There was an earlier post about Fulham's player of the year, and my first reaction was to list Dempsey amongst Hangeland and Schwartzer. But I've changed my mind after doing a little research. Fulham's most important player this year (IMO) is Dempsey Without Dempsey's goals, Fulham would be 10 points worse off. Despite being Fulham's marked man, he's has outscored every member of the PFA Team of the Year midfield, and matched Tottenham's Rafael van der Vaart in scoring. He scored more than Drogba, Torres, Defoe, Lampard, Rooney and about 40 other big name Prem players making twice his salary or more. He's score more headed goals year than anyone in the premiership which means he's amongst the bravest and toughest players in the league. And he was fouled 188 times so far this year.
Agreed. In the winter period, missing Bobby and AJ and Dembele, we really needed someone to step up to the mar and IMO, he did it as well as anyone. Fantastic season for him- well done.
It has to be said Dempsey has had an exceptional season. He has worked hard for the team, scoring some vital goals and playing in all sorts of positions. He seems to be excelling under Hughes guidance. Long may it continue.
DR you are right of course. Reflecting back on the season, I was forced to change my view in favour of your man. In choosing Hughes/Baird last week, I must admit to being unhappy about Dempsey's poor performance at Wolves, but that was shown to be a blip by the Bolton match. The important goals he has scored from midfield has meant survival and a top-half finish (hopefully).
Gera - Hughes/Hangeland was my first choice, too. It was only after checking a little deeper that I changed my opinion, too. I think when someone is that consistantly good (but rarely great), you tend to overlook the contributions. The same thing happens with Hughes - he's consistantly good and rarely puts a foot wrong, whereas Hangeland's contributions seem to stand out more - maybe it's because he's 9 feet tall, I don't know. With Fulham, it's really a team effort. As individual parts, there's nothing to get excited about. We don't have a Van Persie or Torres with the flashes of genius, just many solid thoughtful contributions.
I'll go along with Dempsey as player of the season. As DR says, without his goals we'd have been in serious trouble in the first half of the season. He's never hidden, and when he does have a poor game as he did at Wolves he can then come out in the next match and put in a match winning performance. In my opinion the best USA international we've seen in English football. As player of the year, I do think Baird runs him a close second. Despite having spells on the sidelines under both Hodgson and Hughes I don't ever remember reading reports in the press about him wanting to leave and moaning about not getting picked. He just bides his time and when he's in the team puts in one solid performance after another. I also think he's improved the attacking side of his game at fullback this year. More of his crosses are ending up in dangerous areas and he provides good support for whoever's in front of him in midfield.
Would love next season to see him play alongside landon Donovan,some may say no chance. But I am sure with the right approach we could land him.
Rocky - I think Donovan's 29 or 30. He's a great talent, but most knowledgeable American football fans have love/hate feelings for him. He was spotted by German scouts at a young age and was sold to Leverkusen where he learned to play, but as a 20-year-old he wasn't getting the first team playing time he wanted, so Leverkusen loaned him to the MLS where he became a big star in San Jose and Los Angeles. MLS eventually bought his contract. Donovan's OK being a big fish in a small pond, but most American footie fans thought he could have been the first big American star in Europe. He's got the talent, speed and skill to play for a big four team, but not the desire I'm afraid. But the road to Europe, for American players, is littered with the carcasses of people like Eddie Johnson - good players who came over with big hopes that never panned out. For every McBride or Dempsey, there's an Eddie Johnson and a Jozy Altidore that comes up short. Altidore is a primo talent - he's got the speed and power of Drogba, but apparently (reports say) lacks the desire to take that next step forward, developing the tenacity, technique and guile required to move into that next level. When Dempsey came along, I remember writing in an early post on the 606 site that (paraphrasing) "Fulham fans are going to love Dempsey. He's got talent like McBride, but he's no choir boy. He's got a nasty side that will serve him well in the EPL" ... But about Johnson, I had deep reservations I expressed (essentially) that he's good and he's got pace, but he lacks that competitiveness and hunger that Dempsey has. Dempsey has a little Joey Barton down deep inside that propels him forward. He hates to lose and he hates not playing well - his petulant walk-off the pitch a couple of weeks ago (not shaking Andy Johnson's hand) was a sign of that bubbling to the surface. There's an old saying in America - You can coach skills, but you can't coach heart. And therein lies the problem for American players like Eddie Johnson and Donovan.
It's useful having someone so knowledgeable about American players DR, especially as a number of them seem to find their way to the Cottage. I asked his age as I believe it would generally be a good thing to reduce the average age of our squad.
Unquestionably I think Demps has been our best player. With Bobby Z out for so long we have relied upon him to get the goals for us and he has done incredibly well in a position that is not his natural. Baird is another shout, but overall I think Demps is numero uno.