Random Bite

I never paid attention to statistics. Lionel 

Messi seems to break a new record every week. Here is a random fact, Oliver Kahn has the most clean sheets in Bundesliga history with 196 in 557 games. Cameroon's Roger Milla is the oldest person to play in a World Cup at age 42, I can go on and on but to me these are nice little trivia bits to impress soccer aficionados  and make your self seem like a real scholar of the game but I'm not really a stat guy. Well I wasn't until I started to play fantasy soccer with a friend of mine and through this pass time I was force to take look at them. The competitor that I am obviously I want to win and knowing stats will definitely give you an edge, knowing who is on form, pass percentage, assist, goals will weigh heavily in your favor. That is just skimming the surface you can look at a players head to head performances against a certain team, their career records and even how they stack against certain players. After saying all of that stats can shed light more importantly arguments. Landon Donovan or Clint Dempsey? There is not a stat in the world that could convince be that Donovan is better than Dempsey.
 I don't want to argue or do I want to throw a ton of stats your way. I just have a healthy appreciation for the Texan's game. I wasn't always a fan of Clint Dempsey I just thought he was another average American playing at a mid table English club. See Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna for more detail there. He was, when I first saw him just another player and this article may not take the greatest structure but this is for lack of a better phrase, a rave session on my part about the American. Landon Donavan still holds America's more significant records like all time leading goal scorer and as the record for most assist on the international stage by any American all that for me is as I said before nice trivia because Donavan has never really in my eyes raised his hands and said "I am the face of US soccer," Simply because he never made a concerned effort to ply his trade in Europe and as any reader of my post know that I think Europe is the gold standard of world soccer. Every stat points to it. So Landon image in my head will always be of a maybe player. Maybe he could have dominated in the leagues, maybe he could have scored the spectacular. With Clint Dempsey there is no maybe there is doing. The work rate, the skill and the class in which he plays has come on these pass few seasons and to take a normal in every sense of the word club like Fulham and give them an air of danger about them is such a task. No disrespect to Mr. Donavan and I have loads of respect for the man but I don't rush to see him play. I don't get excited when he turns out for the LA Galaxy and when he plays for the United States it's more of a feeling of hopefully Donavan puts in a nice game. It's all very luke warm but with Dempsey I break my neck to try to get to the television when Fulham plays and when he has the stars and strips I just know he is about to put in work. There is a nastiness to Clint Dempsey I feel as a kid in class that if you fought with you had to go the nurse afterwards that is all part of his allure to me. He is a tough guy an old school player  and I really hope he can push on and America will finally realize they have a real world class player in it's mitts.