For this week’s Wins Column, I give you my ode to Clint Dempsey. To begin, I want to bring you back in time.
August 3, 2013.
All of Major League Soccer stood still. Clint Dempsey, the captain of the United States Men’s National Team and former Fulham FC and Tottenham Hotspur star, had been acquired by the Seattle Sounders. A club that was more than used to making noise had just risen to another level.
The signing of “Deuce” was put in the same category as the signings of David Beckham and Thierry Henry in terms of impact on the league. And on the face of the deal, it could be argued it was even bigger. In terms of money, Dempsey was (and still is) being paid more than any other player in league history. In terms of fanfare, he was formally introduced to over 30,000 Sounders fans before a match.
But Dempsey’s signing on with MLS, just as with other marquee players before him, marked a turning point in the history of MLS. Beckham brought the exposure and the re-jigged rulebook. Henry became the league’s greatest advocate. Dempsey kick-started an attitude shift among American soccer stars.
At 30 years old, Dempsey was younger than virtually every European star to cross the Atlantic. Though his role at Tottenham Hotspur was less substantial than his role at Fulham, he was still one of the better players on a very good side. With the World Cup only a year away, he still had everything to play for.
There was no good reason for him to return to the United States.
He returned anyway.
Clint Dempsey was only one of many American players to express newfound loyalty to MLS in 2013. Omar Gonzalez became a DP in Los Angeles. Matt Besler and Graham Zusi stayed on at Kansas City despite interest abroad. Even Landon Donovan, the man who Dempsey usurped as the face of soccer in America, returned after taking time away from the game.
The trend has continued in 2014. Michael Bradley’s move to Toronto has generated publicity comparable to Dempsey’s signing with Seattle. Former MLS standouts Brek Shea and Jozy Altidore appear to have a foot out the doors of their current clubs, with returns to the league very possible for both players. Highly rated Bayern Munich multinational Julian Green declared for the USMNT.
In short, the Dempsey effect continues to be in full swing.
But while Dempsey’s impact off the field was felt immediately, his impact on the field was nowhere to be seen. The 2009-2012 versions of the Seattle Sounders were tantalizingly brilliant. Players like Kasey Keller, Fredy Montero, Eddie Johnson, and Mauro Rosales had guided the franchise to four playoff berths in their first four seasons in MLS. But it wasn’t enough for a team who from day one was thinking along the lines of “Cup or bust”.
August 25, 2013
The Seattle Sounders hosting the archrival Portland Timbers. It was Clint Dempsey’s first home game. It was broadcasted nationally. The stars were aligned so perfectly that you could play connect the dots with them and recreate the Mona Lisa.
I remember getting hyped. I remember thinking to myself that Deuce would get a deuce. I remember telling friends that this would be the match that would set Dempsey’s return to MLS on fire. I remember being disappointed after watching the match highlights the following day. The Sounders won 1-0, but Dempsey was held pointless, still searching for his first points in rave green. He wouldn’t get them until the last game of the regular season, when he tapped in a Lamar Neagle cross against the L.A. Galaxy.
Dempsey was supposed to be a midseason shot in the arm for the club. He started out that way. Starting with his debut on August 10, the Sounders won six of their next seven matches. But immediately following this remarkable run of form, the Sounders went winless in their last seven matches of the regular season. After beating the Colorado Rapids in a single game knockout, Seattle was outclassed by the Timbers in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Deuce was in a funk. His bandwagon had run into a pothole, and everyone inside the vehicle was thrown out on impact. Something needed to change before the biggest, most publicized signing in MLS’ recent memory faded into a public afterthought.
April 5, 2014
Portland versus Seattle. The rematch that soccer fans in America had been waiting for.
Dempsey’s season was not off to a bad start. He had an assist and a meaningless consolation goal in the two matches he played in, but he had been suspended for the other two matches following a punch to the groin of an opposing player. Hit and miss in the eyes of the everyday observer.
He was not going to miss on this day.
A calm and collected finish from the top of the box in the 24th minute. A tap-in in the 85th minute, with no retaliation after Portland goalkeeper Andrew Weber tried to keep the ball away from the Sounders following the goal. A penalty kick taken straight down the middle in the 87th minute.
Dempsey was the star of my self-dubbed “Score-a-thon in Oregon”, a 4-4 draw which may go down as the greatest match in MLS history. And he wasn’t done there.
Deuce scored two more goals the following week against FC Dallas, including a Goal of the Week winning free kick. Against Chivas the following week he got two assists. This past weekend, he scored twice more against Colorado.
Clint Dempsey has seven goals and two assists in his last four matches. He has eight and three respectively on the season, which for him hasn’t even reached six matches worth of playtime. He has taken a Sounders team that was rebuilt around him during the offseason on his back. He has joined the likes of Mauro Diaz and Federico Higuain in the “way too early to judge at this point but still judged anyway” MVP race.
But most importantly, Deuce is back to being Deuce. The man from Texas is grabbing the bull by the horns.
It doesn’t matter which club you support. Clint Dempsey’s return to dominance should make any fan of Major League Soccer, any fan of soccer in North America, any fan who wants to see the growth of the game continue, excited.
Happy Streak: 3
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