Season Review

Team of the Season – Clint Dempsey

Fulham’s American international was undoubtedly one of the season’s big success stories. An established figure in one of the Premier League’s “unfashionables”, Dempsey was largely overlooked at the start of the campaign but gradually emerged as an irresistible Fantasy force, capable of scoring goals from central midfield, the flank and, of course, whilst deputising up front.

Dempsey’s versatility makes him a prize asset for his club and, in Fantasy terms, also means that he’s likely to feature as the spearhead for several matches. This season he capitalised on that opportunity in some style, firing four goals in a three-match stretch as Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak sat on the sidelines. That spell, more than any other, tempted big investment, whilst a double Gameweek and a newfound ability to convert direct free-kicks, saw him edge towards essential status by the campaign climax.

The Statistics

Dempsey’s early season form hardly hinted at what was to come. As Martin Jol’s side stuttered, so Dempsey struggled in tandem, firing just a single goal and assist in his first six league starts as Fulham went without a win.

The Cottagers first victory arrived in style, with a 6-0 thrashing of QPR. Dempsey struck his second of the season in that game, but still reached Gameweek 9 with just two goals and three assists to his name: hardly the form of a player who was to emerge as the leading Fantasy midfielder.

The 2-0 away win over Wigan in Gameweek 10 was to start a run of 14 matches which saw Dempsey notch nine goals, including a hat-trick in the 5-2 win over Newcastle at the Cottage in Gameweek 22. By that point, the American’s ownership and price at last began to rise, having remained stable at his initial cost of 8.5. It immediately jumped to 8.8 following those three goals and would go on climbing to peak at 9.8 by Gameweek 37.

Dempsey ended last term with a run of seven goals in his final 11 league starts as he totalled an incredible 17 goals for the season. With seven assists and 22 FPL bonus points to his name, Dempsey saw off the claims of Tottenham’s Gareth Bale and City’s David Silva to establish himself as the top scoring Fantasy midfielder.

With a previous best of 12 goals and three assists, Dempsey had elevated himself into the heavy-hitter bracket. He was owned by 18% of FPL managers by the end of the campaign and had etched himself on our pre-season watchlists for 2012/13.

The Prospects

Dempsey’s future at Fulham is now critical, both to the West London club and to his prospects in Fantasy terms. Understandably, the suitors are circling Craven Cottage right now, eager to acquire the services of a midfielder who can raid the penalty box with such effect. Dempsey is a precious commodity and Martin Jol’s top priority this summer will be to keep him at the club.

With Moussa Dembele also attracting interest from the Premier League’s finest, Jol could see his midfield dismantled if the cheque books start to flutter big money in their direction.

For Fantasy managers, we need Dempsey to sit tight. We’re set to see the FPL push him into the upper echelons of the midfield price list, with a figure in the region of 10.0 perhaps likely. That would be reason enough to overlook Dempsey’s lure but, should he also end up a small fish in a big pond at another club, it could kill off his prospects entirely.

Another season at Fulham will likely see Dempsey feature in our squads when fixtures fall in his favour. Whether his price will be competitive enough to see him attract a high initial ownership remains to be seen. The suspicion is that Dempsey will suffer a significant hike, whilst also struggling to maintain the incredible standards set last term.

Mark Mark created the beast. He's now looking to tame it.

241 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Ismail
    • 12 Years
    11 years, 10 months ago

    after what someone mentioned above,a team buying kagawa would, besides bringing in a good player,boost their appeal in asia where theres huge potential
    the fans and revenue are a huge part of the club after all

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    1. SPorting
      • 12 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      nothing new though. they're all at it.

      big clubs like MUN did it (Park Ji-Sung) and even BOL have done the same thing (Chung-Yong Lee).

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    1. Demí
      • 13 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      Oops, didn't see the url. Ignore this 😳

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      1. Fratboy
        • 13 Years
        11 years, 10 months ago

        Quite clever really

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        1. Demí
          • 13 Years
          11 years, 10 months ago

          Yeah too clever 😡

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    2. Elniñorules
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      Been doing the rounds in the last 12 hours. Not official.

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  2. Tuchap - Lurker
    • 13 Years
    11 years, 10 months ago

    Hi all,
    Just thought I'd pass this on to everyone.

    Here are the FourFourTwo magazines predicted Euro lineups:

    Poland - Szczesny*,Piszczek,Glowacki,Perquis,Wawrzyniak,
    Murawski,Dudka,Blaszczykowski,Obraniak,Mierzejewski,Lewandowski

    Russia - Akinfeev,Anyukov,Berezutski,Ignashevich,Zhirkov
    Denisov,Shirokov,Zyryanov,Dzagoev*,Arshavin,Pavlyuchenko

    Greece - Tzorvas,Torosidis,Papastathopoulos,K.Papadopoulos*,Spyropoulos,
    Katsouranis,Tziolis,Karagounis,Salpigidis,Gekas,Samaras

    Czech Republic - Cech,Selassie,Hubnik,Sivok,Kadlec,Plasil,Jiracek,Rezek,Rosicky*,
    Pilar,Baros

    Holland - Stekelenburg,Van der Wiel,Mathijsen,Heitinga,Pieters
    Van Bommel,Van der Vaart,Van Persie*,Sneijder,Robben,Huntelaar

    Germany - Neuer,Boateng,Hummels,Mertersacker,Lahm,Khedira,Schweinsteiger,
    Muller,Ozil*,Podolski,Klose

    Portugal - Patricio,Pereira,Alves,Pepe,Coentrao,Meireles.Veloso,
    Moutinho,Nani,Postiga,Ronaldo*

    Denmark - Sorensen,Jacobsen,Agger,Kjaer,S.Poulsen,Kvist,Zimling,
    Rommedahl,Eriksen*,Krohn-Dehll,Bendtner

    Spain - Casillas,Ramos,Pique,Puyol,Arbeloa,Busquets,Alonso,Iniesta,
    Xavi*,Silva,Villa

    Italy - Buffon,Maggio,Ranocchia,Chiellini,Criscito,Pirlo,De Rossi,
    Nocerino,Marchisio,Balotelli,Cassano*

    Croatia - Pletikosa,Corluka,Lovren,Simunic,Strinic,Srna,Vukojevic,
    Modric*,Krankjcar,Mandzukic,Olic

    Rep of Ireland - Given,O'Shea,Dunne,St.Ledger,Ward,Duff,Andrews,Whelan,McGeady,
    Keane*,Doyle

    Ukraine - Shovkovskiy,Butko,Kucher,Rakitskiy,Selin,Tymoshchuk,Yarmolenko*,
    Rotan,Konoplyanka,Milevskiy,Shevchenko

    England - Hart,Richards,Terry,Lescott,Cole,Parker,Barry,Walcott,
    Gerrard,Young,Rooney*

    France - Lloris,Sagna,Rami,Mexes,Evra,Cabaye,M'Vila,Ribery,Nasri,Malouda,
    Benzema*

    Sweden - Isaksson,Lustig,Granqvist,Mellberg,M.Olsson,Svensson,
    Kallstrom,Toivonen,Larsson,Ibrahimovic*,Elmander

    * denotes FourFourTwo's suggested Key Player

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    1. pompeyfan
      • 14 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      useful, Richards in the England side & Pieters in the Netherlands side

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      1. Tommytour
        • 13 Years
        11 years, 10 months ago

        Sagna recovering from a broken leg

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    2. r0nh
      • 12 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      England - Is Richards even in the 23 man squad??

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      1. r0nh
        • 12 Years
        11 years, 10 months ago

        I wrote this before I saw Pompeyfan's post

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    3. Piggs Boson
      • 12 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      Thanks for the post, but sorry, but that is outdated bullshit.Richards isn't even in the squad!!

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    4. Mílanista
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      Thanks

      Evidently it's a bit out of date as there are some injured and not called up players in the lineups. There's also the odd glaring error like Ranocchia in the Italy defence. Still very useful for reference.

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      1. Tuchap - Lurker
        • 13 Years
        11 years, 10 months ago

        The mag has only just come out over here I know there are a few errors in there, I am assuming that it was published before squads were decided/injuries etc...

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        1. pompeyfan
          • 14 Years
          11 years, 10 months ago

          maybe it was written in 2011, only reason for Villa to be in the Spain team! 😉

          Seriously tho, very little thought or research has gone into the predictions, treat them as a guardian teamsheet. The FFS write ups are much more accurate

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    5. Doosra - ☭DeclanMyGenius…
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      Hmmm, one or two problems there, imo. Useful though - thanks. 🙂

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    6. Freshy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      noice

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    7. Willis.
      • 12 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      This is obviously unreliable. They've got a Saint in the Irish squad!

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    8. Tommytour
      • 13 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      Van Bommell will be running around like a headless chicken if VDV Sneijder RVP Roben and Huntelaar all start

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      1. pompeyfan
        • 14 Years
        11 years, 10 months ago

        true, thats why VDV won't start and it will be de Jong or Strootman instead

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  3. Christina.
    • 14 Years
    11 years, 10 months ago

    Villa....Rooney...puyol...no Jelly....no Gomez...

    😀

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    1. r0nh
      • 12 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      Hello Christina.

      Te he he

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    2. Willis.
      • 12 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      Reply fell.

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      1. r0nh
        • 12 Years
        11 years, 10 months ago

        Stay out of this Willy!!

        She is all mine.

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        1. Doosra - ☭DeclanMyGenius…
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 14 Years
          11 years, 10 months ago

          Down boy! 😉

          "O hell! what have we here?
          A carrion Death, within whose empty eye
          There is a written scroll! I'll read the writing.
          All that glisters is not gold;
          Often have you heard that told:
          Many a man his life hath sold
          But my outside to behold:
          Gilded tombs do worms enfold.
          Had you been as wise as bold,
          Young in limbs, in judgment old,
          Your answer had not been inscroll'd:
          Fare you well; your suit is cold."

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  4. Doosra - ☭DeclanMyGenius…
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    11 years, 10 months ago

    Lunch: England need 60 more to win, Cook 53 not out.

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  5. Willis.
    • 12 Years
    11 years, 10 months ago

    New post.

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  6. HVT
    • 13 Years
    11 years, 10 months ago

    Anyone think terry/ Ivanavich/boswinga and the likes - celebrations were a bit disgraceful ?

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    1. Goodfish
      • 13 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      John Terry is a child. A silly bully of a child. He probably convinced the other fools that it was a good idea..."Hey, let's wear our kits, too!"

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  7. Michael Jordan - call me MJ
    • 14 Years
    11 years, 10 months ago

    My friend is running a Euro League where you just select 16 players, 1 from each team, which you keep the same for the whole tournament, could anyone give me some help as to which players to choose?

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    1. Demí
      • 13 Years
      11 years, 10 months ago

      I think the best bet would be defenders from Spain, Italy, England, Russia, Greece, Ireland & Czech Republic.

      Then: Ozil, Sneijder/Blascz, Ukraine/Sweden, Denmark, Portugal in midfield

      France (benzema) Ukraine/Sweden & Poland/Holland in attack

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  8. emperikal
    • 13 Years
    11 years, 10 months ago

    Its crazy how slow the pages move now compared to about a month ago! I'm used to refreshing and having like 5-6 news pages lol. I rather like it this way though I must say. Room for actual conversations to happen!

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