Former Revs Standout Clint Dempsey Now Playing At the Next Level

Clint Dempsey played parts of 3 season with the New England Revolution starting in 2004. He left in December of 2006 on a transfer to Fulham in the English Premier League. When Dempsey left, I decided to continue to follow him with his new club. Since he left the Revs, his game has steadily improved to the point of him really becoming an elite player. Mr. Dempsey is now playing at the next level.

He returned last week as part of the United States National Men's Team that were playing a friendly against Spain on Saturday. I decided that I would attend the training session the day before to watch Dempsey in person once again. Granted it was practice, but it was obvious to me that Dempsey was a "man playing with boys." Along with Landon Donovan, Dempsey is a cut above the rest of the squad as I watched the team scrimmage, and go through their drills.

At one point for several minutes, Dempsey was by himself with a ball, and practicing chipping it in from just outside of the box. I had flashbacks of Dempsey's famous goal against Juventus last season in the Europa League. His chip in that game was a thing of beauty. I watched as ball after ball would float into the net in this practice session.

Watching him in this practice showed me just how far Dempsey had come in his time at Fulham. It is obvious to me that he has put in a great deal of hard work to improving his game.

In his first season with Fulham he only scored 1 goal and was limited to 10 appearances with the Cottagers. Flash forward now to this season, where Dempsey scored 13 goals in 39 appearances in all competitions. He has set the record for the most goals by an American player in the English Premier League. He is also now Fulham's leading scorer all time in the EPL. In his career, he has scored a total of 37 goals in 176 appearances for the Cottagers.

This season saw Fulham have key injuries to Bobby Zamora and Moussa Dembele affect the first half of their campaign. Dempsey stepped up in their absence to really help keep the club afloat until the injured players returned. To really tell you how far Dempsey has come, the fans of Fulham showed their appreciation. He was voted Fulham's player of the season which was voted by the fans.

The Revs could certainly use a player like Dempsey now. However, there is no question how much he has benefited by playing in one of the best leagues in the world.

The U.S. Men's National Team were playing in the Gold Cup Tuesday Night against Canada. Mr. Dempsey scored once, and almost had another on a spectacular shot that was blocked in a 2-0 victory. Dempsey and the U.S. Team will next be in action on Saturday June 11th against Panama in Tampa Florida.

The Future is still very bright for the 28 year old Texan. The British press have been speculating that Dempsey could move on from Fulham now to a bigger club in Europe. However, according to a Boston Globe article, Dempsey is quoted to having aspirations of Champions League football someday, but he plans to make the best of where he is playing at this moment. Below are quotes from from Clint Dempsey that come from the Boston Globe article about him.

'I think last year I could have probably hit similar numbers,’’ Dempsey said. “I was out for eight weeks [because of knee surgery]. I continue to better myself, to improve, work hard. I’m there for two years and I am going to make the most of where I’m at. If someday I get the opportunity to play for a big club in the Champions League, that would be great. I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t a dream. But at the same time you have to make the most of where you are.'

So the next time you are watching a Revs game, keep this thought in mind. If you wish the best American born players stayed in the MLS, remember Clint Dempsey, and just how far he has come since leaving the New England Revolution.

This article was originally posted on Bosfans.com .