this season. Believe it or not IMO his technique and ability to supply chances for others have improved since his time at Fulham. I've been telling my friends who ask how he's doing at Spurs that he's doing things I never expected that he'd be capable of, particularly when it comes to how many assists he's getting. He's not scoring as many goals as he normally would because he's being asked to play withdrawn rather than get on the end of chances.
I think the reason that he is treated so harshly by the fans is that he stepped in following the abrupt departure of a legend and struggled at the beginning of the season to adapt to an unfamiliar role that did not utilize his strengths as a player. He's gotten on with the job of improving and found a nice run of form in January, a time when the rest of our team wasn't exactly banging them in.
Realistically he'd best be used as a substitute late in games where we need goals and as a backup to Lennon and Bale if switch to a 4-3-3. Holtby is clearly heads and shoulders above him at CAM. IMO he's a very useful squad player at £6m and will contribute plenty during his time at Spurs.
