Breaking Down Clint Dempsey's 2012-13 Stats with Tottenham

It was a productive season of quality footballing from Tottenham Hotspurs' Clint Dempsey during the 2012-13 English Premier League season.

The American made 29 total English Premier League appearances, starting in 22 of the matches. 

Deuce was disciplined, receiving only four yellow cards and no red cards.  Four other Hotspur players equalized Dempsey's yellow card total and three others were booked more than he was.

In terms of the Premier League, Dempsey was the team's third-highest goal scorer, finding the back of the net seven times.  He was behind only Gareth Bale (21) and Jermain Defoe (11).  He did so by taking 2.4 shots per game, with 70 total.

These shot figures once again ranked him third behind Bale and Defoe, respectively.

Dempsey was a creator, too, dishing out 33 key passes, or 1.1 per 90 minutes, ranking him sixth on the team.  He was not as aggressive with the ball at his feet, completing eight total dribbles which was the 13th highest total on Tottenham. 

He was also tied for the second most assists of any Tottenham player during their Premier League campaign, assisting on a goal four times.

Dempsey was caught in possession and dispossessed 48 times which was the second highest total of any Spur behind only Emmanuel Adebayor who was dispossessed on 60 occasions. 

The US national team captain was an accurate passer, connecting 620 of his 763 passes giving him a pass completion rate of 81.3 percent.  That was just above the team average for any player with at least 11 English Premier League appearances of 80.7 percent.  

He was neither an accurate nor frequent crosser, serving up 11 total crosses, none of which found a fellow Tottenham player.  Dempsey was far more likely to look for a shorter pass as opposed to a long ball this English Premier League Season, cracking only 25 total long balls.  He was mostly precise when he did try to open the game up with a long ball, successfully connecting on 18 of the 25 attempts.

The Texan was one of Tottenham's most frequent aerial winners, tied for the second most aerials won per match with two.  He won 36.3 percent of his 160 attempted aerials.  Only Michael Dawson and Steven Caulker one more aerials per ninety minutes than Dempsey and they are both defenders. 

Dempsey did not contribute too much defensively, which make senses given his attack-minded position.  He blocked three shots on the season, completed 25 tackles and intercepted 21 passes attempted by the opposition.  All of those figures were some of the lower totals on Tottenham.

But, as noted previously, Dempsey does not earn his paychecks by defending.  He is on the pitch to create and score, both of which he did more often than most of his teammates.

It will be very interesting to see how Clint Dempsey is deployed should Bale head for greener pastures in Spain or to another club in England.  Dempsey might well have to shoulder more of the scoring burden, something his national team coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, will likely be pleased about as he prepares for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. 

Data gathered from Who Scored?.