In the wake of Clint Dempsey’s retirement, it’s sometimes tempting to think of his nearly six seasons here as merely something he did toward the end of his career. I think most of us know that isn’t quite right.
In fact, I think it can be argued that we were treated to Dempsey for a good portion of his peak years. He didn’t play as much as we’d have liked, granted, but he was still an exceptionally talented player when he arrived and as recently as last season was still very good.
I think you can even argue that he was never more entertaining than a rather magical period during 2014-15 when he and Obafemi Martins were forming one of the great forward partnerships in MLS history.