Clint Dempsey is coming off of the best season of his career with Fulham. He led the team in scoring and was tremendous from the very start of the campaign. As one of the United States' most important players, his great form was good news heading into this summer's Gold Cup. The tournament is only 45 minutes old for the U.S., but in that span they have to wonder where the dangerous Dempsey is because Will Johnson has basically marked him out of the match.
USA Vs. Canada, Gold Cup 2011: Clint Dempsey Is Invisible
Johnson is one of the better midfield defenders in CONCACAF with his energy, pace and ability to seemingly never get tired so it is no surprise that he's defending well. U.S. head coach Bob Bradley even took that into account, moving Landon Donovan to the right of the midfield, away from Johnson. That said, Dempsey needs to find a way to get involved for the U.S. They are only up 1-0 and cannot afford to have one of their best players completely invisible.
The good news for the U.S. is that an invisible Dempsey is not completely new. He has a tendency to loaf around for stretches before popping up out of nowhere with a tremendous play. The Americans will need a little bit of that tremendous in the second half to really get their attack going because Dempsey is just too valuable to them.
See More:
