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Danny Murphy has admitted that Clint Dempsey was the best trainer he had ever worked with during his time at Fulham.
Murphy was the latest guest on the Fulham Fix Podcast and shared plenty of stories about his time at Craven Cottage.
Fulham signed Danny Murphy from Tottenham back in 2007 and he recalls the story of why Daniel Levy let him depart after just a year at the club.
Murphy went on to make 169 league appearances while at the club, just one less than his spell at Liverpool.
The midfielder witnessed the full range of footballing emotions during his time at Craven Cottage.
He’s written into the club’s folklore after his goal against Portsmouth to confirm the Great Escape in 2008.
Murphy then went on to captain Fulham to the Europa League final where Diego Forlan broke fans’ hearts in extra time.
While at Fulham, Murphy recalls that American star Clint Dempsey was the best trainer he had ever come across in the sport.
He suggests you always wanted to be on his team, although another member of the squad was more than happy to come up against him every day.
Murphy says Dempsey was Fulham’s best training
Talking about the Texas-born forward, Murphy said: “Clint [Dempsey] was a wonderful guy. What I will say about Clint, the best trainer I ever trained with in all the years, unbelievable.
“Just trained like it was the last session he was ever going to play. If he was in your team, you win.
“I mean the battles he used to have with Dickson [Etuhu], oh my god.
“Dickson and Clint, because Dickson was so strong, he used to get annoyed that Clint would bully everyone in training.
“So, he deliberately put himself on the opposition team because he was only one who could physically muscle Clint.
“But then Clint would get frustrated at Dickson. They had great respect for each other but Clint couldn’t let it go.”
Dempsey and Murphy were both essential figures in Fulham’s run to the Europa League Final, with the American’s chip against Juventus one of the club’s most iconic goals.
That intensity in training would have been very much appreciated by then manager Roy Hodgson.
Few would have expected him to outlast both Murphy and Dempsey in the Premier League but he’s still using all of his tactical nous to manage Crystal Palace on the other side of South London.
