breh, i wanna share your enthusiasm but why do you see dempsey as this incredibly influential character? i doubt players all over the world are watching an american who came off the bench for a europa league club go back to the US like
he was a starter, there was a period he came off the bench but it was after the injury that kept him out a month. not to mention the month he missed at the start of the season.
and its apparently confirmed everton wanted to sign him but he went to seattle instead.
so he's the captain of a world cup team, solid contributor to a 5th place team, could play basically anywhere in EPL, and he heads to MLS because he wants to. which is the key point. he didn't run out of options, he's not 34, he can still do a job, and it was of his own free will he felt like coming back.
not to mention half the national team plays in the domestic league now. whats that say? american players dont have to go abroad to "make it", theres no "play for a foreign team" bias. it reveals that MLS will stump up the cash if a player goes there, and with players like keane and dempsey who are still massive parts of their national teams, slowly the bias goes away
if USA does well in the world cup with deuce and landon leading the line the possibilities are endless