THERE are a lot of pros and cons to signing another possible ‘big fish from a small pond’ in Clint Dempsey, but I feel the positives overshadow the negatives if we do go ahead and sign the American as is reported.
The fee being touted by the press is around £10m and I think it is definitely worth the gamble. He can provide us with a wealth of experience following the departures of two of our older players in Maxi Rodriguez and Dirk Kuyt and he also has the ability to score unpredictable goals and can be a nuisance for opposition with his creativity.
Yet it’s only in the last two years of his time at Fulham that he has actually improved on actually finding the back of the net rather than just threatening to, by hitting double digits in the Premier League.
In 2010/11 he hit 12 goals and last season he scored an impressive 17 goals for a Fulham side which finished level with Liverpool on 52 points. He finished the season 4th in the top goal scorer list, behind Robin van Persie, Rooney and Sergio Aguero; an impressive feat for a midfielder in a respectively mid-table team. Dempsey may be 29 but he can also provide competition for places and enhance the team’s depth in quality which we have always lacked in relation to the likes of Chelsea and Man United, and with the team also being in the Europa League this season we will need quality back-up to handle the weekly Thursday-Sunday routine of matches.
A prime example of this ‘big fish in small pond’ is currently at the club in Charlie Adam. He was a big player for Blackpool during their season in the Premier League and was an exciting player with his pinpoint set-pieces and lethal penalties helping him to end the season on 12 goals (10 from penalties). Yet he has only showed flashes of brilliance in his first season at Liverpool. But does this mean that we should tar Dempsey with the same metaphorical cautious brush just because Adam didn’t perform in his first season at Liverpool to the standards of his previous season with Blackpool?
I don’t think so. In fact, Adam got off on the right foot early on into his Liverpool career by scoring against Bolton and generally exciting the fans with some wizardry on the ball with some of the excellent passes that we saw at Blackpool regularly. Then it seemed once Lucas got injured, he seriously tailed off towards the end of the season. This was probably as a result of Lucas allowing Adam the license to get forward and not worry about his defensive abilities, something which he must seriously improve upon, as at the minute, his skill in this area is woeful.
Looking at the statistics, Adam conceded the most fouls out of any of our players last season in the league with a staggering total of 58, a stat which most fans would have guessed at as we’ve seen him too often steamrollering opponents to the deck outside the box or fouling when a defender is trapped near the corner flag. Such actions allow the opposition to have a shot at goal or regroup possession and cannot be afforded by a top club. Only Luis Suarez and Martin Skrtel get anywhere near that with totals of 44 and 42.
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Yet this doesn’t deny the fact that Adam created the most assists of any Liverpool player in the league last season with an impressive total of six, but sadly these assists fail to mask the general sloppiness in play by the Scot which frustrated many a Liverpool fan last season. All of these weaknesses must be eradicated or at least improved upon by Adam, as with the signing of Dempsey his probability to claim a starting position in the XI will be greatly depleted.
I think Dempsey is a completely different type of player to Adam though. For starters, Dempsey is much more versatile in being able to play in any of the midfield or attacking positions and perform to a good standard. He, like Adam, created six assists for Fulham last season; and with a much more potent strike force at Liverpool he could very easily achieve more assists. The biggest and probably most significant difference between the two though, is that Dempsey likes to keep it simple. He has the killer ball in his locker but he doesn’t attempt it nearly as often as Charlie Adam does during a game, therein retaining possession for the team something which Rodgers’ philosophy is built upon.
Dempsey also, for me, is much more of a sure bet in terms of consistency. Adam could be said to be like our old excellent midfielder Luis Garcia, by this I mean he can have moments where he can be amazingly elaborate and it pay off ending with an intricate assist or a goal or he can be amazingly elaborate only for it to frustrate and infuriate.
The only negatives I could think of if the Dempsey deal went ahead is that maybe £10m is maybe a bit excessive for a 29-year-old. Also, you could say that his arrival could hamper the progression of the likes of Jonjo Shelvey if he is deployed in a central position. Apart from that though I’d say on the whole his signing would be welcomed by the majority of Liverpool fans.
Most importantly, I think he would slot into Brendan’s 4-3-3 system nicely. With the exciting acquisition of Fabio Borini who will seemingly take the central forward role and Luis Suarez ready-made for the left sided slot, could the right-sided vacancy have Dempsey’s name on it? As I’ve said he has all the necessary attributes: he is comfortable with both feet and has the creativity, work-rate, versatility, passing ability and ease in possession; all these things aided by a wealth of experience ticks most of the boxes needed to satisfy Rodgers’ system and with the possible departure of Andy Carroll, we’re going to need a bit more firepower heading in the exciting first season of Brendan Rodgers’ reign.
Comments appreciated!
All statistics taken from: http://www.liverpoolfc.com/team/first-team/statistics
You can find me on Twitter here: @m1cklfc
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LFC will not sign Dempsey despite Werner recommending him
Facts eh?
I recon this is all rubbish my opinion its a pr stunt to raise the profile of LFC while there in America.
As I stated in a previous article, there is no way anyone can compare Dempsey to Adam. Dempsey has the scoring attitude but also knows when to pass it to someone when confronted with a better opportunity. Last year was frustrating to see Adam (and a few other Reds-Henderson) take these stupid 40 yard shots. To me that was such a waste of possession and to make things Adam would have a look that the shot was a good one. Dempsey doesnt do that, he is laid back until he reads there is a quality opportunity.
Dempsey has also played in tough international battles (namely vs Mexico) and playing El Tri in Mexico is daunting when you have the entire stadium hating you. He is tough as nails.
As you can tell, I am American and I have seen him mature as a player.
Adam has no real experience in hostile environments so he can and does gets rattled quickly. The fee of 10 million is expensive but I feel we need his experience to have us compete for 4th (yes… i said 4th) and to mentor the young players as well.
I must admit that I was for Adam when he first came on but quickly found out that we were robbed… Dempsey is not Adam
YNWA
You Heard
Didn’t Adam play in the Celtic/Rangers derby? And that I believe is hostile, even though I’ve never been to a USA/Mexico game.
You are correct. I stand corrected. I would rather have dempsey though.
I would prefer Dempsey as well. And I actually still agree with your point that he is much tougher than Adam with regards playing in high pressure games.
thats not bad for a yank that :} i use to live in fort lauderdale & miami turn of the century :} far to HOT down there in summer.SOUTH BEACH BRINGING THE HEAT !!! AND YES IM A SCOUSER :} BUT FOR A YANK WHO CALLS FOOTBALL SOCCER,YOUR RIGHT ON THE MONEY MATE :}
Seriously the USA v Mexico is hardly the highlight of international grudge matches. If the USA competed in the European qualifers there World ranking would be much lower and despite the hype they’ve yet to produce a truly World Class player. That’s what leaves me cold about Dempsey, he’s being hyped up which if you look at the history of Amerucan players is usually the death knell, Freddy Adu, Jon Spector, even Landon Donovan has never really made it. My arguement about Dempsey is the same as Adam, is he a good player? Yes, he’s good enough to play in the Oremiership. But is he as good as Yossi Benayoun? No chance, is he as good as Joe Cole? Possibly but we don’t need 2 of that type of player so unless we sell Cole why bother? Furthermore he, like Adam at Blackpool, was the key man at Fulham but there is no chance he’ll be that at Anfield so he won’t be as influential. If we sell Cole and Fulham accept a bid of no more than £5 million than it’s worth the risk otherwise I fear Dempsey will be as ineffective as Adam. Finally if we sign him as a ‘commerical signing’ then my view of FDG, which is nuetral would go to the level of the previous shyster owners, open hostility.
andrew… you are really funny, the difference between adam and dempsey is clear…the season before adam moved to liverpool, is team was relegated and he wasnt nominated for any award in the epl and neither did he finish as one of epls highest goalscorers.. so where is your point.. this guy ranked 4 in the rankings of premier league player of the season, finished the season as the 4th highest goal scorer in the epl.. ahead of the likes of ba,aiyegbeni,adebayor..so just please dont compare the both..they are totally different, one kept is team in the league the other was part of the cause of his teams downning(he is so filled with defensive lapses).. one is fast,the other i guess my todler will run faster than him, one dribles well, the order cant even take a piece on newbies,…as far as am concerned ..Dempsey is class and adam will love to have him for a mentor
Dempsey has stated he wants play in the Champions League, so why should he leave one mid table team to join another one with a manager with only one year’s management experience in the premier league. Can’t how he is gaining anything other than a bigger pay packet.
Id do the same job for more money. Sure anybody else thinks the same.
At least he’ll sell some shirts in USA and club will make some money unlike with CHA wasting money on the fee paid for him and on wages. My concern is that we r not being able to attract big name players and it might take us two or three years just to get back in the CHL and much longer to compete for the title.
Jesus why must people label new players as ‘the new this’ or ‘the new that’?
Bloody irritating
Rather have Dempsey than Adam. Not sure if a bid has been made for him, rather go for someone younger, maybe an out and out striker. YNWA.
dont forget REDROY what McALLISTER did for us in the treble winning year ?
There’s a differnce Dean, that team had no older head around the place we blew up the previous season when absolute favourite for the final CL place. Also Gary Mac had played for a big team and won the league with them. He also was brought in to take the pressure off Gerrard and was on a free. How does Dempsey compare? We didn’t blow up when well placed in the league more like stuttered, won the League Cup, lost to Arsenal and couldn’t be arsed in the league anymore. We have Carra, Stevie G and Bellers who are older heads now. Dempsey has won nothing at club level in a respected league and is hardly likely to mentor Sterling (different type of player) and lastly Fulham are looking for £10 million.
Nice and constructive, Jerry. Also, the Dempsey enquiry is now official: http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/rodgers-reveals-dempsey-enquiry
What is your mental age? I’d guess 2, with an immature response like that.
This is terribly written. And so hard to read it nearly gave me a headache. and what a load of bollocks! adam was played out of position paired up with henderson most of the time and then got injured. adam was inexpensive so why lose sleep over this player? a few 40 yards shots? liverpool has always done that. if dempsey’s shows up give him a chance but he better come at 5 mil max this 12 mil talk bothers me way more than adam’s fee and none of you mention that.
charlie adam is mikey QUINN in disguise !!! cant run,cant tackle,EVERYONE HATES HIS HOLLYWOOD BALLS :{ ANOTHER ONE OF DALGLISH,S championship players !!!
Please(!!) dont compared Charlie Adam with Luis Garcia in any way shape or form!! Garcia was a legend whose contribution to the club far exceeds any player we currently have (barring Reina and Gerrard) let alone CA. If Adam contributes half of what Garcia did then hed be considered a success here IMO
Spot on, remember the derby in his 1st season at Anfield we get to half time having had to make all 3 subs and Luis’s ankle is f*****d. The physio told him they could strap it up but there was no chance he’d be able to play for Spain the next week (where he was tipped to make his international debut) his response the team need me strap it up LEGEND, LUIS GARCIA YNWA
I wasn’t comparing Luis Garcia to Adam, mate. They’re completely different players who play in different positions so it would be foolish to do so. I meant it by the way they’re both hit-and-miss type players.
Whilst I think Dempsey is a good player and would suit the passing style of football, he is 29 years old and he has one year to run on his contract with Fulham. He would have little or no sell on value and he can go on a free next Sumnmer. Why are prices like 10 or 12 million being talked about? I think we should keep our powder dry and let all the press speculation die down a bit. There won’t be any takers at those sort of figures. I can’t see why he should cost any more than four to five million maximum.
Spot on shout there, Eoin. The club confirmed they spoke to Fulham, that is all. If Fulham want that kind of money then we are right to back off – nobody else would pay that for Dempsey – a 29 year old with a year left to run on his contract. No point in paying over the odds now just to rush him over for the US tour, lets just wait patiently and see what develops. We can’t be ripped off for players anymore, and with Comolli gone, we can be hopeful of that!
Dempsey had a good season last season and decent seasons for the few years before that in which he was in the PL.
As he was the focal point of the Fulham attack and he won’t be in ours (Suarez) I doubt he will be able to make the same impact.
However, give him the ball and he will be a threat. I think with a front 3 of suarez, dempsey, and (shelvey/downing/cole/ who knows) will be worrying for opposition due to their goal threat and mobility.
playing with a midfield of Lucas as holding midfielder, Gerrard, Aquilani as creative distributors and our attacking fullbacks, we should find ourselves scoring many many goals.
Therefore, sign him. 10 million is not too high- he has another 5 good years and will sell as much in shirts accross the pond.
out
kuyt 1
maxi free
bellamy free
carroll 18
downing 10
adam 4
spearing 2
joe cole 4
aquiliani 4
in
borini 12
g.ramirez 16
wamyama 8
merntes 15
torres 25
—————reina—————-
jonson—-skrtel—-agger—-enrique
gerrard——-wamyama——g.ramirez
suarez——–torres———merntes
BR is doing himself no favours by keeping the likes of henderson, spearing, adam, carragher, doni, cole. He needs to sell and replace them with better, younger players as the case may be. Already, we’ve lost aurelio, maxi (even after reports BR wanted him to stay! So something must have happened), kuyt, and if reports are to be believed, bellamy. What do we have to show for it; borini. This is no slight on borini, but i can already see this season being mediocre at best. BR is making d exact mistake AVB made at Chelsea: failure to clear the moribund players, only this time, Chelsea’s players are thrice better than LFC’s. Henderson will never be as good as modric, neither will adam become an alonso, nor will spearing a mascherano. Sell thes and bring in Quality. And as for FSG, if they think they’ll get results without heavy investments, they’re in for a shocker. The Arsenal they’re trying to copy spent heavily in previous seasons, and we can see their lack of spending is the cause of a seven year drought. If that’s what they want, good luck to them but b4 i go, i need us all to remember, this is LFC. We should be trying for the likes of gaston ramirez, kevin strootman, leroy fer, radamel falcao, edinson cavani, james rodriguez, john guidetti, mario gotze, erik lamela, markus henriksen, iker muniain, markel susaeta, andriy iarmolenko, ivan rakitskiy, jese rodriguez, christian eriksen, paulinho, casemiro, lucas ocampos, alan dzagoev, victor moses, mario fernandes…most of these players are way better than those dalglish wasted money on and most will cost less! Now we’re beginning to realize what a set-back dalglish’s management was!
Dempsey is average at best.
If LFC are to compete with the elite in Europe, we cannot fill the team with the likes of Adams’, Downings’ and flops of that nature…