- Jul 26, 2004
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Agree, he is much more useful to us, in our own half, his strength in dispossessing others and turning out of trouble can buy us time when under pressure, and in our own half he can find passes between the lines, it's in the opposition half where he can clog the game up due to indecision and lack of passing ability (and vision) and his dribbles higher up the pitch don't really serve much purpose, they just condense the play, and he invariably passes it easy to someone that could've received it at the start of the dribble, only they have less space to work in now...I don't think Dier brought anything to the table in this game. The first half especially he was fucking awful (that analysis video doing the rounds on YouTube is very misguided, lets put it that way....) - has no vision and just gives it to the closest man, the ambitious passes he does try are ones he cant pull off, he has no idea where to move to and make himself available, and Arsenal knew all this so he was the only one they left free to have the ball. He didn't even press or screen the defence that well., the amount of times they found a player between the lines.
Dembele's good work for me is defensive - in that he retains the ball for you, and allows you to build a platform and get set and then others take over 40 yards from goal. When he's fit and relatively mobile he gets about and breaks up play as well. Maybe not in the biggest of games, but I don't see why you cant have him as the DM in some games, and pair him with a Winks, maybe even Eriksen, or a new signing in future, someone who is more of a ball player rather than another defensive minded player.
Works best when he keeps it simple and passes quicker to others that can effect the game higher up the pitch.
IMO That's why it works better against teams that come at us, as the game is stretched and he can start from deeper.