Didn't he really dominate a game against us and score? That can often skew my thought about a player. Then he scored on his debut for us.
He also pissed all over Utd at old trafford for Fulham if i recall. And did similar for us against someone like that too (may also have been Utd)
Good tune in the background for a change too. Turns out I misremembered nutmeg as I described it in the other thread. Still a lovely bit of skill though. Very good performance from him. Dembele's in the same boat as Townsend and Lamela, they can produce some great stuff at times but all too often they fall short. They really need to show what they can do on a consistent basis because at the moment they're frustratingly inconsistent.
It's always been a very Spursy thing to have the player we need...divided between two players. For example, if we had a player with Lamela's workrate and knack for assists combined with Chadli's scoring stats we'd have a hell of a player on our hands, instead we have that player divided between Lamela who doesn't score enough and Chadli who is a passenger in games until he pops up in the box to score a goal. Dembele's another example of this: if he had the passing ability of either Bentaleb or Mason (or either Bentaleb or Mason had his physical strength) we'd have a player who can dominate central midfield alongside Dier, instead we have three players that all have their own weaknesses alongside Dier instead.
he lacks confidence. I bet at Fulham he was stepping up for most dead ball situations. Probably one of the most gifted players at the club, hence us taking a fancy to him. He joins Spurs and all of a sudden he isn't the main man..there's a few at Spurs who take the limelight at the club due to their influence. Either you roll your sleeves up or slowly overtime your confidence gets sapped because you haven't stepped up and then you become like Moussa, where the fans wonder where the real Moussa Dembele went. Think many players go down that road at Spurs in my recent memory.
True to an extent Dona, but when he joined us the only player on our books noticeably more gifted than him would've been Bale. And the following season in particular with the Magnificent 7 proving to be flops or settling in, who had the potential to be more key than him? BMJ once called him 'the best player on the ball I have ever seen', and BMJ's word carries a lot of weight. His lack of general impact is frankly bizarre.
The partnership he had with Sandro in AVB's first season was remarkably effective for most of the season - but in the latter stages he started to noticeably flag, most likely as we rushed him back after he picked up a hip injury on international duty. What did the damage was 2013/4, as he went from regularly playing 90 minutes in his first season to being dropped or subbed on the hour mark to get various members of the Baldini Splurge into the team, picking up niggling injuries, or vanishing from the matchday squad altogether due to the nasty case of Sherwood going around the club at the time. By the time Poch arrived, Bentaleb had usurped him in the first team so he was primarily a Europa League/COC player in the early stages of last season (and Mason soon got himself into the mix as well)
Some interesting points HBIC. He's averaged around 35 appearances a season since he joined, which more than ample time for a player supposedly at peak age to settle in and showcase their talent. And yes, it's true that he combined superbly with Sandro initially, but that is largely due to the fact that we had the best out ball in the PL, once they'd won it back, in Bale. Once Bale left and suddenly the out ball becomes Soldado, Lamela or Adebayor and suddenly Demebele's biggest weakness is exposed - decision making. Time and again he does the hard part incredibly well only to let himself down by picking the wrong out ball I'd say 8 times out of 10. Thats why I argued in the OP that I don't think he's a 'big game player', I just think that he comes into his own when the game is being played at a frantic pace and he doesn't have time to weigh up his options and choose the wrong one and instead has to trust his instinct.... And those types of games tend to be against the top teams who aren't afraid to press when they play us.
Although he does average a fair number of appearances, what does stand out is the number of games where he's played 90 minutes 2012/3: 13 Premier League, 6 Europa League, 0 cups = 19 2013/4: 11 Premier League, 6 Europa League, 3 cups = 20 2014/5: 2 Premier League, 4 Europa League, 2 cups = 8 2015/6: 2 Premier League = 2 In the case of 2013/4, when you cross-reference his appearances with Bentaleb's, a pattern starts to emerge as Bentaleb was pretty much a first team fixture by February 2014 and that's when Dembele's appearances start to get shorter and eventually stop.
Good read, CK Up until the Pool game I was of the opinion that Mousa should be moved on due to his inconsistency and the emergence of players like Dier & Alli with the already established Nabs and Mason. Though, like every other Spurs fan, we all know that on natural talent alone, Mousa is head and shoulders above them all for the time being and I'm sure that if I was bored enough I could find about 50 of my previous posts that state something like "If only Mousa was consistent, he'd easily be a £30m player and Real Madrid's next poaching target". The Pool performance showed just what an incredible player he can be when he puts his mind to it and decides to take control instead of being a passenger. I'm always up for giving players extra chances if they perform well in a game and I'll stand by that for Mousa, I certainly wouldn't drop Dier for him but as it happens, Chadli's untimely injury (gutted for him, despite poor form I'm a big fan of his and think he's quality when on fire) can now allow Alli to move further up and let Mousa sit alongside Dier while Nabs and Mason are still out, then depending on performances, Poch can evaluate his options once they return from injury but if the Mousa vs Pool and Dier of all season put in more performances like that, there's no way they'd be ousted of a place on that sort of form. It's nice to have this sort of headache though that's for sure.
Dembele is 28, he started his career as a striker, he was signed by Fulham to operate as a winger/striker. We signed him to play central midfield. He was then moved to various positions, with the debate on here (when Sherwood was manager) moving towards Dembele offering more in attack and goal return, something which was never going to happen. Regardless of his natural ability, Dembele will never be consistent, to a level that defines him as a player in a set role. On his day, he can look world class, but any excuses made for his inconsistent form are just that, as sometimes players are inconsistent and frustrate fans/manager, and Dembele is one of them players. Maybe if he had been coached properly at a much younger age and found his best role, his career would have been different, but this is where Dembele is and he's nothing more then a squad player that will occasionally have a superb game.
