Disappointments? I thought we'd lost 1 game? Are we so good now that fans are now disappointed at victories? Jeez. The NLD wasn't that bad. We lost by 1 goal and matched them for possession away from home
I was furious with him for that lazy and sloppy cross field pass late in the game. Passes such as that sum him up, an overhyped poser.
There is a definite love-in happening for Dembele with a certain group of fans, they can't bring themselves to criticise the guy, last year he seemed to be immune from any criticism and constant excuses made for his poor form at times. This year he doesn't have a set role within the team and once Sandro is fully fit Dembele has to be dropped.
There have been many times under Villas-Boas when I have been bored stiff with his style of play. There has also been times under him when I have seriously considered if he is up to the job. But yesterday, I agreed with his team selection and I agreed with his substitutions and the timing of them and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. We were good to watch yesterday. It was clear Paulonho is a huge asset and it was also clear we have signed a real talent in Erikkson. Danny Rose had a blinder and we were entertaining which hasn't often been the case under AVB. A continuing concern though is that Soldado is feeding off scraps. Norwich were poor, although Sebastian Bassomg was outstanding.
Sandro has to start if he's fit, no doubt about it imo. For me, he was our most important player except for Bale in recent seasons, and with the possible exception of Eriksen, nothing's changed for me.
One of his problems seems to be ball control, his first touch when the ball is played at pace to his feet is generally off, but definitely an issue with chances created for Soldado but I would hope if he makes the right runs then Eriksen if he is the player we hope, can find Soldado.
Sandro is head and shoulders above dembele in terms of what he brings to the team and if we had a Midfield of Sandro Paulinho & Eriksen it has the perfect balance of Drive, Power & Creativity, each player knows their role and Sandro is there to cover when needed. Plus Sandro is much better with the ball now he has experience, and I just hope he doesn't have another injury, as thats two long term injuries already in his career which is a worry.
I don't think we have to crucify Dembele because we are now blessed with better alternatives. His contribution is ball retention which is something we will always need. We have seen him bulldoze through players and would like more of it but it appears his decision making is not the best. Nevertheless there will be games and parts of games when we will be very pleased to have him available. Just remember how we greeted Palacious, and then Parker and think back to how we were before we had the steel in the middle. I think we need to enjoy the midfield riches we now possess and celebrate the squad. This is no longer about a 'first eleven', not yet anyway.
The reason I criticised him for yesterday, was because he didn"t retain the ball, he carelessly and needlessly gave it away in a crucial area and at an important stage of the game. I did think he had an ok game yesterday, but for those of us who like to pick the bones out of a game, I. Did think his casualness was worth a mention.
It's always worth a mention OS otherwise we do not have a forum. I am just putting an alternative in view of the general critique of him. So for me it's not about the one game yesterday but the overall contribution. My impression is that Dembele has lost his way a bit in this squad but we know his qualities and the potential is there, too early to bin him yet.
Dembele is not my favourite player... I don't have one any more This game's a keeper. I won't complain if they're all this enjoyable. 2013.09.14 - Tottenham vs Norwich (720p).mkv (1.11 GB) https://mega.co.nz/#!fZs3jIJD!a0cwpBDzDmVDAqxH5mrzfVKCnU5TNQJ_EZeH0PNLMsw
I get the impression you think he could be so much better than he his? Is there a lot of unrealised potential, or should we expect the same level from him?
I thought that Dembele had a good game overall, but that pass was extremely sloppy and could've been costly. I'm hoping that the added competition will get him to up his game, as having the choice of him, Paulinho, Sandro and Capoue for the central pairing is something most clubs can only dream of. Eriksen, Holtby, Sigurdsson, Townsend, Lamela, Lennon and Chadli offer us a lot of options for the three places ahead of them, too.
"I get the impression you think he could be so much better than he his? Is there a lot of unrealised potential, or should we expect the same level from him?" What is it that people specifically expect from Dembele ?? What is it that he does best, and we want him to continue doing or do more of ??
He's been an automatic selection for a whole season now. What is he suddenly going to start doing now that he hasn't done in the last season ? We all know that once or maybe twice a game he will beat a man and pass it sideways. We all know that he will make a couple of interceptions in a game and pass it sideways. We all know that once every couple of games he might make an incisive pass. He's technically decent no doubt about that; he rarely does something completely cackhanded, but not looking cackhanded isn't good enough - you need to actually do something useful. Moussa, you are the weakest link, goodbye.
I thought MD was a bit better, in particular, one moment encapsulated my thoughts on him. i hope you all can remember him on the edge of their 18yd box back to goal and had a simple pass on to Walker (what he would normally do) I think it was to cross it, instead he turned dummying a couple of Norwich players and provided the cut back. That is what I want to see more of from him, but yes he does have a casual manner, but there were signs he's going enjoy the extra options we've bought as an out ball for him. Soldado is slightly concerning, his looks toward Andros at a few of the shots he took were very telling, he'd had made a couple of short runs across defenders screaming out for a little knock throughball that never came, another time he was open for a first time shot himself but Andros just doesn't look up at these moments. Unless he's being told to shoot on sight of course. On the whole, I've felt nervous watching the other 3 games, less so this one, enjoying some of the play we put together.
I disagree, I think Sandro is a great asset to the club but Lloris is way more important than Sandro. I'd say him and Paulinho are definitely more important, and Bale was more important last season and a way better player than Sandro, I thought when he signed Paulinho he would outshine Sandro this season as he's a better player, and so far that's happened. I like Sandro and he is a vital squad member, but I wouldn't even start him v Cardiff, and he's nowhere near the level of a Lloris or Paulinho currently. That might change, though I can't see him ever being more important than Hugo to the team, unless we get in an exceptional back up keeper.
Dembeles main quality is keeping the ball,his strength, and short bursts yet his distribution is weak unless its give the ball to Bale and let Bale do all the hard work. his goal return is extremely poor,as is his assist record. The guy definitely has talent but if we look back to that game against man utd away , the 1st half Dembele was outstanding and dominant. Have we seen a repeat? maybe for 10 minutes in the odd game but overall he is inconsistent, wasteful with possession and switches off. Yet then he bursts into life and does something fantastic. This is why he is one of the most frustrating players ive seen.
Sandro is still returning from a long-term, serious injury, you can't judge him vs a fully fit and match practiced Paulinho at the moment You only have to look at the massive drop in performance (performance, not neccessarily result) when he got injured last season to see what a player he is and how important he is.
The guy is just doing his usual WUM antics and trying cause debates on who's the most important player when all of us know Sandro is a fantastic talent and a completely different player to paulinho so we dont need to even compare.
