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Soccer Sunday: Your Running Commentary

Clint Dempsey 1 (ISIphotos.com)

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Clint Dempsey and Fulham take on Manchester United this morning in one of the top matches of the day.

The Cottagers opened the season under new manager Mark Hughes with a scoreless draw against Bolton, and things will only get tougher today against a Manchester United side that needs to keep up with the torrid early pace being set by defending champion Chelsea.

Major League Soccer will also be featuring action today, with the I-95 rivalry between D.C. United and the Philadelphia Union resuming today. They are playing for pride today, as well as for the chance to avoid having the worst record in MLS.

If you will be watching today's action (or if you want to discuss this morning's shocking result in the Newcastle-Aston Villa match), please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Today's schedule is after the jump):

TODAY'S SOCCER ON TV

10:30am- ESPN3.com- PSV Eindhoven vs. AZ Alkmaar

10:30am- Fox Soccer Plus- West Bromwich Albion vs. Sunderland (Delayed)

11am- Fox Soccer Channel/FSE- Fulham vs. Manchester United

11:30am- GolTV- Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayer Leverkusen

12:30pm- Fox Soccer Plus- Middlesborough vs. Sheffield United

1pm- Azteca America/FSE- Morelia vs. Necaxa

1pm- Telemundo- UNAM Pumas vs. Puebla

2pm- Direct Kick- D.C. United vs. Philadelphia Union

3pm- Fox Soccer Plus- Paris St. Germain vs. Bordeaux

5:30pm- Univision- Queretaro vs. Club America

6pm- Fox Soccer Channel- Chicago Red Stars vs. FC Gold Pride

Comments

  1. So Sean is more of an expert on how Clint should run his life than Clint?

    If Clint wants to move he should move or if he wants to stay he should stay.

    Seam has nothing to say in the matter. It’s Clint’s life and I’ll bet he knows more about his “perfect situation” than Sean does.

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  2. I watched the whole game. It was a nice touch. There was still PLENTY to do after that. Duff had a pretty anonymous game.

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  3. Everyone at Fulham has to prove themselves to the new coach. Only a handful of players at the big clubs i.e. Gerrard at Liverpool, don’t have to prove themselves to a new manager. I’m quite sure Dempsey knows that he needs to show the new guy in charge that he is more than capable. When you’re at your job and they hire a new guy to take charge, don’t you still have to show that you can do your job? Hughes has to take Roy’s team and make it his team, that involves looking at what each player can do for you now, not what they did before.

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  4. With the arrival of Dembele and Gera in form, Dempsey certainly looks to have more competition for playing time this season. It may come down to who’s scoring the most goals at any given time (or most recent goal). If Demsey were to leave, he should at least go to a team that’s the equivalent or better than Fulham.

    If he goes to a worse team, even playing more minutes, there’s always the specter of relegation. For Fulham, the best news seems to be that Stockdale has stepped in where Schwartzer left off with a strong performance against Manchester.

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  5. Sean is the only person here talking any sense about Dempsey. Clint has a perfect situation at Fulham, yes there’s a little competition for the first team place, but that’s just because Fulham has some great players.

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  6. “Who cares if Liverpool or Milan would pay you 60000 a week”

    I’m sure Dempsey cares. You can do a lot for your family with 20,000 extra a week especially now that he is a new daddy.

    I don’t know Dempsey personally so I don’t know how he thinks but I doubt seriously that he would move to Liverpool,Milan or wherever if he didn’t think he would play a lot or even star.

    So I think your “selling out” comments are off base.

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  7. +1 Sean

    -1 Hush

    Dempsey is right where he needs to be and Fulham is a much better team than people give them credit. He’s competing for time with players like Duff, Gera, Davies who are just as talented and experienced as he is. In the case of Duff possibly a bit more so. Just because he’s American everyone thinks he’s an automatic starter

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  8. “He contributed nothing”

    Watch the replay of the first goal again pal. Duff ran the ball about 30 yards down the touchline and made a nutmeg move past (Evra/Valencia?) to start the play.

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  9. Truth. Should there be a concern though that if Deuce goes to a bigger team the playing time issues would worsen?

    So I guess what follows it the question that if he leaves, should Deuce go to a smaller team than Fulham (who are already mid to low table themselves)?

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  10. There’s no reason to leave. He’s now on of the more senior members ont he squad, plays great minutes and is a fan favorite at the cottage. He’s scored amazing goals for them and its beleived he was given a pay raise last year when there was interest from various clubs. You don’t need to move clubs to make more $$, you need to have clubs want you. Another year goes by and everton makes an offer, or maybe a spanish team and dempsey will ask fulham to match, then gladly stay. He’ll b a cottager for his entire career, book it

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  11. Its those that think he should be an automatic starter for a new manager that need to give it a rest. Manager’s have there own ways of working their team, he was brought in to manager Fulham, not play Clint Dempsey because he has been there for 4 years.

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  12. Its certainly possible that to Dempsey, a guy who grew up as a lower middle class kid in Texas, playing the game is more important than making the most money he can by selling out. Who cares if Liverpool or Milan would pay you 60000 a week, if you don’t have a sniff at the field. Besides he is already one of Fulham’s highest earners at 40000 a week (maybe less, but plenty enough to live comfortably).

    He is arguably the second most popular USMNT player.

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  13. It’s worth considering that the main reason Dempsey has done so well in the EPL is that he HAS to prove himself and play at his best.

    Even as a huge fan of his, you can see his complacency in the national team picture. Hodgson did a brilliant job of building him up in training and showing him that he would have to prove himself each day.

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  14. Dempsey looked great today. I thought he made Fulham a bit more dangerous on the offensive side. With that said. I think it’s time for Dempsey to move on. At 28 and his experience and what he has done for Fulham, there is no reason he shouldn’t be seeing more than 75 minutes a game. Bottom line, he is a player that shouldn’t be trying to prove to a new coach he belongs at Fulham. He played great last week and great today. What more can Dempsey do to prove he belongs there. The scheme that Hughes has been using for the last two games is somewhat of the same as Roy’s. Dempsey is still familiar playing behind Zamora as he played there late in the games under Roy. For those saying he needs rest, that’s just Bulls%&*. The EPL season is what you work for all your life.

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  15. Great game by Fulham today. Looks like they have picked up where they left off last season with the Europa run. Now only if they can play better on the road and keep it up for a whole season.

    Dempsey should stay with this team!!

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  16. I know that he isn’t top class. But he is Fulham’s record signing I believe. The question is, does he offer more than Dempsey in the “second striker” role. I might argue no. He’s been gone so long, who knows how he and Zamora will link up. All I’m saying is that it’s going to be interesting to see what happens.

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  17. Dempsey is 27-28.

    He’s just come off a decent World Cup and a couple of good seasons with Fulham. He probably has 2-3 of his most productive years,in terms of salary and on the field product, left.

    Unless anyone thinks he is going to become the focal point of the Fulham attack, it seems like now would be the time to move, if he ever wants to make more money.

    Reply

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