Dembele is better as a holding midfielder

[JAYSTAR]

It's honestly driving me nuts seeing all the comments people are making about Dembele holding on to the ball too long or not releasing it, or not getting into the final third...as if he should be our creative outlet and all the defensive stuff he does is just getting in the way. For crying out loud people, can't we give the man a break and finally accept that he is no longer an attacking player?!
We need to accept him for the player he has transitioned into and celebrate that we have such a beast to partner our more creative and ball playing players, the likes of Bentaleb and Mason.
Dembele has absolutely no confidence in the final third, but has amazing attributes of strength, balance and guile, all of which are what we need for a holding CM or CDM, because he rarely loses possession and he is always willing to track back. He should not be on the pitch to do the creative role ever IMO, which is something I have found infuriating about Poch's recent use of him in the 10 spot, so I was relieved when he finally got to come on as sub and play the holding role when Mason got injured against Chelsea.

Against Chelsea, Bentaleb and Dembele were awesome because they complement each other. Bentaleb and Mason are actually very similar players, they do ok together, but they are often out muscled and we scrape by in matches. They both love to get forward and move the ball forward quickly, but they need a defensive minded player next to them because although both are great at tackling as well, that is not their natural game.
I would always play Dembele and one of Bentaleb or Mason in a midfield two and hope Poch gives that combination a chance again soon. Anyway, I just needed to get this off my chest and hope that others could begin to realise his best and most crucial position is to be the foil for a more attacking player like Bentaleb or Mason.
We don't need three in midfield, we need Dembele and Bentaleb, or Dembele and Mason.
Dembele is not an attacking player any more, I repeat Dembele is not an attacking player any more...!

 

[spursfan77]

Do holding/defensive midfielders jump out of the way of the ball like yesterday because they are scared of it?

I don't think so. I'd rather have someone who knows how to play the position rather than a player with no heart taking the easy option because he's too afraid to take a chance on a risky pass.

 

[pablo73]

If he is a holding midfielder he's not a very good one

 

[Lufti]

He can't tackle though, nor does he read the play particularly well. He's not a holding midfielder imo, he's a CM who doesn't work in our team

 

[JAYSTAR]

Do holding/defensive midfielders jump out of the way of the ball like yesterday because they are scared of it?

I don't think so. I'd rather have someone who knows how to play the position rather than a player with no heart taking the easy option because he's too afraid to take a chance on a risky pass.

I don't agree. He jumped and turned his back, he didn't jump out of the way.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

I don't see him in the same mould or class as a holding player like Carrick and Moussa definitely doesn't show for the ball enough and is very willing to just leave it to others, unlike a quality player who's always looking for it

I'm really not sure what the bloody hell he is but I know what he isn't, a creator

 

[JAYSTAR]

He can't tackle though, nor does he read the play particularly well. He's not a holding midfielder imo, he's a CM who doesn't work in our team

Hi Lufti, my argument is that he has been played out of position most of the time recently, with the wrong role, so he's not looked great, but no one can deny he shores up our midfield and slows play down in a positive sense when we need him to and I genuinely believe he is a great option as holding mid instead of stambouli who seems to make bad decisions and lacks pace.

 

[JAYSTAR]

I don't see him in the same mould or class as a holding player like Carrick and Moussa definitely doesn't show for the ball enough and is very willing to just leave it to others, unlike a quality player who's always looking for it

I'm really not sure what the bloody hell he is but I know what he isn't, a creator

He's definitely not a creator I agree, but he complements one. Against Chelsea, he was able to sit and let Bentaleb push forward as he wanted to. It worked really well.

 

[Blackcanary]

He can't tackle though, nor does he read the play particularly well. He's not a holding midfielder imo, he's a CM who doesn't work in our team

Agreed. You can't have a holding midfielder in the PL who can't tackle in front of our back four. They'd be an absolute liability. and Poch seems to like ball winners in his midfielders. That is not Dembele.

 

[spursfan77]

I don't agree. He jumped and turned his back, he didn't jump out of the way.

That's even worse!

I have massive problems with players not wanting to get hit with the ball because it's going to mess up their hair!

 

[Marty]

This reminds me of the "Gareth Bale is a left back" thread of a few years ago.

Not that Dembele has Bale potential, but that pigeon-holeing is completely pointless.

 

[mil1lion]

I found it so annoying watching Dembele alongside Stambouli because it's like watching 2 players who would make up one quality defensive midfielder. You have Stambouli who is very physical and scraps well for the ball but so poor in possession. Then you have Dembele who is the opposite, very good on the ball but weak in the tackle. He has this habit of trying to get the ball rather than tackle. A perfect example was yesterday in the first half when he had the chance to get a tackle in by going straight through the ball (and maybe take the player with it) to put the ball out for a throw and stop a counter attack. Instead he tried to get in between ball and player to get on the ball and win back possession, but ended up losing the ball and allowing a dangerous attack.

I agree that Dembele is a defensive midfielder in the sense that he does not make many surging runs to get ahead of the ball. He's a very safe player who does well to up the possession stats. His dribbling is excellent yet he doesn't push on past players. It really comes down to his lack of pace, he knows he doesn't have the pace to continue running with the ball so he checks back. If he had the pace he would be a great attacking midfielder. However he needs to sit back and look at the game in front of him in a similar way Huddlestone would.

I would not compare Bentaleb to Mason though, Mason has far better attacking instincts than Bentaleb. He actually looks a threat going forward where Bentaleb is not. Personally I would like to see only one of Bentaleb, Capoue, Stambouli and Dembele at one time unless we're up against a top team. I think we play our best football with one defensive midfielder and one box to box midfielder who can get ahead of the ball. We have 2 players in Paulinho and Mason who can play that role but only 1 is performing well.

We have limited affective pairings in centre midfield at the moment. The only really tried and tested pairing is Mason and Bentaleb. We did well with Dembele and Bentaleb for much of the Chelsea game and against top level opposition it could be a good option. We're yet to see Mason and Dembele which I think would work well in the way Modric alongside Huddlestone worked in certain games. I'm not sure it would work in scrappy games though where I think Stambouli could be useful.

 

[yojambo]

Dembele is alright, nothing more, nothing less. This is his third season now and supposed to be his peak years and I would say he is definitely a level down from when he first arrived from Fulham. I'm not sure he will ever fulfil his potential now which is so frustrating.

He still has a part to play this season but as we move forward under Pochettino I can't see him being around for long.

 

[DaSpurs]

He's too slow to be the box to box or attacking mid, doesn't have the dribbling ability in the tight spaces of the final third to be an attacking mid, and can't even catch ball-carriers enough or intercept passes enough to be a decent defensive mid. He has just gotten worse and worse since his arrival despite his usefulness in specific games, and I think there's a lot of truth to the notions that he has been carrying hip ligament problems, and does need surgery.

The biggest problem is that he is extremely ineffective against the smaller sides that sit back. He has absolutely no tool in his shed whatsoever that can break them down, and he's not quick enough to eliminate a counter in these situations. We need more options who can, as our only player who can from deep is the extremely thin Ryan Mason. The sooner we move on players like Dembele, Paulinho, and Capoue who don't contribute enough for players who can a) make Poch's system better and b) give us some of these qualities for a more efficient midfield and consequently team, the better we'll all be.

 

[parklane1]

Our biggest problem ( imo) is that we do not have holding/defensive m/f in our squad, our CB's get not cover and we have no one who tracks runners and until Poch brings someone in to do that we will struggle.

 

[Shea]

I don't agree. He jumped and turned his back, he didn't jump out of the way.

That's the same shit

Turning away for fear of being hit by the ball and as a result letting the ball past - pathetic and certainly not the qualities of a decent defensive midfielder

I also think midfielders should be able to do a bit of everything

 

[DaSpurs]

Our biggest problem ( imo) is that we do not have holding/defensive m/f in our squad, our CB's get not cover and we have no one who tracks runners and until Poch brings someone in to do that we will struggle.

Have to agree. We have several of these hybrid types, where they're in-between an actual No 8 box to box type and a defensive mid, and not one who can genuinely dictate a game or genuinely shield a back line. It's just not good enough per our ambitions.

I do think we still have higher priorities elsewhere (even in midfield), but it's still very much a problem.

 

[carpediem991]

He is good when we need strength in midfield against the big boys and to keep possession.

Butother than that he can't produce, score or protect the defense. Still don't know if he is useful in the end putting everything together.

 

[Mullers]

So we paid 15 million for an attacking midfielder who turned out to be a holding midfielder?
Someone made a booboo.

 

[Ledleys Knee]

I agree his defensive play is better than his attacking play

But he's so ponderous in possession, he harms our whole game being on the pitch.

Bentaleb and Mason aren't the same by the way. Bentaleb plays as a progressive DM, whilst Mason is a tough tackling driving CM. Stambouli can arguably do a decent job of the Bentaleb role, but Dembele isn't really capable in either.

Players like Capoue and Paulinho need to go first, but Dembele has no future in a Poch side, and needs to go in the summer