EXCLUSIVE Clint Dempsey offers his verdict on Donald Trump's Chelsea stunt... and how the USMNT changed this summer

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

USA soccer legend Clint Dempsey sees the positives in President Trump's gatecrashing of Chelsea's Club World Cup celebrations - though he also believes Blues players should've been able to experience the moment on their own.
Following Chelsea's 3-0 win over PSG in the Club World Cup final, Trump shocked the soccer world when he remained on stage during the team's trophy lift at MetLife Stadium.
And Dempsey, who won the Gold Cup three times and earned 141 caps with the US men's national team, had a mixed reaction to the eye-catching stunt.
'I see it both ways, right? I mean, it's being talked about more than probably it would have, with stuff like that happening,' he told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview.
'But I also do think that when you do something special, you deserve to have kind of that moment with the people that you did it with. So I see both sides of it in that situation.
'But it was exciting to watch some of those games... I was surprised that Chelsea was so dominant,' he continued. 'But it's good for the Americans to see. Hopefully there's kids watching at home that are being inspired by what they saw during some of those games.
Dempsey's comments came roughly a week and a half after the USA's Gold Cup final loss to Mexico on July 6 - a result (and a tournament) which came without the likes of Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson and Folarin Balogun.
Still, a mostly unheralded, MLS-heavy group banded together to win five contests and Dempsey believes the national team 'created more of a culture through that experience.
'There's more of a team chemistry, I would say, through that, through that tournament. Now we just need to have that mixed with better quality of play. But credit to them, they showed fight and grit, were able to get to the final and came up short. Now we want to see kind of that culture that's created, mixed with our best players in some of these friendlies as we move towards the World Cup.'
Dempsey, the players and coach Mauricio Pochettino will also want to see the stands packed with more American fans moving forward.
The manager urged USA supporters to learn from the 'unbelievable' Guatemala supporters after they essentially created a road atmosphere in St. Louis for the Gold Cup semifinals.
Dempsey is certainly used to playing in some hostile environments with the national team, and thinks American players need to give fans a reason to show up.
'I don't know if it's a price situation, if it's a product situation on the field,' he began. 'As a player, you just gotta go out and control what you can control, but you gotta inspire them to go out and spend their hard-earned money to come watch you play.
'And you look at different teams, like Mexico for example, even when they weren't playing their best, their fans have gone out there and supported them through thick and thin.
'But I'm also a believer that that you got to provide a certain type of product on the field to motivate fans to get out there and want to watch. So hopefully, with our best players being back and being fit, and as we build toward [the World Cup], hopefully there's that excitement, and you see people that want to pack out the stadiums.'
That, of course, should be an easier task once Pulisic is back on the field for the national team, after he decided to skip the Gold Cup following a grueling club season with AC Milan.
Dempsey, who told Men in Blazers that it wasn't his own 'mentality' to miss national team competitions, said he has a 'lot of love' for Pulisic but that he has to be balanced when it comes to being a pundit in general.
'In terms of how former players view the current players, I think you got to keep it real, right? And that's what your job is, when things are going good, talk about the good things, and when things are not going good, talk about what went what went wrong... I wouldn't say I'm someone who's trying to hate on anybody. I'm just trying to tell you - if you ask me my opinion, 'imma give you my opinion. And I think it's important that you got to show love, but also you got to shoot even straight.
He added that Pulisic had 'one of the best seasons ever by an American abroad. And if his body was tired and he needed a little bit of rest, then that's that's what he needed.'
Dempsey spoke to the Daily Mail to promote a partnership with global health leader Abbott, who have teamed up with Real Madrid for the 'Abbott Dream Team' initiative. The program will give 11 players between the ages of 18 and 19 the chance to train with the Spanish giants, following tryouts around the United States in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Dempsey, whose unconventional path to stardom went through a Texas trailer park, certainly understands the importance of under-the-radar players getting eyeballs on them.
'I think it's great to have platforms where it doesn't cost money to sign up, and doesn't matter what your background is, and if you're selected, you have a chance to do something special,' he said of the program, which will also provide nutrition education to the 11 players in Madrid.
'Because I think there's a lot of kids that do fall through the cracks, right? Not everybody can afford to play football, and there's different routes to making it pro.'
Asked about the state of talent scouting in the USA, he continued: 'I just think it's important that you look everywhere, right?
'... It's a difficult one in terms of the scouting, but it's also difficult in terms of the development, right, trying to develop players that [have] more of a street style, more of a pickup kind of style that they're able to take and be more creative. I think that's what we're kind of lacking, the national team, is more creative players, which I would like to like to see.'
The USA's next friendlies will come against South Korea and Japan in September.