The Curious Case of Clint Dempsey

As an American and an Arsenal fan, there's few things more conflictual for me than Clint Dempsey.  Dempsey has been linked with transfer rumors to Arsenal for years. At this point he is the best player that the US has ever produced, leading Fulham and scoring the 4th most goals in the English Premier League; breaking the record for the amount of goals an American has ever scored in the EPL. No American field player (not counting goalies) has ever represented us at a top Championship League club (Man U, Barcelona, Inter Milan, etc) as anything more than an experiment. At 29 with only one year left on his contract, a lot of us in the States view this as our last, best chance for a while to see one of our own competing at the top level of football.

And yet.... many Arsenal fans don't want him there. Some of this is simply anti-American bias. They feel that American fans overrate him or that he is not young enough to benefit a team upon. These are really laughable points. On the first, he scored 17 goals last year! For the second, look at Ryan Giggs. Thirty eight years old and still playing for Man U. These days, only speedsters have an age 30 expiration date. The skillful and gritty can go for a long time. The only point brought up that does bother me is where he would fit in at The Emirates.

Dempsey plays either a winger, an attacking midfielder, and sometimes as striker. Arsenal is filled to the gills with wingers and has an assortment of attacking midfielders. Until striker and club icon Robin van Persie made his shocking announcement recently that he is done with Arsenal, there was really no room for him.  As an American fan, though, I still would be worried about playing time. Without consistent time on the field, it's possible he would fade.

The development of Americans in Europe is storied.  For every Clint Dempsey who goes to Europe and becomes a star, you have a handful of guys like Freddy Adu, a player with potential who sees it go to waste while riding the pine. This isn't just an American problem.  In Mexico, for every Chicharito, you have a Giovani dos Santos or a Carlos Vela; unquestionably talented players who cannot find time on the field.

Jozy Altidore. No longer his natural habitat!

To be a star, a player needs two things: 1) to play at the top level they can and 2) to get sufficient field time. What happens in the case of guys like Jozy Altidore is that they overshoot point one and end up with none of point two. It doesn't matter if the club can afford a bench made of fine polished agarwood or cheap pine, you don't get better by sitting on it.  Thankfully Jozy has figured this out, and instead of being a benchwarmer in a top league like La Liga or the EPL, he is content to be a starter in the Dutch league which is a technically a step down from the others but has done wonders for his skill.

Sadly, all of this hemming and hawing about Dempsey for Arsenal have left an opening for Liverpool who might swoop in and get him.  I've never been a huge fan of the Reds, but browsing their forums indicates they, at least, would appreciate him. Throw in Liverpool's stance to become one of the few professional sports teams in the world to openly declare their support of the LGBT community and march against homophobia and I'll be forced to HAVE to become a Liverpool supporter (Thankfully Arsenal and Liverpool aren't direct rivals like, say, Tottenahm or Chelsea).  Of course, Dempsey might never get a local bar named after him like Brian McBride did, but at least he would be playing on a high profile team!