- May 17, 2005
- 3,796
- 5,577
Dembele strikes me as another player we've broken or are trying our best to break. He's a classy midfielder with a good engine and a lot of strength and is held in very high esteem by opposing fans. He was quite an effective player for us playing as a proper midfielder in season 12/13.
He may be mystified by his current predicament exactly because he's following tactical instructions. It's not like being a defensive midfield water-carrier is a good role for him. I would prefer to see him and Mason playing next to each other and taking turns to break past the ball and into attack and building the rapport with each other to know when to sit and when to go based on the situation. But maybe the instruction for DMs is to just sit all the time. So he sits, and doesn't look very dynamic. But as others have said, it's not like Capoue is doing all that much protecting, and if anything, Capoue has an even more relaxed demeanor and isn't aggressive enough in the tackle or the press or on the ball.
It sort of sums us up at the moment - decent player under-performing but also not being used in a way that optimizes his ability. A problem he and his manager should probably resolve quickly.
He may be mystified by his current predicament exactly because he's following tactical instructions. It's not like being a defensive midfield water-carrier is a good role for him. I would prefer to see him and Mason playing next to each other and taking turns to break past the ball and into attack and building the rapport with each other to know when to sit and when to go based on the situation. But maybe the instruction for DMs is to just sit all the time. So he sits, and doesn't look very dynamic. But as others have said, it's not like Capoue is doing all that much protecting, and if anything, Capoue has an even more relaxed demeanor and isn't aggressive enough in the tackle or the press or on the ball.
It sort of sums us up at the moment - decent player under-performing but also not being used in a way that optimizes his ability. A problem he and his manager should probably resolve quickly.