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Ex-Player Watch Player Watch: Mousa Dembele

Archibald&Crooks

Aegina Expat
Admin
Feb 1, 2005
55,533
204,721
He's nowhere near consistent enough, I'd love to see his assists and goals return. The odd great game aside it's all pretty turns and fluff and has been for quite some time. I've never understood the love in that SC has for him and thought I must be missing something but I'm not sure I am really, not of any substance anyway.
 

HildoSpur

Likes Erik Lamela, deal with it.
Oct 1, 2005
8,958
28,086
He's nowhere near consistent enough, I'd love to see his assists and goals return. The odd great game aside it's all pretty turns and fluff and has been for quite some time. I've never understood the love in that SC has for him and thought I must be missing something but I'm not sure I am really, not of any substance anyway.

I tend to agree - he looks great on the ball but does next to nothing with it - we need so much more in the midfield than he offers us.
 

TheVoiceofReason

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2005
6,320
15,685
He is the weirdest player we have ever had. I totally get why all our players think he is the dogs bollocks, he must be incredible in training. But it’s like he gets to the 25 yard line and forgets how to play.
 

ajspurs

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2007
22,987
31,167
Was very poor today, but I'm still surprised at people suggesting we should let him go.

Yes he has his faults but he's still been part of the reason as to why we've been a strong outlet this season. Also it's all good calling for him to leave but it's not like we're flooded with better options in the centre of our midfield.

Plus, for if we do buy better centre midfielders to take his place, I for one wouldn't mind having the Dembele we've seen for most of this season as an option for when a player needs a rest at all.
 

rossdapep

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2011
21,907
78,646
He's nowhere near consistent enough, I'd love to see his assists and goals return. The odd great game aside it's all pretty turns and fluff and has been for quite some time. I've never understood the love in that SC has for him and thought I must be missing something but I'm not sure I am really, not of any substance anyway.
He's great player to have at the base of midfield as his presence and ability to dominate allow us to wrestle control of the game. How many times have we won and looked back at his dominant display to see that that is one area in which we won the game. Winng the midfield battle can be so important/

However, in games like today, where we need urgency, we need creativity and someone to force something he simply isn't that player. I agree that the assists and goals tally are simply not good enough and in a lot of instances his slow build-up play is a hinderance to us, which is why we needed an upgrade/one for the future last season. I think the truth probably sits somewhere in the middle with him. Excellent but not quite enough. Just hope we get the replacement right.
 

willcpt17

Active Member
Apr 7, 2018
88
127
Not Dembele's best performance, he held onto the ball too long which resulted in the first United goal. The injury to Winks has really hurt our midfield depth later in the season. I would prefer us put on a healthy, in-form Winks than Wanyama as Winks offers more of an attacking threat than Wanyama. I am not in favor of selling Dembele unless we get a ridiculously high fee for him as he has been an integral part of the team and probably has a couple of good years left.
 

rossdapep

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2011
21,907
78,646
Dembele's biggest issue is that he's none of the following;

Defensive midfielder
Pass master
Box to box midfielder

Yet he's a fantastic player so we need to fit him in. His strengths come in very handy but perhaps it hinders us in some aspects too.
 

theShiznit

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2004
17,800
23,813
He's nowhere near consistent enough, I'd love to see his assists and goals return. The odd great game aside it's all pretty turns and fluff and has been for quite some time. I've never understood the love in that SC has for him and thought I must be missing something but I'm not sure I am really, not of any substance anyway.
He does have this cult status and I am sure it's due to how stylish/strong he looks in possession, but It's all show and no substance, at his core he is an average water carrier, slow to spot a pass and can only pass the most rudimentary passes (when he eventually spots them) but people are dazzled by the strength and skill on the ball (which like today often leads to overconfidence and puts us in danger)

I am sure his strength in possession is something he developed because he is so slow to spot a pass and use the ball so to stop himself being robbed of possession before he's even looked up from his boots he developed this stylish body swerve and dummy to throw his markers.

His use of the ball has always been average, it maybe after a dazzling mazy dribble but it will still be a ten yard pass to feet of someone (that another more aware CM could've invariably passed to in the first place)

I think he/Poch are aware of it because occasionally you will see Dembele making a conscious effort to move the ball quicker it tends to lead to him making more errors though.

When games are open it's not so noticeable but in our possession based game against teams that drop deep and stay compact he is pretty pointless as once he's past the centre circle he is ineffective. partnering him with Wanyama or Dier doesn't help either.
 

Cravenspurs

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2011
2,864
3,680
He's nowhere near consistent enough, I'd love to see his assists and goals return. The odd great game aside it's all pretty turns and fluff and has been for quite some time. I've never understood the love in that SC has for him and thought I must be missing something but I'm not sure I am really, not of any substance anyway.

Hey, why do I get wtf’s, doh’s and disagrees when I say it, but when yooooooouuuu say it ya get winners?

Sarcasm btw and your point is spot on.
 

Sid Tottenham

Well-Known Member
Jul 1, 2015
531
1,291
He is such a good player anyone at spurs when asked who's the best player in the team says Dembele
So he just doesn't do enough for a man with his ability doesn't score doesn't assist
He's good at keeping the ball hardly ever gives it away except for today where he was either targeted or he just got cocky maybe a bit from column A and bit from column B
I dunno I've never seen him lose the ball so much in a match
But all said and done he just doesn't produce for a player with his ability
IMO
 

sparx100

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2007
4,612
6,646
He's nowhere near consistent enough, I'd love to see his assists and goals return. The odd great game aside it's all pretty turns and fluff and has been for quite some time. I've never understood the love in that SC has for him and thought I must be missing something but I'm not sure I am really, not of any substance anyway.
We do need to focus on CM in the summer in the transfer window for sure.

To have a player who can link defence to attack and has an eye for a pass to take the burden off of Eriksen is needed but not especially easy to find.

Dembele helps us dominate the centre against teams due to his strength and agility but we need varied options in there and Dier and Wanyama are too defensive in nature to provide goals and assists.
 

hyperterric2004

Active Member
Jun 2, 2007
129
223
I thought Dembele had a good game apart from the error with Pogba. Man U just made very hard for us when they scored the second. One of the worse teams to go a goal behind to.
 

Vincent30

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
900
3,694
Dembele has been class for us, he rarely has a bad game and hardly makes big mistakes like yesterday. It's a shame it seems his career is slowly coming to an end with us and we will all really miss the way he just glides by every player he comes across.

One of my fav players for the past 5 years and under appreciated by some, an absolute beast of a CM who we would all be begging to have in our team if he played at any of the other top 4 clubs in this league. I know for sure fans from those teams, have always said they would love him!
 

blackburn

Active Member
Aug 31, 2012
809
1,132
Typical Spurs player I'm afraid, looks amazing but creates little and scores less. His talent is undeniable but he's a massive under achiever. At his age we need to move him on.
 

onthetwo

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2006
4,583
3,407
Technically, hes probably the best box-to-box midfielder I’ve ever seen play for Spurs. The problem is that hes also one of the worst midfielders we’ve ever had once he gets to the oppositions box. So when we need possession/control at a tough away venue hes great but when we need to create something he cant help.
Horses for courses and all that but yesterday clarified for me at least that the 5 CMS (that Pochs uses) are all too similar and predictable.
 

Sophos151

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2016
792
2,559
I thought Dembele had a good game apart from the error with Pogba. Man U just made very hard for us when they scored the second. One of the worse teams to go a goal behind to.

Got to disagree with you on this, I think he was poor throughout. Obviously there was the error for the first goal, but even after that I remember him losing out to Pogba a few times, and one time when he tripped over the ball on the edge of their box and gave away a counter.

Also - where was he when Herrera scored? I don't know who was meant to be tracking him, so it may not be Dembele's fault, but he was left completely unmarked while Davies focused on Lingard.
 

St José Dominguez

Well-Known Member
Jul 15, 2014
3,592
11,648
His problem is his entire game relies solely on his physicality. If his fitness or mobility is 10-20% down then he's verging on a waste of space in CM. Those couple of weeks he was 100% and looked unstoppable, that fitness level he'd dominate any CM on the planet. Yesterday you could tell he wasn't 100%, you can always tell because his pirouette isn't quite right and he gets caught out.

Personally if we could somehow manage him so he only starts when he's 100% fit then he's a huge asset and there's no reason to sell him. The only way to do this is by buying a CM who isn't a squad player but is seen as first choice. We have Winks too.
 
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