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SBI MLS Player of the Week: Clint Dempsey

Dempsey FCD Getty

By CAITLIN MURRAY

Clint Dempsey has done it again.

After leading the Sounders to a jaw-dropping rally and draw last week in Portland on a hat trick, he returned for round two to wage a comeback win in Dallas this week.

Scoring two goals and forcing an own goal from a strategic shot into traffic, Dempsey pushed his side to erase a 2-1 deficit and grab a 3-2 victory against FC Dallas, a team that went into the weekend unbeaten. Dempsey’s efforts earned him SBI MLS Player of the Week honors for Week Six.

Dempsey’s first goal on Saturday was about as good as a free kick can be hit, with the ball buckling off the crossbar’s underside and back behind the goal line.

Critics of Dempsey — who had been growing louder and louder with every match the striker went without scoring — will be hard-pressed to dismiss his stellar back-to-back performances for the Sounders. More importantly, Dempsey is playing confidence-building soccer as the U.S. Men’s National Team looks ahead to the World Cup this summer.

Dempsey beat out Javier Morales, Robbie Keane and Edson Buddle for this week’s honors.

What did you think of Dempsey’s performance? Which player impressed you the most in Week 6?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. “Critics of Dempsey will be hard-pressed to dismiss his stellar back-to-back performances.”

    Yes, but they will. They will.

    Reply
    • Seriously. He had a rough stretch for both club(s) and country. He’s now doing well for club, and we’ll see if it translates to his work for the USA.

      Reply
      • I don’t know what to expect. JK tends to use friendlies to experiment—in which case the team will probably look shaky overall and no one will shine. Then again, these are a special kind of friendly, so maybe we will finally see JK’s A-team.

        If I had to bet though, I would go with JK still experimenting.

  2. This is all well and good but he hasnt done a thing for the US team lately. Even in the most recent cap he was extremely innefective. I have always, ALWAYS felt that even with tottenham he was playing better for his club than country. Right now i wouldnt even have him in the roster

    Reply
  3. Can any Sounders fans confirm where on the field Dempsey has been playing? I remember his first few games with them last season he was in the hole, but I haven’t seen any of their games this season. He tends to do better as a forward or somewhere wide where he can float in undetected.

    If he’s doing all this in the 10 spot, that’d be fantastic since that’s where JK seems to want to play him.

    Reply
    • Dempsey plays wherever he wants, but mostly withdrawn a bit behind Obafemi Martins, out wide on the left, shaded to the right, dropped deep to link up with Ozzie, with some late runs into the box, probing runs into the box, sometimes he looks for the assist, sometimes looks for the goal.

      Reply
    • First game or two he started a little deeper, then after some subs he then moved up underneath Martens playing off him as a withdrawn forward.
      I didn’t see the game this weekend but I think he started there, like a 4-4-1-1
      And if I’m not mistaken, all his goals have come from there too.
      Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that’s where he’s been.

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      • I think he was a sub in the first game. This year he has sort of forcefully shifted back to his best position at Fulham. Schmid has been stubborn tryin to get him to play Schmid’s system. However when withdrawn and shading to the left in not quite a wing position is where he thrives. It also has helped with Gonzalo Pineda in the lineup. He has someone who can connect with the midfield. Brad Evans usually is in this position but he is hurt and is nowhere near the same class as Pineda. Dempsey may be in trouble if Pineda gets benched once Evans gets back.

      • I’m thinking a healthy Brad Evans would replace Naegle/Cooper on the right side midfield for some adult supervision of an incredibly fast but raw DeAndre Yedlin. Naegle and Cooper are both woeful at tracking back on D and Pineda is a much better playmaker in the middle than Evans….

  4. Worrisome for my Red Bulls and the rest of MLS, but great, great news for the MNT. A confident and dangerous Dempsey can absolutely help to transform the Nats from unspectacular to dangerous.

    Reply
    • Shouldn’t affect RBNY. Our only game against them is in September and that game won’t matter much if we don’t start beating sorry teams like DC “worst team in MLS history” United and Chivas.

      Reply
      • to be fair to nyrb, the dc “worst team in mls history” united was last year’s team. now we’re only one of the worst teams in the league. movin’ on up!

    • Your RedBulls will be fine. Seattle will be playing in the playoffs where they won’t face teams with no wins.

      Reply
  5. I’ve never heard of Clint Dempsey before, but wow this young man seems to have a lot of potential. Look out for this Dempsey guy, I expect big things.

    Reply
    • This should be in the form of a statement, not a question.

      This is very much the right time, and he is very much in form.

      Reply

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