There’s a good piece on Clint Dempsey that has just appeared on the New York Times website arguing that his exploits in England have increased expectations of Americans seeking to ply their trade in Europe.

It includes an intriguing quote on why the Texan’s such a good fit at ‘a smaller club like Fulham’:

There’s more pressure on you game in and game out. It’s such a roller coaster. If you go on a bad run of form, after five or six games, you can find your manager fired. That’s something I didn’t see in M.L.S.

There’s the lingering prospect of a move away from Craven Cottage to one of Europe’s top clubs as if we didn’t know Dempsey was ambitious.

You never know your road in life, but, hopefully, Champions League is in the cards for me.

And an insight into that never-say-die Dempsey philosophy:

You grab some sand and put it in your hand. That’s all the people who want to play the game. Then, you drop the sand and that’s all the people who make it to the next level. Then you pat your hand and there are only a few left. And they’re the ones who make it in the world. That’s how I view it. I’m just someone who wants to make it in the world.

He’s made it alright. And we hope to see plenty more of Clint Dempsey at the Cottage, too.