With no real intro to speak of today, I'm just going to dive into what I'm thinking this Monday:
1. Clint Dempsey's career has parallels to Steven Gerrard. After Dempsey continued his fine form this season with another brace for Fulham against Man City, it got me thinking about the similarities between Dempsey and the Liverpool icon. Yep, you read that right, but before people start hyperventilating in outrage, note I said Dempsey's career path not his skill level.
Bear in mind that both Gerrard and Dempsey started their pro careers as defensive midfielders and excelled in those roles, before gradually moving further afield and showing significant goal-scoring prowess. Both are versatile and have been used at times in their career both centrally, on the left and right side of midfield and also as emergency stand-in strikers. On top of that, both seem to play far better for their club teams and both have yet to find their best position for their country. The cynic could also argue that both share the same propensity for diving. (Gerrard habitually so, whereas in Dempsey's case, it's something he seems to have picked up while at Fulham.)
So the question here is, what exactly is Dempsey's best position for the U.S.? I'd originally thought that Dempsey might have warranted a look at central midfield alongside a proper holding mid. However, with Michael Bradley's emergence as more of a two-way player, it appears that for the time being, the best bet remains to dovetail Dempsey with Landon Donovan at the right and left outside midfielder spots.
2. The Man United conveyor belt of talent. United's recent shaky form has been bolstered by the emergence of 17-year-old phenom Federico Macheda, scorer of two goals recently that could prove pivotal in the Premiership race. When you consider some of the young, attacking talent that Sir Alex Ferguson has discarded/allowed to leave Old Trafford in recent years, it makes for quite a list.
Every U.S. fan knows about Giuseppe Rossi, now starring in La Liga, while MLS fans know all about Kenny Cooper and his production for FC Dallas. There's even 22-year-old Sylvan Ebanks-Blake who is currently lighting up the English Championship for Wolves. Then consider the current crop of talent, which includes Macheda and 18-year-old Danny Welbeck (who might be even better).
All of which brings me to my point -- which is all the hand-wringing about Freddy Adu's lack of playing time at club level. While I understand U.S. fans' consternation that one of their best prospects continues to receive little playing time, the fact is, over in Europe there are stockpiles of talented youths. Many of these youths are equally as talented as Adu, if not more, and some are also struggling to see playing time. Let's also not forget that Manchester United also ran the rule over Freddy Adu before his move to Benfica (and regardless of what anyone says, it was in fact a trial) and were distinctly unimpressed. When you look at the young players that were formerly on United's books that failed to make it at Old Trafford and those coming through now, perhaps U.S. fans will finally place Adu's talent into proper perspective. He's extremely gifted by U.S. standards, but in world terms, he's one of many talented and highly-touted youngsters. That being the case, it's not a good idea to expect too much too soon from Adu as he continues to develop.
3. Fernando Torres' wonder strike. Torres scored a couple of fantastic goals for Liverpool against Blackburn on Saturday, the first being an absolute stunner. Torres himself has declared that it might be the best goal he's ever scored. For some reason, various media outlets in England have compared the goal to Marco Van Basten's famed goal against Russia that won the 1988 European championship. I don't really see where there's a similarity. For a start, Van Basten's effort was a full volley off a cross, whereas Torres' effort was a half-volley off a long-upfield clearance. However, Torres' goal does bear incredible similarities to a goal once scored against Liverpool by Everton's Graeme Sharp.
4. Speaking of incredible goals … I must admit, I'm also a bit surprised with all the plaudits being lauded on Grafite's recent goal for Wolfsburg against Bayern. It's been lauded as the goal of the season, particularly over here in the U.S. I'll put it down to the fact most people must not have seen Moussa Dembele's goal for AZ against Willem earlier this season. Now, that's what I would call the goal of the season. Just for good measure, here's another electric effort he pulled off in the Olympics for Belgium against Italy. By the way, Dembele is only 21, a mere two years older than Adu -- to hark back on a point I made earlier.
5. Shaka Hislop on this week's podcast. With Andrew Hush on vacation later this week, our special guest to fill in will be T&T legend Shaka Hislop. We'll be concentrating mostly on answering questions from listeners this week, so start sending in those questions to podcast@soccernet.com. Just remember to include your name, where you're from and "U.S. Podcast Question" in the subject header. If you missed last week's, you can listen to it here.
Jen Chang
