I suppose someone had to succombe to the temptation after all the talk this last week. Here is an interview where Clint, immediately after the USA v Scotland game, where he makes his personal ambition very clearly known - http://video.nbcsports.msnbc.com/nbc-sports/47579831#47579831 I guess one solution to keeping him would be to sign Donovan.
Donovan's a better than Dempsey, hands down, but is strangely LESS ambitious in the ways that matter. Donovan really could play for a big 5 team, but settles for stardom at the LA Galaxy. Once in a while he likes to come over, play for Everton and school a few EPL defenders just to prove that he can do it. Then he scuttles back to LA to hide under a rock. I love that Dempsey risked it all to put his career on the line and compete against the best, day in day out, when so many Americans have come over, tried and failed in the EPL. Hats off to the man with the courage and ambition. Donovan can stay in LA, for all I care. Interesting interview, though.
I am up and away for he next 4 weeks,in that time I will be avoiding all gossip and transfer rumors associated with FFC. I fear that when reading, and opening up the 606 pages on my return, the news will feature on the departure of the 2Ds,which now seem inevitable. In a hurry to fill the void my worry is that we may go for players of somewhat unproven ability, at highly inflated prices,Jorden Rhodes being an example, ok the future may prove what a gem he turns out to be, but realistically,I feel that any bid we make should not go over the 6m mark. I would be more inclined to spend the bulk on any moneys available,on 2 quality defenders.
I think Donavon has been trying to get a permanent spot at Everton since his first loan deal, but Everton are strapped for cash and LA has the face of American soccer and they won't let that go cheaply. Donavon is not as ambitious as Dempsey, but Donavon himself has admitted that because he was young and naive he didn't put in his best efforts when he was at Bayern Leverkusen back when he was 19 or whatever. He said he felt like he had already made it and didn't put in the effort that it actually required. I think he knows that he should have pushed himself and stayed in Europe, but he's been stuck playing in the United States since. If he really wanted to he could have forced a transfer to Europe but I think he has too much respect for the Galaxy to do that.
Please forgive me, as I'm probably wrong, but I believe the MLS has/had Donovan in some kind of sold-my-soul-to-the-company-store stranglehold of a contract, albeit with really good compensation (for here). I remember reading that he had to sign a year's extension to the MLS contract to swing his second loan to Everton, so I don't think he's had the kind of freedom to move that EPL players seem to do. Clint took a big risk coming to Fulham and, methinks, would have burned his MLS bridges by doing so. Now, of course, thanks to all the good things FFC (and y'all) have done for him, he can "retire" to playing in Texas whenever he wants.
Did anyone else cringe every time he referred to the Premier League as the EPL? I think he was way off the mark when he said the Americans were leading the way in the PL. Donovan had a handful of decent games while he was here and that was it before he crawled back under his MLS rock in the US. You cannot compare the two, so why on earth the commentator was making Donovan and Dempsey sound like a wrestling tag team is beyond me! What can we expect when we finally get to see Dempsey and Donovan on the pitch together for the first time under Klingsmann? This guy takes the 'man crush' to a new level. Are all Americans like this?
Yes, Bandit. Yes we are. In Dempsey's defense, he knew he was speaking to an American audience and as a top US player it's his DUTY to promote soccer in the US. You'll hear this every time a well known US player talks about professional soccer in the US, where the sports ranks below baseball, (US) pro Football, Pro basketball and a number of colllege sports in terms of earnings and attendence. Him saying that he and Dovovan "leading the way" was certainly a load of cr@p, but it sounds better to an American TV audience, which at that moment is considering flipping to the Discover channel to watch "World's Greatest Dingo Attacks!", than him telling the truth, which is that US players are making a growing impact in Europe, including the EPL. All American soccer players and fans are de facto evangelists for their sport, so a little embellishing is allowed.
