Clint Dempsey's legend at Fulham continues to grow with every goal he scores.
The Texas native did it again on Monday, scoring an 85th-minute winner for Fulham in a 1-0 victory over Liverpool. Minutes after hitting the crossbar with a bending effort from the top of the area, Dempsey found himself in perfect position to slot home a spilled rebound by Pepe Reina from close range.
With the goal, Dempsey set a new standard for Americans in the Premier League. He entered the match tied with Brian McBride with 36 Premiership goals but now owns that record for his own.
Here's video of Dempsey's goal that etched his name in the record books and gave Fulham a much-needed three points:
——————-
What do you make of Dempsey's goal record? What did you think of his performance against Liverpool?
Share your thoughts below.
I want Dempsey to head to a CL team next year.
Whether it’s Sevilla, PSG, Lille, Roma, Napoli
He’d have to work his butt off and his spot would not ever be guaranteed but I bet he could handle it. The only negatives is that he’ll be 29 next year, but he is SOLID for the next 3 years at the very least. Check his goals/assists and style of play. He improves every year.
whoa talk about an intense conversation
Yes, that team had many awesome players and a lot of heart. No one expected them to advance after a slow start when they ended up in the group of death with Brazil and Argentina with only one team to advance. This was an amazing world cup with Brazil fielding one of the most creative teams ever, the arrival of young Maradona, and the semi-final of Platini’s France v. West Germany was anonther classic.
I didn’t pick one player to be better than the other – I just think that you don’t give Rossi enough credit. How can you say Rossi was a passenger on his team, when he lead Serie A in scoring twice and also was the top scorer in the Champions Cup? As for number of career goals by a player, it’s a good measure of consistency and durability, but does not necessarily make one player superior over the others. Karl Malone is second in career points but it does not make him the second best NBA player in the history of the game. Was he a better player than let’s say Larry Bird, who scored about 15K career points less? I do agree with you that Vieri had a longer and successful career in which he was consistent. But Vieri never made Brazil cry, or won the World Cup, Champions Cup, Ballon d’Or, FIFA WC golden boot, and FIFA WC golden ball – Rossi did. It is pointless to argue whether Vieri and Rossi is better, but Rossi has certainly earned his place amoung Italy’s all time greats.
You are right 39 before the EPL in the 1st Division and 13 after the EPL started, but how many came before he became a US citizen in 1991?
“You have to imagine Bellamy’s had a few pint glasses smashed on his head over the years.”
At first I questioned whether I had to imagine that, then I imagined it. And you were right, it was worth imagining.
Not one mention of Roy Wegerle? He actually has the record for top flight goals by an American in England with 52.
I don’t know about the never giving up thing, he’s had his share of games in which he sort of wondered off and had horrible lazy efforts that made us question his mental state or even desire for the US National Team
See Gold Cup group stage game this past Summer vs Guadalupe!
wow…couldnt have said it better myself. good insight
Donovan….MLS
Dempsey….EPL.
Really really dude. Highest goal scorer of any American in the EPL (not MLS), Highest goal scorer for Fulham (not LA Galaxy). Scores the game winner against a team like Liverpool, Barclays man of the match…in the presence of suarez, Zamora, Bellamy, Enrique, adams, downing, carrol, murphy, Dembele(Donovan scored the game winner against houston Dynamos…)
MLS is quickly on the rise but as of right now not even in the same class!!! Donovan has alot of skill and is one of the best but not “the” best.
Hats off to Deuce
Sounds fair enough, though I do think Donovan will go down as the greatest USA international of all time as he will dominate in both the goals and assist category
Dooley, having just read up on him, seemed to be the real deal. And I am slowly learning that our dependence on American servicemen children is not just a new thing.
FC Homburg
2. Fußball-Bundesliga: 1986 (promoted to Fußball-Bundesliga)
[edit] 1. FC Kaiserslautern
Fußball-Bundesliga: 1990–91
DFB-Pokal: 1989–90
[edit] FC Schalke 04
UEFA Cup: 1996–97
[edit] Individual
Honda Player of the Year: 1993
U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year: 1993
MLS Best XI: 1997, 1998
National Soccer Hall of Fame: 2010
LOOOOOOL I love how you gloss over his individual abilities and proclaim his greatness based on his team’s performances lmao…
So he’s better than Vieri b/c his TEAM (Juventus) won all these titles from 82-86? LMAO! The guy was a passenger who was carried by his elite teammates… he only scored 24 goals in 83 games over those 4 seasons what a freaking joke. He was above average but not elite.
Vieri was a way better striker. He is light years ahead of Rossi. Vieri is literally twice the man Rossi is… he has twice as many career goals… 200 vs. 100. It’s not even close.
Rossi is remembered for 1982. Vieri is remembered for a 19 year career, 15 of which he was elite/dominant.
I don’t know he has a stronger will than most of players, he could have possibly done what Demerit did although would have had a tough time not having family from the EU, unless I’m mistaken on that point.
I agree actually, he is great in the air, makes smart runs and finishes great, Id like to see perhaps Gatt, Bedoya, Diskerud or corona take a stab at rm, with holden on the left(When he finally becomes healthy) and jones in the holding mid role and donovan behind altidore and dempsey.
Hey ives its 13 days till renken turns 18 and gets to train permanently with 1899 hoffenheim, will there be an up and coming article or interview on him? Theres alot of hype around the kid can’t wait to see how he fits in the squad.
all time US
————–McBride
————–Dempsey
Tab Ramos—–Renya——L Donovan
————-Mastroeni
Boca——Gooch–M Balboa—–Dolo
————–Friedel
honorable mention
Eddie Pope
Howard
Kellar
Wynalda
Beasley
Hejduk
and Tony Sanneh for a dominant performance in 2002
JOB was great then too, but never did enough anyhere else
people will argue about Pablo, but i think when he was on, we played at another level
one of the classics it was, 3-2
on Rossi’s team, Conti gets mega props and was the creative attacking force all tournament. Along with Tardelli, Gentile and Zoff…they were all awesome
For the Dempsey vs Reyna crowd…and even the Howard vs Keller folks…you cannot really compare.
However you can compare their agents and in this Howard and Dempsey currently win out 😉 Is Dempsey or Reyna the best US player? Well some people compare cups, etc…bit if you are on Celtic or the Rangers you are going to win some SPL metals 😉
Rather then SPL Dempsey gets to the EPL (points to his agent). He is not on Man U, Liverpool etc…..but…with a lesser team he is still able to get balls in the net and be a fan favorite for his club for years.
So Fulham is not as tops in the EPL as Reyna’s team in the SPL, etc BUT its hard to argue that 1) Duece is the EPL not SPL 2) Duece is a fan favorite which speaks a lot about on/field talents 3) Duece is one of the best players in the UK…not just SPL or EPL but total…he might not be mentioned to Ronney or a few EPL giants but you pick top 20 in UK he is there 4) he scored more the McBride with the same team 5) he score more then any yank, etc
Anyway…point (regardless of the time or who has the better agent, etc)..it is silly to argue if a guy is better then a guy 10 years, 20 years 50 years back…(silly but fun so continue) it is all subject. The point Renya is the man. Dempsey is the man. The USMNT is lucky to have had them both. Now, if you want to talk about who currently makes a bigger impact for the US then Go 🙂 for me currently….Dempsey is a guy when even when he is not playing 110% is still getting things done and crushing plays….not something you can say about all the guys on the pitch.
He can walk on any team and I would be pumped. This is not some Italian or Fench DP its Clint…and we should roll out the red carpet if in 8 years he comes back 😉 It doesnt have to be NE….if he wants to live near Dallas or Houston to be closer to home then BAM let the man come 🙂 I dont care if it is Vancouver (I am Fl now….so distance is not an issue) I would just like chances to see him play in the US and would rather DP money go to Duece then some odd EU guy who thinks he will be the star. Again….I am talking when he is 34+ i would love him to come back rather then China or the middle easy. US Soccer should pay to just bring him back at that point if the MLS owners do not have enough coin.
My fear now is the big 4 think he is too old so he wont get Champs League….so once he gets his own pub in London like McBride what is left for him to prove?? He can stay with Fulham until the end….just hoping he ends EPL then and comes over to the MLS 🙂 Selfish but still….just a USMNT fan.
Just glad he is where he is ….and I will follow him through Fulham or the next team to pick him up.
as I do not know why anyone thinks that Keller is better than Tim Howard. No team that Keller ever played for was as big as Man United or Everton. Everton consistently have finished in the top top 8 going 6th 5th 5th 8th and 7th since he has been there. Totenham were not the team they are now when Keller played there. I think it is also telling that keller was constantly moving around. Solid keeper but not the keeper howard is. Friedel on the other hand is arguably better than howard, though howard has a good 8 years or so to stake is claim as the best USA keeper of all time.
I do not know why anyone thinks that Keller is better than Tim Howard. No team that Keller ever played for was as big as Man United or Everton. Everton consistently have finished in the top top 8 going 6th 5th 5th 8th and 7th since he has been there. Totenham were not the team they are now when Keller played there. I think it is also telling that keller was constantly moving around. Solid keeper but not the keeper howard is. Friedel on the other hand is arguably better than howard, though howard has a good 8 years or so to stake is claim as the best USA keeper of all time.
Actually I forgot about that. I was wrong he has one medal.
Twellman subbed him out in the 69th minute in the 2007 final when Clint won his medal ( he wasn’t on the 2009 team, which lost ).
I think of the Gold Cup as basically an excuse to fire Bob Bradley.
I called Dempsey the most consistently dangerous US goal scorer ever. That is hardly pooh poohing his achievements; especially when you consider Dempsey isn’t done yet while Reyna is.
It’s clear most of you never had a chance to watch Reyna as closely as I did. This is a guy who went from the University of Virginia straight to the Bundesliga and eventualy wound up as Captain of Wolfsburg when the level of play in the Bundesliga was at least play was at least on part with the EPL.
Dempsey may eventually eclipse his achievements but he hasn’t yet.
Nowhere else on this thread has so much been said in so few words. 🙂
Apologies for the spelling. That’s what I get for trying to type on the ipad.
So winning the Gold Cup doesn’t count as a winners medal???
Yes, he has a knack for scoring significant goals for them — that one was his first EPL goal — and yet in the past, he always had to win back his spot on the pitch with every managerial change. Good thing that didn’t happen this time.
When was Dempsey ever in company similar to Reyna’s WC 1st 11 selection (which I agree is a big deal and high honor)?
Folks have already reminded you muliple times of Dempey’s selection as the 3rd best player/bronze boot winner at the 2009 confeds cup, which is – winning – a higher honor in that competition than any other USMNT player, ever. Kind of comparable but yeah not exactly the same as being among the best – 11.
But anyway, not much point arguing, I knew before I came on SBI there would be a few folks having to post pooh-poohing Dempsey’ achievements.
So congrats, you are a winner too, as Mr.Predictable…
When I said ‘luckily’ I meant the cards might’ve been a different color. But I think that’d be a good fight. You have to imagine Bellamy’s had a few pint glasses smashed on his head over the years.
When I said Dempsey has never won anything I meant he has no winners medals. There is no debate about that.
Reyna won the Scottish League and the Scottish Cup with a Rangers team that was a pretty dammed good one (look up the roster sometime) much better than the impotent present edition.
Dempsey is the most dangerous American ever, our most consistent threat. But he is not, as Dan in NY contends “the best player the U.S. has ever produced.”
You are correct, the best player is not always named captain, but the captain is almost always a regular starter, one of the best players on the team and a good leader of men. And if you are going to be “the best player the U.S. has ever produced.” you need to be all of those things. After all it’s a team game not an individual sport.
I did forget about the Bronze Ball probably for two reasons; One, it’s for third place, not first or even second, third. That’s not winning; bronze medals are consolation prizes. Who remembers the Bronze medal winners in the eight competitions where Michael Phelps won his eight golds? Two, it’s the Confederations Cup which most major nations still do not take seriously. It’s only a dress rehearsal for the World Cup nothing more.
Reyna, along with JOB (who played every minute of that Cup by the way) led the US to its best World Cup ever. Reyna got named to the midfield of the World Cup all-star team. That midfield included Ballack, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. That is a big deal. Dempsey has never done anything like that; at least not yet.
JOB’s career was shortened by injury but he was good enough to be a regular for Ajax at left back and then star for the US in the 2002 World Cup at defensive midfielder. Ask Donovan about how good he was. He and Reyna were better players than Dempsey; Deuce was/is a consistently more dangerous goal scorer, the best the US has ever produced. It’s not the same thing.
But Deuce still has time.
Did MSL Champs tell you why he was interested?
I’ll bet he knew all that and just wanted to see the highlights.
At the risk of getting deleted you can see them on No Short Corners.
Claudio Reyna is probably the best international player US has produced so far.
Donovan is the biggest star US has produced.
Dempsey is for now the most successful top tier player from the US we have ever seen. The goal in the europa semifinal…wow. He will score 50 and it will be good.
Deuce bites Liverpool again in a 1-0 game. Not sure Liverpool remembers, but Dempsey does. May 5, 2007 to save the Cottagers from relegation.
Good point – Deuce has added so much to his game over the past few years.
Dempsey up front with Jozy in a 4-4-2 for the National Team. Get him closer to goal!
What else did Rossi do besides being the only player to win the World Cup, Golden Ball and Golden Boot in one tournament (something that no other player has achieved), while sending home young Maradona, Zico, Socrates, Falcao, Cerezo, Eder, Rummenigge, Schumaher, etc? How about winning Serie A (2 times), Coppa Italia, European Cup (the predecessor to the UEFA Champions league), European Cup Winners Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Ballon d’Or, Champions League top scorer, Serie A top scorer (2 times). And, frankly, Rossi was pretty good in 1978 WC too (totaling 3 goals and 4 assists), while his team finished in the 4th place, behind only Argentina, the Netherlands, and Brazil. As for comparing Vieri and Rossi, they are very different players from two different time periods. Vieri is a prototypical striker, while Rossi, while lacking physical force of a target striker, was successful through reading the game well, having great movement and positioning and being a deadly finisher (his hat trick against Brazil in 1982 WC is a prime example). For whatever it’s worth – each of the two scored the same number of goals (9) in the World Cups for Italy. The difference is that Rossi’s teams did better in the WC than Vieri’s teams. I am not picking who was the better player among these two, but if someone picked Rossi over Vieri, I would not say it is far fetched. After all, it was Rossi, who wrote a book “I made Brazil cry” and if you watched the magnificent 1982 Brazil team, you know why Brazil cried when they were sent home by Italy.
NOT NEWSWORTHY. They play basketball in the Philippines, and baseball. Add to that the fact that many of the Philipine starters were injured, apparently. It’s like a mid-table Big 10 team thrashing a DIII all-star team. Interesting to the Big 10 team fans, but not to anyone else.
Tell me what medals Dempsey has won?
The whole point is to win things.
If you never win anything then you are not any less of a player but it does add to your stature as a player if you do win a medal.
It’s hard to say winning the Bronze Ball ( not the Golden One) is actually winning anything. It means you came in third, it means you placed, not won.
Reyna won a Championship and a Cup with Rangers. This was when Rangers were a real team not the pale shadow they are now. Reyna was named to an all star World Cup midfield for his play during the 2002 World Cup where he and JOB led the US to it’s best World Cup ever. That is the most serious competition we have,not the Confederations or Gold Cup.
And that all star midfield also included Ballack, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. Pretty heavy company. When did Dempsey ever do anything like that?
Dempsey is no doubt the US’ most dangerous player ever but he is not the best player the US has ever produced. For me that goes to Reyna. However, Clint still has time to change that.
See above.
Pretty sure I know more about Tab Ramos than you,…unless, of course, you are Tab Ramos.
Hooray because he was on your fantasy team, yet you knew he was playing against liverpool and you’re “disgusted” with result? Seems like either poor fantasy-ing or some strange and completely-out-of-place-and-unneccesary fluffing of your liverpool banter
As a Liverpool fan, absolutely disgusted with the result. A couple posts hit, Carroll had 2 clear chances one of which rolled up his standing leg, the other saved from 5 yards. A second look at the Spearing red card was way worse live, no complaints there. A rare blunder by Reina was the difference in the end, and that happens MAYBE once a season with him. Continuing this worrying trend of Liverpool overperforming against the Top 6 and not putting away inferior teams. Lastly, not keeping pace with the Top 6 will hurt come May. We need to buy another striking option because Carroll doesnt really fit the pass and move philosophy. As an alternative option, sure, but they need a guy who scores goals. For all the wizardry of Suarez and terrifying pace of Bellamy, they just dont score enough goals for me at the moment.
As an American, HOORAY for Deuce because he was on my fantasy team this week!!!
You should google Tab Ramos before you’re next list fella
GGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!
Congrats on the record, Duece.
Does this mean Deuce gets a pub named after him too?
I could take tou back a couple years and point to a slew of guys who were trying to convince everybody that he was the WORST player the U.S. Had ever produced! Funny how we never get any of those guys apologizing or even admitting they were wrong. I guess those types of guys aren’t smart, honest or man enough to admit it though. I must admit that, coming out of MLS i was skeptical that he could make it in the Prem bc he seemed to lack any one top skill or tool to set him apart, but looking back i feel he owes his succes to a few intangibles that don’t jump out at you immediately:
1. Mental toughness
2. Versatility
3. Creativity
4. He never stops trying to imrove his game.
The last is so impressive as many guys we’ve seen have the same basic game at 20 that they do ten years later, while Deuce is constantly developing new moves, improving his touch, his game in the air, his turns, etc. Almost every time I see him, he does something I haven’t seen him do before. Congratulations Deuce.
Best player ever and nobody mentions Cle Kooiman? Jesus, you people are pathetic! Ok, what about David Wagner then?
Big props to you for mentioning Reyna, people forget how good he was. As for Dempsey not winning anything, it’s debatable. As an individual player, he won the bronze ball in the Confederations cup, where his team was a runner up to Brazil. That is pretty impressive considering the quality of the players from Brazil, Spain, Italy that were in the tournament. Xavi, for example, did not make the top 3 in the tournament. Also, Dempsey’s club was a runner up in the Europa league, which is not a small achievement for a small club like Fulham. Dempsey was a big part of their successful run – his goal against Juventus was magnificent. He also won two Gold Cups as part of USMNT. I know the competition is not the greatest, but they still had to finish ahead of quality teams like Mexico. Also, the honor of being a captain is not always bestowed on the best player – Messi does not captain Barcelona, Ronaldo is not a captain of Real Madrid, etc.
Howard needs a little more time,…but ultimately I don’t think (IMHO) he is in Friedel or Keller’s class.
I am a big supporter of McBride,….but I think he just didn’t ‘get there’ with his career. He didn’t join Fulham until he was 32! He spent his prime with Columbus? Mind you,…I think there was some prejudice built into his lack of a transfer to an EPL team.