At what point as a player do you sacrifice club loyalty for personal success? It’s a question that surrounds professional soccer today as we see lots of players leaving the clubs that helped shape them into the footballers they are today with the prospect of more success.

As soccer fans we all have our favorite club, and when we see a great player leave, it’s never easy. But to understand why they leave you have to take a step back from being a supporter of your club and look at it in a different light. Most players in their prime leave their clubs with the ambition to win more. And when you leave a club, you will be touted as a villain for trying to do what is best for your career, not your club.

The most notable recent example is Robin van Persie. When Van Persie moved to Manchester United last summer, he was portrayed as a villain in the minds of Arsenal fans. To draw a comparison, Van Persie leaving Arsenal was similar to LeBron James snubbing his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers and choosing the Miami Heat. Shirts were burned, and James was booed when he returned to Cleveland. Does any of this sound similar to Van Persie’s situation? And can you really blame Van Persie for leaving a club he devoted a big chunk of his career to and was getting little to no help to win a trophy?

As an Arsenal fan, I was upset at first knowing that Van Persie was leaving — especially to Manchester United — but when I thought about, the move made sense for the Dutch striker. Arsenal had been selling many of their top players to big clubs, and those players were going on and winning trophies and having success while Van Persie was stuck trying to single-handedly win Arsenal its first trophy in almost a decade. While many thought Van Persie would stick through the tough times at Arsenal, a player can only watch for so long before taking action. So I don’t blame Van Persie for making the move to pursue success.

This summer, there are players who need to decide whether to stick with the club that has been loyal to them, or to move on to more lucrative pastures. For example, Gareth Bale over the past few seasons has thrust himself into the discussion as one of the world’s best players. Yet he’s stuck on a team that has had just one Champions League season in his tenure at the club. The prospect of big wages and playing for world renowned teams could sway Bale to leave Tottenham this summer, but should he? Does he owe anything to Tottenham and the club’s supporters by staying at the club this summer and turning down possible moves to Real Madrid, Barcelona, etc? I say no. If Bale did decide to leave, it wouldn’t be a surprise. The lure of Champions League football could be too hard to turn down and the prospects of winning titles would be appealing, too. But I don’t think Bale should leave. If he stays with the club, Tottenham Hotspur will bring in the world class players he needs around him to help the club excel.

The era of professional footballers staying with one club throughout their entire career is a rarity. Ryan Giggs has played for Manchester United for 23 consecutive years. Ledley King was at Tottenham Hotspur for 14 years. Brian Labone was at Everton for 13 years. Nat Lofthouse was at Bolton for 21 years. Gary Neville, 19 years at United. Despite these lofty achievements, the day and age of one-club footballers is a dying breed.

Club loyalty is something that is a touchy subject for lots of fans. Fans of teams all over have seen their fan favorite player leave for bigger and better things, but if you’re not able to take a step back and see the reasons why they left, you may run the risk of just sounding like a hater. With the summer transfer window approaching we are sure to see lots of player’s loyalties to their clubs tested.

If you were a professional footballer, what would you do? At what point would you sacrifice your club loyalty for personal success? Give us your viewpoint in the comments section below.

With reports flooding in that Jose Mourinho will make his return to English football and to Chelsea this summer, many are speculating big changes to the squad. With reports from the Evening Standard that Mourinho will have a big budget for the transfer window, it’s almost certain we will see big names coming to the club.

Number one on the list for The Special One and number one on the list for Chelsea, for the longest time, is Radamel Falcao. All signs point to Falcao joining the London club and if he does, we could see Fernando Torres or Demba Ba shipped out in the summer. Falcao would provide Chelsea with a much-needed reliable striker capable of creating his own goalscoring chances, and cleaning up inside the box. But the striker position is only one of many problems inside Stamford Bridge.

This move may seem like a reach, but I feel as though if Chelsea cannot land Falcao and for some reason Mourinho feels like sticking with Torres, he will look to bring in a creative attacking midfielder very familiar to him, and that is Mesut Özil. The attacking midfield position is somewhat loaded for Chelsea with Oscar, Mata, and Hazard all starting many games for Chelsea. I feel though that if they decide to stick with Torres they will need a CAM unlike one they have now.

Hazard, Mata, and Oscar are the type of midfielders that love to score, more of shoot first CAM’s which doesn’t benefit Torres much. Bringing in Özil would provide Mourinho with an attacker capable of opening up defenses with excellent vision and passing, and would give Torres the setup man he needs to provide him goalscoring opportunities that he can’t miss. The problem with bringing in Özil is that you would have to ship out one of the starting CAM’s or convince him to play a lesser role in the team. I feel that player would be Oscar. The Brazilian has had an excellent season for Chelsea, but has been inconsistent. In Europa League play, Oscar has played a lot better than he has in league play, scoring as many goals in the Europa League as he has in the Premier League. Oscar is young, and full of potential so that could turn off Mourinho to selling him, but if you have the chance to bring in a proven world-class player like Özil and you have the means to, can you pass that up?

Speaking of central midfielders, there is the case of finding someone to replace Frank Lampard. His role in the Chelsea squad has changed significantly, having been moved back from the center attacking midfield role, to a central midfield role, and this season to a central defensive midfield role. But even with the change of position on the field, Lampard is having a fantastic season for the Blues, but it is no secret that he may not receive a contract extension. That will leave Chelsea with a void at central midfield.

To fill that void, Mourinho may want to look to bringing in another versatile midfielder much like Lampard, and that is Marouane Fellaini. At Real Madrid, Mourinho didn’t have a really versatile midfielder that could play all of the central midfield roles (attacking, defensive, holding), and if Lampard isn’t offered a contract extension he may be without that type of midfielder when he returns to Chelsea. Fellaini is the type of player that can do all three central roles. At Everton, Fellaini is very much used in more of a CAM role, but has shown he can play a regular central midfield role and if needed a central defensive midfield role. His versatility and great attacking and defensive work rates would be exactly what Mourinho would need to help anchor the central midfield.

There is speculation that Xabi Alonso may be making his return to England in Chelsea blue, but with him being up there in age Mourinho may want to look to bring in another central midfielder along with him, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Fellaini moved to Chelsea in the summer.

Lastly, Mourinho needs to address the back line. John Terry is on the downhill, Luiz seems to want to play an attacking role more than a defensive role, Ivanovic is almost 30 and Gary Cahill’s form has been inconsistent. Mourinho might look to bring in a young, central defender to tighten up a shaky back line and the player he may look to bring in is Raphael Varane. The French footballer has proven his worth at Real Madrid and worked his way into the starting eleven under Mourinho, and he has a highlight reel featuring tackles on some of the world class strikers out there. Varane could be a player that Mourinho could build a new defense around over a few seasons, and just like Fellaini he is the type of player that Mourinho likes, especially in a defender. Strong, fearless, physical. He has all the qualities of a Mourinho product.

This is, of course, all dependent on if Mourinho does make his return to Stamford Bridge. The team he is potentially taking over is full of talent and promise, but also full of question marks. It’s sure to be a summer of changes for Chelsea though, no matter if they bring in The Special One or not.

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about Clint Dempsey and his season at Tottenham being, well, not up to par. Since then, Deuce has seemingly woke up. He has scored 3 goals in the past 2 games, and he has figured out what he needs to do to improve his perceived ineffectiveness.

I was pretty hard on Dempsey because to me it looked like he wanted to earn his spot in the starting eleven his way, and didn’t want to change his playing style to fit the system. While I still find that to be somewhat true, I also have seen flashes of the Dempsey that Tottenham fans thought they would be getting this season. As of late, Dempsey has found the scoring touch, and has come up with big goals when it matters. His two goals in the Europa League semi-final tie that ultimately led to Tottenham being eliminated were vintage Dempsey and he did all he could to try and pull out the win for Spurs. Against Manchester City, Dempsey — like all of Tottenham — woke up in the second half and his second half strike started the comeback for Spurs.

The fact of the matter this season though is while not performing at the level he did at Fulham, Dempsey is having a season that is still solid. As inconsistent as he has been, he has come through when called on, and that is admirable. Manager Andre Villas-Boas seems to have found that the best spot for him to play Dempsey in is in a right midfield/right attacking midfield role. This way, Dempsey can cut inside and still play centrally in the middle of the field. As lots of people in the comments of the last Dempsey post pointed out, he is a player that likes to be free on the pitch. And it was evident that sometimes it’s exactly what Spurs need. In their Basel game, Spurs struggled to find a reliable attacking option outside of Dempsey, which is why you can’t really criticize him for wanting to float inside. Adebayor was relatively ineffective against Basel, and although he played the full 90, he failed to make an impact.

For the foreseeable future, Dempsey has earned his spot in the team at right midfield. Right now he’s thriving in that role, and his continued production could be the key for Tottenham to get in to the UEFA Champions League. In the right midfield role, he has scored 3 goals this season and has a higher average match rating than Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor. He also has earned Man of the Match in the past two games while playing on the right side. If Dempsey continues to play out on the right for Spurs at a high level, and with Gareth Bale back from injury and picking up where he left off, Spurs could be headed for a top four finish. The real question for them now is the striker situation. Should Jermain Defoe or Emmanuel Adebayor start for Spurs? Defoe has 15 goals and 3 assists this season while Adebayor has scored 6 and assisted on none, so you can make your decision on that one.

I give Dempsey the credit he is due for his recent performances. He seems to have figured out what he needs to do to become a real threat in each game, and I give AVB credit for finding the spot on the field for Dempsey where he can thrive. No longer is this a season of discontent for Dempsey, but more of a season of figuring it all out at a new club. For now, Deuce is firing on all cylinders and is proving his worth at Tottenham.

Will the real Robin van Persie please stand up? Actually, will the real Robin van Persie please score a goal? The usually prolific striker has been in a bit of a funk lately, not having scored in 10 league matches.

Looking at his goal tally in the league this season (19 goals) and his assists (8 assists), you would think he’s having a strong season — maybe not as great as last season’s monstrous season, but a strong one nonetheless.

When Van Persie made his move to Manchester United from Arsenal, many thought he would form the best striker duo in the world when paired with Wayne Rooney. And for the first part of the season, he and Rooney seemed to be working, with both strikers scoring and assisting and drawing defenses into keeping more than one defender on at least one of them at a time.

Through the first half of the season, it seemed like RVP was on course to replicate his goal scoring tally from last season, but after the winter break it seemed like something changed. The shooting boots had gone missing, and defenses seemed to take notice. They still kept extra eyes on the Dutchman, but no longer was he their main threat to score. The real showing of how little he was striking fear into opposing defenses hearts after the break was evident in the return leg of Manchester United’s Champions League tie against Real Madrid. Even with Wayne Rooney on the bench, the Madrid defense treated Van Persie like any other striker they have faced. Instead of double teaming him and trying to make sure he didn’t get shots off, they kept regular eyes on him, not opting to double team. They also dared him to try from distance, and that is where most of his shots were during that game. For a player that was possibly the best striker in the world for half of a season, this was an abysmal showing.

All is not looking downward for RVP this half of the season though. In the league, he still draws extra attention because most defenses know once he nets one goal, there is a great chance he will get going and rack up the goals again. His body language doesn’t look like the body language of a confident striker anymore. The swagger he had in the beginning part of the season has seemed to fade away, and he looks like he is trying to force the goals instead of letting them come naturally. Still though, he is a regular starter for Manchester United and having him on the field is more beneficial than having him off the field if for no other reason than the attention he draws.

So I’ll ask the question again, will the real Robin van Persie please stand up? The United fans are itching to sing “Oh Robin Van Persie” and not moan “Ugh, Robin Van Persie.”

It’s no secret Olivier Giroud has had anything but a warm reception this season at Arsenal.

After his summer move from Montpellier where he led the French side to a league title and a Champions League spot while finishing the league the top scorer, many considered his relatively low transfer fee to be a steal for Arsenal. Giroud started off slowly, not scoring his first goal in an Arsenal shirt until the end of September and not scoring his first league goal until October. For a player that was supposed to fill the void of Robin van Persie, he wasn’t doing a great job.

But Giroud eventually hit his stride, scoring more, showing better chemistry with his teammates, and just looking more comfortable in the league. But yet there were still questions about him, and rightfully so. Many questioned his finishing ability, although having notched 16 goals in an Arsenal shirt so far this season he had missed more chances than many would have liked to see. But still, Giroud was producing, more-so than another big name signing, Lukas Podolski. Still, it seems Podolski is more of a fan favorite than Giroud, who is an easy target to pick on for not scoring more goals this season because of how prolific he was last season at Montpellier.

Giroud himself pointed out a great fact — he is producing better than Robin van Persie did in his first season with Arsenal.

Giroud seems to fall in and out of favor with Arsenal fans week in and week out, but personally I like the modelesque Frenchman. I think he provides a great goalscoring option when he is fed the ball in areas he excels at scoring in such as in the air or in the box. If you give Giroud the ball outside the box and try to let him produce a goal, he will struggle. But give him a chance to put it in on a one time strike then you have a great chance of scoring.

Giroud hasn’t flopped this season, but he hasn’t sparkled. He is having a solid season, but maybe the high expectations surrounding his arrival because of last season still haven’t worn off. For France, that’s a different question, as he is relegated to the bench in favor of — he who can’t seem to score for his country — Karim Benzema.

Giroud however is a great piece for Arsenal, and will continue to be for future seasons. His finishing needs some work, but for what Arsenal needed, a scorer who will put in double digit goals, he was the right guy for the team. Was his play style the best fit for the teams ball domination play style? Probably not. But he has figured out how to play that style and he is thriving in it. There’s still a chance for him to reach the 20 goal mark on the season, will we still be skeptical of him then?

Most Tottenham Hotspur supporters have been frustrated by Clint Dempsey’s performances for the Lilywhites this season. On the popular Spurs Show podcast this week, Tottenham experts Barry Castagnola, Theo Delaney and Paul Hawksbee likened Dempsey to a bad impression of Jermain Defoe and said that he looks a great player in a lesser team (i.e. Fulham) where he was a big fish in a small pond.

To make matters worse, there always seems to be confusion among Tottenham supporters when Dempsey’s name is brought up. Is he an attacking midfielder or striker? As a striker, he hasn’t been scoring the goals on a consistent basis. And as an attacking midfielder, he faces stiff competition from several players who play in the same position as Dempsey. Yet Dempsey isn’t the type of creative attacking midfielder that Tottenham needs or wants.

A lot of people speculated that when Clint Dempsey made his summer move to Tottenham Hotspur that he would excel at Spurs the way he did at Fulham. I was one of those people. I had high hopes for Dempsey as I wanted to see an American be a vital player at a club that was challenging to cement their place among the elite.

Dempsey had a great career at Fulham that peaked in his last year, scoring 23 goals and recording assists. He was the focal point of the Fulham attack and was a threat to score at any moment when on the attack, but when he moved to Spurs it seemed his game didn’t. Dempsey is an unconventional type of player, an attacking midfielder that is capable of moving up and playing striker. In both spots though he is not one to create his own chances, as most of his goals came from clean ups or goals set up for him. This season at Spurs it seems as though he has lost that scoring touch, only scoring 8 goals and 5 assists.

Dempsey has look uninspired this season at Tottenham, as it looks as though he is out of his element. Dempsey has been supplanted by the likes of Lewis Holtby, and Gylfi Sigurdsson in his favored attacking midfielder position. Dempsey has failed to adapt his style of play to Andre Villas-Boas system, and that is hurting him. The problem I see with Dempsey is that he wants to win, but he wants to do it his way. He doesn’t seem to want to play the role that he needs to, so that he gets himself on the team sheet more often. This is somewhat understandable. A player who was the first choice at his previous club has been asked to be a supporting player and not the star anymore. To be frank, Dempsey needs to put aside his stubbornness and selfishness and do what is best for his team and for his playing time.

A Tottenham fan I spoke with about Dempsey feels as though the club purchased the American because he “moves” merchandise. Dempsey jersey’s are a big seller, especially here in the US as Dempsey is one of American soccer fan’s favorite players. The prospect of Bale and Dempsey on one team seemed like it would be a deadly combo on the field as well as in the media, but so far it has been the case of one player rising above expectation and reaching new heights and one player fading into the background.

The only thing keeping Dempsey from being a factor at Spurs is the man himself. If he can put aside the ego of being the American star and become a supporting player at his club, then he will earn himself the playing time he deserves. For now though, it seems Dempsey will be confined to the bench as AVB has found other midfield options he prefers over Dempsey. This is what Clint wanted, though, to play at a club that challenges for Champions League football, but I don’t think he wanted to sit idly by as his team put themselves in contention for it while he saw limited playing time.

Marouane Fellaini’s talent and immense potential are being wasted at Everton. The big Belgian midfielder has put himself on the radar of many huge clubs in Europe, most notably Manchester City, Chelsea, and Spurs. Everton is rumored to list his value at £30 million pounds, so whatever club tries to snatch him up will be in for a huge budget hit.

Is Fellaini really worth the £30 million Everton is rumored to have listed him at? Yes, he is. Despite a poor performance against Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup loss Saturday, Fellaini is an imposing force in the center of the pitch, able to play any central midfielder role. Listed at 6 feet 4 inches, Fellaini is deadly in the air and from set pieces. His excellent technique and vision also make him a threat to set up any attacker in a scoring position.

But with the positives also come the negative. Fellaini has a temper about him, which showed when he provided a nasty headbutt on Ryan Shawcross that saw him banned for three games. He also isn’t the paciest of players, which lets him down at times.

The positives do outweigh the negatives though, and Fellaini has proven time and time again he is going to be a great player for years to come, whether it’s kicking about Nike footballs in European leagues or playing for Belgium at the highest international level. In 2011, the Belgian had a breakout season. Recording the second most tackles of any player in the Premier League and gaining possession 190 times, the most of any player in the Premier League. He also recorded the most tackles, passes completed and aerial duels won out of any player at Everton that season.

So why should Fellaini leave Everton? To grow as a player, he needs to compete against not only the best in England but the best in Europe. Fellaini has the potential to become a dominant central midfielder on a consistent basis but he needs to sharpen his skills. Fellaini needs a move away to a club where he can learn on the field from more experienced world class players. At Everton, he does not have that luxury as he is primarily the centerpiece for that club.

Champions League football is Fellaini’s main goal, and at Everton he will more than likely not attain that for years to come, and by that time he won’t be at a ripe age to fully grow into the player many can see him becoming.

So where should Fellaini go? And where are his most likely landing spots? The two clubs mentioned above are my top bets. Manchester City would love to have Fellaini — a young player who can push forward and attack but is very comfortable with playing a holding role, much like Yaya Toure. He fits the mold of the type of player that Roberto Mancini likes, and that’s a plus. And we all know City have the funds to pay his high transfer fee. Chelsea are also a very likely destination for Fellaini, who would provide a great holding midfield presence. Chelsea bought flair in their last summer window, bringing in Hazard and Oscar to pair with Juan Mata. But as we have seen, Chelsea lack a big midfield presence. The only trouble with a possible move to Chelsea for Fellaini is the fact no one knows who the manager at Chelsea will be, and what style of play that manager will push to employ.

Wherever Fellaini ends up he will be a huge addition to the team. Immense talent and potential await the club that gets his services.