Clint Dempsey's absence proves how much he still means to the Seattle Sounders
PORTLAND, Ore. -- For the last year or so, it has been tempting to try to write off Clint Dempsey's role as a key attacker for club and country. Dempsey is 33 years old and, well, he has struggled to score goals this year for the Seattle Sounders and even with the U.S. national team for spells.
But as long as he is able to get on the ball, Dempsey remains a crucial piece of any attack, especially when it comes to the Sounders. Look no further than Sunday’s 4-2 drubbing at the hands of the Portland Timbers, where the Sounders looked like a shadow of the team they've recently been without Dempsey's game-changing abilities.
The Sounders still had Uruguayan playmaker Nicolas Lodeiro, who has managed to earn much of the credit for the Sounders making a remarkable turnaround and going unbeaten in their last five before Sunday. They still had rookie Jordan Morris, their top goal-scorer, who upped his season tally to nine goals. But they were missing their captain -- and it made all the difference in the world.
"It was a challenge, I’ll put it that way -- it’s not something we’re going to shy away from,” interim coach Brian Schmetzer said afterward when FOX Sports asked about Dempsey’s absence. “It’s a challenge to create opportunities and shots -- I’m looking at the stats and in the first half we only created four. Clint would’ve helped.”
Dempsey, who scored five goals in his previous three games, has been ruled out until he's evaluated for an irregular heartbeat. Schmetzer said Sunday he couldn’t provide a timeline on when more would be known about Dempsey’s condition.
Since the arrival of playmaker Lodeiro in July, the three-pronged attack of Lodeiro, Dempsey and Morris has been effective at stretching defenses and creating spaces as the trio combined. Dempsey excels when he is free to roam and play the second striker role because he is so good at putting himself in dangerous spots and adding unpredictability to the Sounders attack, and having Lodeiro and Morris around lets him do that.
But Morris, for as good of a rookie season as he's had, just hasn’t shown the ability to go it alone without a strike partner. He likes to use his speed to race in behind defenses, but he needs someone to help him get the ball. Usually, that is Dempsey or Lodeiro and Dempsey’s absence on Sunday caused something of a ripple effect in the Sounders attack: Without Dempsey on the pitch, the Timbers could focus more on neutralizing Lodeiro, who has been instrumental in creating chances for Seattle. That, in turn, meant less chances for Morris.
"He’s such a great player and it’s always tough when you lose someone like that,” Morris told FOX Sports after the game. "I think you can key in more on Nico when [Dempsey] is not here, so that gives [Lodeiro] less space and time to operate and that makes it tough for him. And he likes to find those balls in high and it makes it a little tougher for me."
"We were gelling going forward with Clint in the lineup, so it's tough, but obviously his health comes first 100 percent and we hope everything is good with that."
To be sure, it was Seattle’s defending that got them in early trouble against the Timbers. It took Portland just 16 minutes to score on a set piece and another five minutes to strike again. Dempsey does put in valuable defensive work, but goals change the trajectory of games more than anything -- and if the Sounders were able to pull one back sooner, they could’ve made the game much more difficult for the Timbers.
Dempsey, for any quiet spells he has had this year, remains the Sounders’ most clinical finisher. Morris' finishing remains a work in progress, but it's not just about the goals -- having Dempsey around has eased some of the burden off the rookie and lets him play more freely.
It’s an effect that Dempsey also seems to have on the USMNT, no matter which striker he's paired with. Dempsey can score in just about every way imaginable, whether it's on set pieces or the run of play, in the air or on the ground, and that makes him a difficult threat to neutralize as long as defenders have to focus elsewhere a bit, too.
With Dempsey’s return now a lingering question mark, USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann is fortunate to having an in-form Jozy Altidore return to the fold for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. But the Sounders need to figure out how to make up for his absence with their playoff lives at stake.
“He’s a tremendous goal-scorer and we will miss that, so it just comes back to how we manufacture enough quality chances,” Schmetzer said. “It’s about making sure the quality of the chances we create with the group that we have can help us sustain some wins and some good results until Clint comes back.”
It took the Sounders until about July to really get going in their attack -- they needed a playmaker like Lodeiro on the roster, Dempsey missed chunks of time with international duty and Morris was still unpolished, but before Sunday's loss, it looked like they found their form just in time to push for the playoffs. But if Dempsey doesn't return soon or if the Sounders don't figure out some other answer, Seattle may be facing their first MLS season without making the playoffs.
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