No Dembele No Tottenham

[Gassin's finest]

There's no coincidence that our performances have improved dramatically since he returned to the first team. He acts as the creative pivot, that enables Dier or Wanyama to fully concentrate on being the defensive destroyer. He does in essence what Modric used to do, and you miss his absence in the same way.

 

[nightgoat]

in fairness though bus we have had a pretty soft run of fixtures.

Harder than Man City's, but apparently they've already won the league.

 

[GutBucket]

Every team is weaker without their best midfielder, Real Madrid look awful without Modric, just look at all the criticism on Zidane when he decided to rest Modric last week, and RM have some amazing players and midfielders. We can definitely play well without him but one day when Dembele, Eriksen,Alli and Kane are all back healthy and in form we will look unstoppable.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

There's no coincidence that our performances have improved dramatically since he returned to the first team. He acts as the creative pivot, that enables Dier or Wanyama to fully concentrate on being the defensive destroyer. He does in essence what Modric used to do, and you miss his absence in the same way.

He is so much not what Modric is. Modric saw and moved the ball quickly. Dembele is better defensively than Modric but is light years away from him in terms of seeing a pass and moving the ball.

 

[Gassin's finest]

He is so much not what Modric is. Modric saw and moved the ball quickly. Dembele is better defensively than Modric but is light years away from him in terms of seeing a pass and moving the ball.

I would unequivocally agree with you. Modric is different class. But in terms of his role in the team, he's the closest to Modric's... Parker would sit and protect the back four and recycle, Modric would carry it out and link the play. Dembele's partnership with Dier is similar, just his attributes are different. Modric used the ball intelligently and quickly, Dembele however simply cannot be dispossessed, so carries it more.

But yes, Modric is far superior. No one would argue with that.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

in fairness though bus we have had a pretty soft run of fixtures.

I fairness to me the title of this thread wasn't "No Dembele No Tottenham, but only against ManC"

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

In the system that Poch likes to play he is simply the best player to play alongside the defending midfielder, which will be for the best part of the season Dier.

It's plain for all to see that he really is the heartbeat of this team.

 

[Vincent30]

It's good to see that we have coped better without him this season, just great to have him back in the first team, especially against the bigger teams, can't wait to see Dembele vs Pogba.

 

[whitesocks]

Other teams know he holds onto the ball slightly too long - he attracts opponents like limpets, and yet he always manages to shake enough of them off to make the pass he should have made 3 seconds earlier.
It is great to watch, and I guess it makes space for others, but he has the skill to pass and move and avoid the congestion and keep his momentum going to get into the box every now and then. It doesn't happen enough.

 

[Larryjanta]

Feel Alli is half a season or so away from being the perfect replacement. We do miss him, no doubt, but every team would. City will miss De Bruyne

 

[Twizzle]

Second on the ladder virtually without Moose

Not too shabby

 

[dontsalebale]

Best start to a season for fifty odd years, seems Tottenham does exist without Dembele?

Football is about winning the right to play in the first instance. This is through a combination of skill and aggression. All your flair players will be pointless unless you establish this dominance. This then enables you to spend a large proportion of your time in the oppositions half thus cutting down on your need to defend and releasing your fullbacks. Dembele is the fulcrum for this system as he retains possession and bully's opponents. I am sorry if this seems patronising but without Dembele we are not the same team.

 

[danielneeds]

The problem last season was that when Mason came in for him he was desperately short of confidence and form. So it wasn't all about the absence of Mousa, but a player in the centre of the park seriously out of form.

 

[DJS]

Harry Winks

 

[Kiedis]

Dembele haven't been a 38 games a season player in all of his time in England, and at 29, he probably wont be in the future either. We'll have to find a way to manage without him in the trickier fixtures. We've generally been comfortable without him this season, but he was sorely missed against Liverpool.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Football is about winning the right to play in the first instance. This is through a combination of skill and aggression. All your flair players will be pointless unless you establish this dominance. This then enables you to spend a large proportion of your time in the oppositions half thus cutting down on your need to defend and releasing your fullbacks. Dembele is the fulcrum for this system as he retains possession and bully's opponents. I am sorry if this seems patronising but without Dembele we are not the same team.

One of my very favourite hackneyed clichés is "you have to earn the right to play" so I'm with you very much in spirit, but you do that by coaching and a collective ethos, by making sure every player knows what they are doing out of possession, it shouldn't require two holding midfielders to cover everyone's arses because your can't coach or won't pick players who facilitate that.

I like Dembele, he has some very good qualities, but he is not the messiah everyone claims him to be, he is not the pivotal influence on our football - if he is there's something drastically wrong because his best qualities are not harmonious with much what Pochettino says is his philosophy, not in CM anyway and certainly not in tandem with Dier.

IMO, our very best football was actually played with Dembele as an AM because when he was played there we had the most aggressive front four in the PL by a factor of about 30%.

Maybe if we are now moving toward a 433 there is a place for him in the CM, even in a CM2 there is a place for him, but ideally I'd have Wanyama doing the "earning the right" and someone who sees and moves the ball with a bit more vim doing the "playing".

 

[thebenjamin]

Such a shame that Dembele is so injury prone. He's almost reaching Ledley / Anderton levels now. Can't seem to get through 1 game without being out for a few weeks.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

there's something drastically wrong because his best qualities are not harmonious with much what Pochettino says is his philosophy, not in CM anyway and certainly not in tandem with Dier..

What on earth makes you say that?

 

[Neon_Knight_]

He is so much not what Modric is. Modric saw and moved the ball quickly. Dembele is better defensively than Modric but is light years away from him in terms of seeing a pass and moving the ball.

Completely agree. However, Dembele is very good at carrying the ball forwards, whilst most of our CM options aren't really. Last season, when we were missing both Dembele and Alli, our midfield severely lacked 'thrust'.

EDIT: The key being when we lacked both Dembele AND Alli.

 

[Freddy Adu]

I always think that Dembele is a double edged sword. IMO, it's because he is so unique that we miss him so much when he's not there. He has this mix of physical dominance and unbelievable technical skill and close control, and he's one of the best dribblers in world football. His vision and passing aren't anything special, but because of his other attributes he dominates games.

That's the thing, he dominates in one on ones (actually sometimes one on threes). When have you ever seen an opponent get the better of Dembele over 90 minutes? I'm sure it has happened, but I can't remember it. If you put Modric in our team instead of Dembele, we would be a better side, no doubt about it. But if Modric and Dembele went up against each other in a game, Dembele would come out on top. I think it skews our perceptions.

I love Dembele, he's an absolute joy to watch every week. But he has a unique skillset which you cannot replicate with another player. So when he's out, we look much worse than we should.