Clint Dempsey: His Effect On The MLS

There has been much speculation on Twitter that Clint "Deuce" Dempsey is making a move to the Seattle Sounders. Now, an elite player like him moving to the MLS could only be positive for the future of the league. He would not only be playing with another US Men's Team starter, Eddie Johnson, but would be playing for a very solid MLS team.

Dempsey lived in the shadow of Gareth Bale last season while at Tottenham. With only 7 goals and 4 assists, I would say it wasn't the best season of his career. A quick winger with good vision, passing, crossing, and finishing could not only help the sounders make a push for a playoff berth, as they are not far off, but show that a player can succeed on the national and club level in the US.

In my first article, I touched on Real Salt Lake and their style of play and their men on the national team. Clint would be another superstar to play in the MLS and the national team if he made this move. The MLS is more and more becoming a breeding ground for national performers with the likes of Chris Wondolowski and Eddie Johnson becoming essential pieces to the puzzle in this last Gold Cup.

IF Clint does make this move, it could only be positive for the youngsters looking to play football in the MLS, because it shows that great players can be bred in the USA. If you ask me, that gives USA football a very bright future.

MLS v Europe for Our National Team

One thing that I have come to notice about our USA Men's National team is that very few of them play in a European league. Considering that any team in a top-flight Euro league could crush even our best MLS teams, shouldn't there be more concern that our men are still staying in the MLS? I say no after watching this Gold Cup and doing some research. 

On our current Gold Cup roster we have thirteen men playing in a league other than the MLS, seven in Europe and five in Mexico. However, we are missing Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard. Out of the five men in Mexico are Demarcus Beasley and Micheal Orozco who I think have a very good chance to go to Brazil as they are playing well. So, that gives good marks to our men in Mexico.

Now for Europe, we have one man in Sweden and two in Norway. Alejandro Bedoya plays in Sweden and Mix Diskerud and Joshua Gatt play in Norway. Now, I think I am safe to say that Sweden and Norway are not home to the most elite European leagues in the world and none of them are consistent starters.

We have two men in England, only one of which plays in the top division and that is Brek Shea, who just recently moved from FC Dallas to Stoke City and we have yet to see how that will affect his style and quality of play. 

Even though all of those men play in other leagues, our MLS boys are looking very good this Gold Cup with Beckerman hooking up well with Chris "Wondwoloski on multiple occasions. Also Nick Rimando has put in a very good showing between the sticks for us. With Wondo and Donovan doing most of the scoring and Rimando making solid saves I would say MLS is just fine to develop people who preform on the national level.