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Ex-Player Watch Player Watch: Mousa Dembele

Basil Brush

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2013
1,691
3,080
I don't. I quite happily say he's the best player I've watched. What he does is incredible.
Best 3 players i have seen for Spurs in no particular order are Ginola, Kane and Bale.

However i love what Dembele brings. I think he is better for us than Modric was (but people may disagree).

Only thing (hurting) Dembele now is the injuries.
 

walworthyid

David Ginola
Oct 25, 2004
7,059
10,242
I've been saying it for years, Dembele is unique in the premier league. He goes past players like nobody else, no tricks, no flicks, no kick it and run, he just simply wanders past them effortlessly. After 25 minutes or so people just give up when he faces them with the ball, they either make a half-hearted guess at which way he is going or they drop off and hope he goes to torment somebody else.

He is also much quicker than he looks, once he gets going he can catch almost anybody. And his strength, he just shrugs people off.

Dembele is without question the best all round midfield player in the premier league.
 

Mr Pink

SC Supporter
Aug 25, 2010
54,770
99,331
He's under rated by plenty on here.

When he's fully fit he's extremely hard to stop. My favourite player.

When we're at our best as a team its Dembele and Eriksen who are our most important players.
 

walworthyid

David Ginola
Oct 25, 2004
7,059
10,242
He's under rated by plenty on here.

When he's fully fit he's extremely hard to stop. My favourite player.

When we're at our best as a team its Dembele and Eriksen who are our most important players.
Not sure you can break it down like that. Without Jan we would be a far lesser team. He makes an enormous difference to the way that we play, not just defensively where he is outstanding, but in his use of the ball and the way that he carries the ball out of defence.

Then obviously there is Harry, he does so much more than just score goals. He defends, holds the ball up, brings others into the game, frightens and stretches defences with his constant running.

No, Eriksen and Dembele are both vital cogs in the spurs machine, but we have other equally vital cogs!
 

jonnyp

Well-Known Member
Jun 11, 2006
7,149
9,628
I dont think its a coincidence our good form of late has coincided with Mousa getting back into the team and back to his best. Just like the previous seasons.
 

Mr Pink

SC Supporter
Aug 25, 2010
54,770
99,331
Not sure you can break it down like that. Without Jan we would be a far lesser team. He makes an enormous difference to the way that we play, not just defensively where he is outstanding, but in his use of the ball and the way that he carries the ball out of defence.

Then obviously there is Harry, he does so much more than just score goals. He defends, holds the ball up, brings others into the game, frightens and stretches defences with his constant running.

No, Eriksen and Dembele are both vital cogs in the spurs machine, but we have other equally vital cogs!

Obviously Vertonghen and Kane are crucial, but in terms of controlling the game and dictating to the opposition Dembele and Eriksen are our most important players.

You look at the last four big games and these two have bossed it. For me, if they're not on it we won't see that level of performance, collectively, no matter how good Kane or anyone else is individually.
 

Insomnia

Twisted Firestarter
Jan 18, 2006
20,199
55,538
woah woah Moussa Dembele
Woah woah, he's silkier than Pele
Woah woah, he nevers gives the ball away
1,2,3,4
woah woah
 

TottenhamMattSpur

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
10,925
16,007
Best 3 players i have seen for Spurs in no particular order are Ginola, Kane and Bale.

However i love what Dembele brings. I think he is better for us than Modric was (but people may disagree).

Only thing (hurting) Dembele now is the injuries.

I was young and skint during the Ginola era, didn't go very often.
Bale, like Kane is a phenomenal player with consistent end results.
But neither Bale nor Kane do or could do what Dembélé does. His close control reminds me of agile skilful little Brazilians. But he's as strong as a Sherman tank. It's marvellous to watch.
 

Dharmabum

Well-Known Member
Aug 16, 2003
8,274
12,242
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43132605

As a former midfielder, whenever I analyse players in my old position I think about why I would and wouldn't like to play against them.

With Tottenham's Mousa Dembele, there is a long list of reasons why he is an opponent I would hate to face.

In the past few weeks he has come up against players of the calibre of Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic of Manchester United, and Sami Khedira and Miralem Pjanic of Juventus, and has destroyed them all.

Those performances - and the way he played against Liverpool and Arsenal recently - have earned the 30-year-old Belgium international plenty of plaudits, and they are richly deserved.

But Dembele has not always got that kind of recognition. Part of the reason for that is the problems he has had with his fitness, but it is mainly down to the fact he does not get many goals or assists.

Dembele at Spurs (Premier League)2012-132013-142014-152015-162016-172017-18
Games302826293020
Starts262210272414
Minutes220918191138227320651304
Win % when starting65.463.55055.666.742.9
Full 90 min games111121785
Subbed off before 75 mins5105563
Goals111310
Assists311110
We live in an era when people are obsessed with those statistics but I am not, which is why I have always been a massive fan of Dembele.

When I have watched him or played against him, in games or in training, I know exactly what he is bringing to the table for the team.

And when he is at the top of his game, which he is at the moment, he is one of the best central midfielders in Europe - there is no doubt about that.

'He had a gift but was seen as a frustrating player'


I was still at Tottenham when Dembele joined the club, but before that I played against him when he was at Fulham.

He was a right-winger when he first came to the Premier League, before Cottagers boss Martin Jol moved him to central midfield.

When we signed him, you could tell immediately in training that he had a gift and a talent but he seemed to be viewed as a frustrating player - someone who lacked an end product.

I think that was down to people not really understanding what his game was about.

There was always a demand for more goals and assists from him, but he is so selfless they are not at the forefront of his mind.

It is what he does for his team-mates, and how he does it, that makes him so special.

'He sucks in all the pressure and releases the ball at the perfect time'

I can understand why Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino praises him so much because, with Dembele in the team, the game goes as fast or as slow as he wants it to.

The only worry you don't have when you are playing against him is that he is going to score goals, but that does not matter if he is dominating games the way he has been doing - and he is a nightmare to stop.

When I was in Turin watching him against Juve, I was just thinking how brilliant he was, but also feeling sorry for his Spurs team-mate Eric Dier, who is likely to have to go up against him when England play Belgium in the World Cup.

Dier will know every single thing there is to know about Dembele, but that is still not going to help him much when they meet in Kalingrad on 28 June.

'Spurs cannot survive on 60 minutes of Dembele any more'


Tottenham's past four games in the Premier League and Champions League - against United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Juventus - have been some of the pivotal moments of their season.

They beat United, and won the north London derby, and earned impressive draws against Liverpool and Juve. Each time, Dembele was their best player.

It has also been a big moment for him because he has started all of those matches, something that has not happened very often since he joined the club for £15m in August 2012.

Tottenham in all competitions since Dembele joined in August 2012
Total games309
Games Dembele has played in226 (73%)
Games Dembele has started163 (53%)
Games Dembele has played 90 minutes78 (25%)

His injury problems, especially with a long-standing foot injury that required surgery last summer, have been well documented and the player himself admitted last July that he will never be 100% fit.

He has had a lot of injuries in his time at Tottenham (41, according to experts PhysioRoom) but not many of them have been serious enough to require a long lay-off.

In that time he has missed more than four consecutive matches on only three occasions, and never more than eight in a row, but at the same time those problems have still meant he has played 90 minutes in only 25% of Tottenham's games. It must have been very frustrating for him.

As a player, you often play through injuries that restrict your fitness, and I remember when Dembele went through a period where he was coming off at about the hour mark in a lot of matches, even the big ones.

But it appears Pochettino and the Spurs staff have worked really hard with him so he is able to play at his peak level for 90 minutes, or near enough, which is what they need from him.


By the way he has been using him, it looks like the manager has finally looked at him and said, 'you are ready, it is time to get you out there to do what you do best'.

Now Spurs just need him to continue. If they are going to achieve anything this season, he will be at the forefront of it - he has already shown us that.

Jermaine Jenas was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.

 
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