Add new comment

I support a lesser known English team called Millwall who play in the Championship (division below the Premier League). In the early 90s, we had a few American players, notably Kasey Keller who played 176 games for us (and 93 times for the Sounders so you probably know him) and he is easily the best keeper I've ever seen in 25 years of actively supporting Millwall. I also recall a more than decent midfielder called John Harkes who played for Sheffield Wednesday and was the first American to play in the nascent Premier League around 1992.
So, I think other US players, who were not stars necessarily, were making waves in English football a good 15-20 years before McBride and Dempsey and I don't recall an anti-US bias against these players at the time. English football has always supported the concept of: if you're good enough, doesn't matter how big you are or where you come from, you can play in my team.
Clint Dempsey, he has always comes across as slightly aloof and this is possibly driven by an innate sense within him of not quite belonging - perhaps even of being an 'outsider'. I follow the Mariners very closely (have done since 2000) and have followed the Raiders in NFL since 1985 and I do not believe Dempsey comes across as a typical American - he certainly doesn't follow the template of other US players that have succeeded in England (Brad Friedel also up there as maybe one of the top 3 keepers in the EPL in the last 20 years). McBride on the other hand does. His whole attitude says, "Ok, I may come from a non-footballing nation and you probably don't rate me so I am going to show you with graft and commitment that you are wrong". And boy did he...
Dempsey is still in his peak years (for his position/playing style, 28-32 should be his peak) so maybe a change of scenery and a return to the 'mothership' will bring the best in him. I certainly wouldn't be surprised.
M