The Clint Dempsey Supremacy
This column isn’t about Landon Donovan and whether he lived up to his potential. This column is about the supremacy of Clint Dempsey in American soccer history.
Of all the American soccer players, Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley have the best club resumes – because compared to other American soccer players – these two had the most success against high-level competition. Bradley has more impressive club names on his resume – like Roma – but Dempsey displayed the most skill and success consistently over time.
Dempsey showcased a level of technical skill and the ability to compete and be successful against quality European club competition that no other American really showed. Although Dempsey played for a small EPL club in Fulham – as well as Tottenham Hotspur – he still was consistently an effective and skillful midfielder and forward for seven years in the EPL.
On the international level, Dempsey showed an ability to always perform well regardless of the competition or the importance of the game. By scoring in three consecutive World Cups, Dempsey proved himself to be a consistently good player that didn’t just enjoy a few moments of success.
The Texan has been a complete player for all of his professional career. Dempsey combined skill with toughness and athleticism, and this allowed him to not be outclassed with skill or bullied with physicality and tackling. Whether defenders came at Dempsey with some roughness or with skill, Dempsey had the skill-set and tools to be effective. Other Americans have also been effective, but Dempsey was really the first to showcase impressive skill and technique even against elite competition. He didn’t just standout technically against weak opponents, but he was also a technical and skillful player when he faced off against elite defenders.
One of the problems for Dempsey’s reputation and fame has been that he has been dismissed as sort of mediocre in comparison to the world-class talents, but not being as talented as the handful of elite attacking players at the current moment doesn’t mean that Dempsey wasn’t a skillful and accomplished player on the club and international level. Another problem for Dempsey’s reputation is that he’s often described as just a tough or gutsy player without any mention of his fantastic skill with the ball.
By playing for a small EPL club for so long, many critics dismiss Dempsey’s accomplishments as not being with a top EPL club, so therefore his accomplishments are considered equal to Donovan’s MLS accomplishments; but, this is a flawed mentality and argument. When Dempsey was excelling in the EPL consistently, he was competing against top EPL clubs all the time, so his success was against better talent that Donovan faced. Landon Donovan was a great American player, but let’s not say that Donovan’s accomplishments compare to Dempsey’s against better competition on a bigger stage.
Both players are excellent players with perhaps the same level of actual ability, but Dempsey was playing against better competition in a better league. As Dempsey gets closer and closer to breaking Donovan’s international goal record with the United States (Donovan 57 goals, Dempsey 49 goals), it will be harder to keep insisting that Donovan was a better player than Dempsey.
More so than just a player that was good enough and athletic enough to be successful at the higher levels of soccer, Dempsey was and still is a creative and technical player that showcased a mastery of the ball with both feet, and it is this visual display of skill in real games that makes him the best American player ever.