Olvidate de Donovan; el 10 es para Dempsey
// December 29th, 2008 // 11 Comments » // Uncategorized
That’s right, Landon: he’s taking over.
Sorry for the foreign-language title, but this is an expression you hear a lot in South America, and it doesn’t translate that well in English; technically, it means “Forget Donovan, the 10 is for Dempsey.” More broadly, it refers to how the big decision of a team is to figure out who gets to define it’s attack. After watching two Fulham games over the past four days (thank goodness for Boxing Day fixtures), I have gone from liking to loving Clint Dempsey (who is apparently known to his friends as “Deuce”). Actually, it was his performance in the 0-0 against Tottenham that made up my mind, before he went on to score two goals against Chelsea two days later, including the game-tying header in injury time.
Deuce’s performance against Tottenham (which finished 0-0 at White Hart Lane) was even more impressive. If you haven’t seen the incredible overhead kick he didn’t score against Tottenham, where he receives a long cross on his head, deadens it and bicycles across the goal, please do yourself the favor (it’s at the 1:00 mark of the clip). And don’t forget the goal he scored against Liverpool on the final day last year, which kept Fulham up.
I had no idea how dependent Fulham was on him– he is their only real creative player. Up front, they have two Makeleles as forwards (Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson, all huff and puff but little flash), and in the engine room of the midfield are Simon Davies, Danny Murphy and Jimmy Bullard (all very solid, if unspectacular). In fact, “solid if unspectacular” could be how one describes every Fulham player, except Clint Dempsey.
For Fulham, Dempsey starts out in a left wingish position, but pretty much roams as he pleases on offense. And he’s a very modern player in that he tracks back and can tackle. And that’s the difference with Landon Donovan. Deuce is a player in the Deco mold, who can provide value all over the pitch, and has some real toughness about him. Landon, I’m not so sure. I just don’t think that there is any way he could have been as influential on a Premiership game as Dempsey was in either the Tottenham or Chelsea games. Mind you, both were extremely physical London derbies — Landon would not have stood a chance.
Where does this fortitude come from? Turns out Dempsey is a tough kid from East Texas, who grew up in a trailor park. A big hip-hop head, he did a rap video for nikesoccer ahead of the last World Cup. It’s more than a bit derivative, but this is the direction soccer needs to move in in the US (ie, it will never reach its potential here until it gets into urban culture). The freestyle he did at the end of a Sentanta interview last year was a little better.
So back to Donovan. It’s been hard to discern a real pattern in how the US Men’s National Team (USMNT) plays, but they are traditionally very dependent on Landon, who is given the freedom to be the team’s creative player. They usually play Donovan just behind two strikers if they have a weak opponent, or as a second striker against a tougher team. (Dempsey usually plays on a wing, when he starts.) I believe that it’s time for everyone to realize that Donovan is a player for the second half. Let the USMT start two forwards (say, Jozy and whomever) and give Dempsey the freedom to play behind them. Landon is too much like Saviola — you can’t commit at least 60 minutes to a guy who is so easily pushed off the ball, and has a 50/50 chance of being completely marked out of the game from the first minute. Dempsey has proven that he can play with the big boys. Let’s let him run the show.
Posted by Lazar
