Was losing out to Tottenham a blessing in disguise for Liverpool?

 

Tottenham Hotspur fans are a pretty black and white bunch by nature. They worship Bale, always have, even supporting him through the “jinx” phase.

They immediately adored Rafael van der Vaart even when it became apparent that zero athleticism clearly wasn’t a deal breaker in his move from Madrid. They loved 'Super Pavlyuchenko' even though he was rarely super and often very average.

In contrast there were some players that never really got any love, Crouch was one even though he did little wrong, Corluka was another, Bentley, Adebayor.

Some can change the perception; Benoit Assou-Ekotto initially received no great warmth yet in the last few seasons he has turned this around and become something of a cult hero.

Someone however who has literally split the crowd is Clint “Deuce” Dempsey. The erstwhile hardcore American rapper arrived at White Hart Lane on deadline day last August and has since scored 12 goals in 32 games plus 11 substitute appearances.

Many of the Spurs faithful remain unconvinced as to his capabilities and see him as not quite good enough to play wide nor centre forward nor just off the front man.

Others consider him a valuable asset, significant for his attacking versatility and cite his goals home and away against Man United as well as the important Man City and Stoke strikes in the run in as demonstrations of his value.

The last minute almost panicky way in which the deal was done perhaps set the tone for some supporters perceptions and left many feeling a little short-changed, he wasn’t Moutinho, he wasn’t Willian,

It’s like promising your girlfriend a 100 rose bouquet from Interflora and cooked dinner on Valentine’s Day and then turning up with a couple of pansies from the late night garage and a Cornish pasty.

It should be remembered however that many Liverpool fans were unhappy that their club missed out on the former Fulham player, the owners reportedly deeming him too expensive.

Dempsey was the second player last summer who was widely anticipated to be Anfield bound before heading to North London. Gylfi Sigurdsson chose Spurs ahead of a reunion with Brendan Rodgers with whom he’d played under at Swansea.

The outlay for both was something in the region of £15m and it would be interesting to know whether Liverpool fans now think that’s money well saved.

It’s probably still too early to judge and both players with their performances at the end of the season as well as their recent form at international level will be hoping for greater success next term.

The Liverpool v Spurs battles in the transfer market look set to continue with Tom Ince and Toby Alderweireld amongst the latest players to apparently be coveted by both Rodgers and Villas-Boas.

It will be intriguing to observe whether the in and out seasons had by Dempsey and Sigurdsson result in some of these targets now deciding to choose red.

Allen Whyte

Follow @footyfriends

Comments

[Dol]

What a load of rubbish. Corluka and Bentley have anyways been shit

[Plank]

LFC dodged two bullets with those pair.

[Danny]

Yeah we did,but walked straight into two others in Back pass Allen & invisible Borini or probably £50,000,000 million pound ;-( Because the cost £26.5 million pound...

[Ramos36]

Sigurdsson is a class act who given the games/opportunities could save Spurs £15m-£20m-while Dempsey is no more than an impact player at best. A super sub who can come on to nick a goal in the dying stages of a match should Spurs need one.

I think Clint has struggled with the fact he is no longer a 'big' fish in a small pond, with his confidence (in his overall game) looking largely suspect around a superior quality of player at Spurs. Dempsey looks FAR more at ease with HIMSELF when he feels as if he is the main man, as the case was/is with Fulham/USA.

[fkin stupid article.]

dempsey, sigurdson > allen, borini. Moronic to say otherwise.

[Cas]

I am hoping BR wants to come and take both GS & CD for £15m then we can replace them with one class player i.e. Bernard or A Maher, come on Brendan you know you want them, just give us the money and their yours!!
COYS!!!!!!

[Ben]

Bitter much!!!!

[SP]

Yeah, Spurs are really cursing their luck only accumulating 73 points :)
Really wish we hadn't signed that seless lump, so we could be more like Liverpool and 'not' have a player who scored the winner at Old Trafford and the last minute equaliser in the home fixture :ROFL:

[cider spurs]

If you could spot talent or bring youth on you'd not have to battle us supposedly for Tom ince would you?.

[Ben]

'It may of been money well saved' ?? Haha don't make me laugh.
As if your wannabe big club worries about that.
2 words for ya. Andy Carroll.

The post stinks of bitterness.

[ShevYiddo]

Yet at the end of the day they played their part in us finishing the season with seventy-two points and missing out on fourth by just the one.Your lot have spent copious amounts of money on various donkeys to finish in the top four and you're still eleven points behind us (even though apparently next season is yours) yet you have the arse to bang on about our business.Well here's what happened.They chose a team that they thought they'd get a better chance of finishing top four with over a team that haven't finished above sixth this decade and surprise surprise they finished eleven points better off.I preferred you lot as Champions when I was a kid.Now you are all just arrogant and bitter!

[JackJames]

These days it seems like you need a squad of two teams playing for you. I would say their versatility is what impresses me most. They've many different positions last season and did an admirable job. Dempsey's presence in the air is something spurs didn't have the season before, he is also strong and fights tooth and nail. Sigurdsson I would say has had an average season but showing (in some games) many reasons why persisting with him might be fruitful; he's one who will improve and grow into the position behind the striker (or up top in a 4-3-3).

As for Liverpool; I think they would have made the difference and climbed up the league. Relying on Downing, Borini for example was a bigger mistake for them. They seem to be doing well in the transfer market now. Which I like to see; a good manager being backed with signings.

[uobviosly can make it up.]

Such an envious,sad article that we must assune young Master Whyte must bleed green rather than the customary red.. Oh the envy shows yjtough despite the effort to write a grown up article.

[DecT]

We had already signed Allen & Borini so Dempsey was meant to be as well as those not instead of them. We had to wait until Jan to get alternatives and we got Sturridge and Coutinho instead so definitely a good deal

[GS]

As a Liverpool fan its obvious that these 2 signings would have probably made a difference in the first half of the season. Dempsey would have helped scoring goals and Gylfi would have been a better fit than Sahin or Allen. Missing out on those two though did force us to get Sturridge and Coutinho, which was not such a bad thing. There is no guarrantee that Dempsey and Gylfi would have settled in right away (it took Gylfi a while to settle in at Spurs, but he was playing some good footy towards the end of the season).
We messed up the Dempsey transfer by following him all summer and then deciding not to buy him, then of course Gylfi chose a team he figured would be (as has been for the past few years) in a better position to challenge for a champions league place.
In terms of who needed them the most, I think we needed them more as our lack of quality attacking players shows in our league position, but Spurs had less of a need for them but more of need for an out an out striker.
No bitterness at the end of the day against Spurs, as you guys have been able to build a stable side which plays good footy and has quality players. I was really hoping you would make the Champions league instead of Arsenal!

[maxidusoriginal4men]

I dont think that this post is about liverpool vs spurs, so there is no need for some spurs fans here belittling liverpool. liverpool have not performed for some seasons but in the last 10 years, we have had some great final wins and being in others. yes, including last season!

It's hard to predict how a player will do in your team, if they signed fir someone else instead. Players move from club to club and whilst they may perform in their current club, they may turn out to be shite in their next club. Or vice versa. We just have to wish them well.

Next season will be interesting as arsenal, totenham and liverpool will be strengthening. As a liverpool fan, I have to be realistic and see a 6th spot as the most achievable. I hope I am wrong. Good luck for next season which ever club you are affiliated to.

[Brendan]

Funny seeing Spurs fans trying to belittle Liverpool, they're a club about a 5th of the size of Liverpool