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Ex-Player Watch Player Watch: Mousa Dembele

gilzeantheking

SC Supporter
Jun 16, 2011
6,612
19,600
Apparently Andy Dunn the chief sports writer in the Mirror gave his ratings
Mousa Dembele 7
Douglas Costa 8
You have to wonder two things, one is what game was he watching and two how is he the chief sports writer for a national newspaper.


Don't forget Dunn is a A Scouser.
 

bomberH

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2005
28,455
168,208
I’m very much on the pro Dembele side. Stats don’t always show the full picture as we know. If stats were used on Hoddle when he was at Spurs, I doubt they’d have been very kind to him, yet we all look upon him as a legend because of his style, grace and majestic moments. He didn’t run a lot and he didn’t tackle much, but he made things happen, while also spraying a few loose balls regularly. I think sometimes we have to just appreciate what we’re seeing from Dembele at the moment. It’s very obvious that injuries hinder him from being the complete midfielder and that is why he has spells of being ok instead of brilliant.

You could argue that football is more tactical now than ever before but you can also see that when he performs like the last few weeks, he’s one of the best. Tactics wise, yes he may be out of position sometimes that might lead to a chance for the opposition, yes he may spend too long on the ball etc etc but there are no perfect CM’s who can combine everything needed to be a great CM into their personal game. They excel at certain things and not at others. Dembele is no different but he is better at being a CM than most others when he’s fit.

Long may his form continue.
 

Japhet

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2010
19,232
57,389
Ironic you use stats against the rest of us, when Dembele's pass completion is probably been the club that his admirers use most to beat the rest of us round the head with, ignoring the real world stuff like the fact that he rarely plays clever or incisive passes that change football matches.

I feel sad for any fan that's daft enough to be blinded by what he thinks he likes and what a player actually does, and compare a player who's controlled the midfield about 2 and a half games in a season with one that has been doing it at the highest end of football for several years week in week out.

I watch a lot of football, live and televised, and can honestly say there about 10-15 CM's I'd happily have had in our midfield over the last few years, ones that not only help teams control a game, but also know when to pass the ball instead trying to dribble past one more player, to then make a simple pass that could have been made at the start, players who play with their head up not down, players who are clever enough to know how to make the ball do the work, as well of or instead of their hips. Midfielders that turn up most weeks a season, not a handful. Midfielders who are exceptional even when they are being pressed, not just when they are playing against a bus.


The thing that I think you really don't get at all is the physical impact on the opposition of playing against Dembele. They generally come off the pitch looking utterly knackered when he's completely overpowered them. I can't think of many other players who do that and I'd say that he is a major reason in why we manage to come on strong late in the game, even though he is often the one to be subbed. He creates the circumstances where others can flourish.
 

fatpiranha

dismember
Jun 9, 2003
8,337
21,678
"Cap'n, shields are down, we cannae survive another hit!"
"Deploy Mousa Dembele"
"It's working cap'n! The Klingons have retreated and the Borg are asking for their ball back"
 
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rossdapep

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2011
21,905
78,640
I don't think we should be sucking each other off just yet. We've been here before many times with Dembele. Last season was a great example. He played for just under two thirds of it, and was very good in about 4 or 5 games.

Lets remind ourselves that we are 27 games into a season in which Dembele has been available for just about all of it, and we have just had 3 or 4 decent games out of him on the spin for the first time.

There was no Dembele when we were dismantling Real Madrid until we were already 3-0 up, and then they scored. There was no Dembele when we mullered Liverpool, but a rooky Winks.

There was a Dembele for our two worst performances of the season, away at Arsenal and ManC. And away at Newport. And he wasn't great for the first 45 minutes against Liverpool away.

When we are dominating possession, Dembele can look like a don. When we are the ones being blitzed, Dembele can still be rattled in making poor challenges and getting caught dawdling.

He was great last night but lets see what the rest of the season brings, but even if he's great for the rest of, it will still mean we've had a decent Dembele for about a third of a season.
How many of those games has he been struggling with a niggling injury though? I admit that there have plenty of games in which he has been poor by his standards but I think that could be down to a number of factors.

Truth is when fully fit and fully in the groove he's the platform on which we can build our success on the pitch as he owns that midfield.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
Can't imagine the plaudits you'd be handing out if it was Onamah putting in performances like Dembele has over the past few weeks. Just accept that he's a fantastic player for us FFS.

Can you imagine the criticism if Onomah had put in performances like many that Dembele has?

Just accept that he hasn’t been fantastic anywhere near as much as he has.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
Over last few seasons our best performances are generally when Dembélé is playing well.


This is just not true. Last season for example he started the away games at ManC.ManU and Liverpool when we were awful (or not great in the ManU case), and didn't start the home games against ManC, Arsenal or ManU when we were great.

This season he started the Arsenal and ManC games when we were awful and didn't start the Real, Liverpool.

And you can pull the same kind of comparison for normal games. Didn't start when we beat Burnley away 3-0 but did start when we were poor away to Southampton.

Sometimes he plays and we are good, sometimes he plays and we aren't. He's rarely been the influencing factor you think.
 
Jan 28, 2011
5,645
78,674
Found this on Twitter.

Not sure what I like best - the imagery or that they've only had to shrink Pogba, Henderson and Alex Sandro in that photo.

:D

DWACFx-W4AAyypb.jpg
 

Spurs_Bear

Well-Known Member
Jan 7, 2009
17,094
22,286
Can you imagine the criticism if Onomah had put in performances like many that Dembele has?

Just accept that he hasn’t been fantastic anywhere near as much as he has.

He has, that's why he cant get in a Championship midfield currently.

Don't understand why you can wax lyrical about him but people cant go overboard on Dembele if they want.
 

spurs mental

Well-Known Member
Mar 10, 2007
25,075
49,234
Have to hold my hands up. I thought he was done before this run of games.

He's been so brilliant I can't put into words how impressed I've been.

I hope he can continue to be as dominant for the rest of the season. With him in the middle I really fancy us to go far in the CL
 

kaz Hirai

Well-Known Member
Nov 5, 2008
17,692
25,340
He has, that's why he cant get in a Championship midfield currently.

Don't understand why you can wax lyrical about him but people cant go overboard on Dembele if they want.

That is a shame, noticed he's not even getting a look in at villa but that's understandable as they are on current form the best in the league without him starting

Better off here training with dembele
 
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Maske2g

SC Supporter
Feb 1, 2005
4,257
1,726
After the Southampton draw, I thought the season was over.

4 Motm performances later from Dembele, and there is still plenty to play for.

What a footballer. Imagine he had been injury free for 5 years.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
He has, that's why he cant get in a Championship midfield currently.

Don't understand why you can wax lyrical about him but people cant go overboard on Dembele if they want.

That's the thing though Bear, I have never gone overboard like that with Onomah, I might say that I would like him to have been given better chances more than people like, I might say I think the kid's got a shitload of potential too often for some, but I've never said you are all sad fucking idiots if you don't think he's the best CM in the world.

It's taken Demeble about 1300 minutes of football to play 300 decent ones this year, if Onomah had the same luxury, I'd hardly be calling you all sad idiots for not declaring him the best in the world.
 

kaz Hirai

Well-Known Member
Nov 5, 2008
17,692
25,340
That's the thing though Bear, I have never gone overboard like that with Onomah, I might say that I would like him to have been given better chances more than people like, I might say I think the kid's got a shitload of potential too often for some, but I've never said you are all sad fucking idiots if you don't think he's the best CM in the world.

It's taken Demeble about 1300 minutes of football to play 300 decent ones this year, if Onomah had the same luxury, I'd hardly be calling you all sad idiots for not declaring him the best in the world.

300 decent ones is a bit of an understatement.

If Josh put in the exact same performance against united, pool, arse and juve the papers would be full of Madrid lining up big money move for onomah

.....or Liverpool in race to sign ononma :rolleyes:
 

C0YS

Just another member
Jul 9, 2007
12,780
13,817
After the Southampton draw, I thought the season was over.

4 Motm performances later from Dembele, and there is still plenty to play for.

What a footballer. Imagine he had been injury free for 5 years.
Or Imagine Poch had him at 23. There is a reason Poch said that if he coached him earlier Dembele would be one of the best in the world.
 

Spurs_Bear

Well-Known Member
Jan 7, 2009
17,094
22,286
That's the thing though Bear, I have never gone overboard like that with Onomah, I might say that I would like him to have been given better chances more than people like, I might say I think the kid's got a shitload of potential too often for some, but I've never said you are all sad fucking idiots if you don't think he's the best CM in the world.

It's taken Demeble about 1300 minutes of football to play 300 decent ones this year, if Onomah had the same luxury, I'd hardly be calling you all sad idiots for not declaring him the best in the world.

Since I've been back reading the forum regularly you have claimed:

"Onomah already does some things better than Dembele."

You've also said you'd be happy to go into next season with Wanyama, Winks, Onomah and "a new guy", not even mentioning Dembele.

You are more overboard with your praise for Onomah than 3000 occupants of the Titanic mate.

And to be fair, 300 decent minutes from Dembele? He's been our best player (or equal best) in the last 4 matches alone, regardless of how inconsistent he has been and for whatever reason, we are talking a fuck-tonne more than "300 decent minutes".

I like you, I rate you, I value you, but you'd give even the most loyal Chocolate Labrador a feeling of "Oh fuck offfffffffffff....mate"
 

Spurs_Bear

Well-Known Member
Jan 7, 2009
17,094
22,286
300 decent ones is a bit of an understatement.

If Josh put in the exact same performance against united, pool, arse and juve the papers would be full of Madrid lining up big money move for onomah

.....or Liverpool in race to sign ononma :rolleyes:

Exactly. It's reluctant praise like we used to get every time there was a ratings thread when Walker/Huddlestone/Dempsey/Dawson were playing.
 
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