So you're saying I can't post a clip of Moose's thunderbastard that knocked Lyon out of the Europa League?
We really were spoilt when we got to watch Modric for four years then Dembele for about six and a half straight after. Basically a decade of unbelievable midfield talent. A future Balon d’Or winner and then a player who was regarded as the best player at the club by his peers during our best ever Prem side. The way Dembele moved with the ball for such a tank of a bloke was unprecedented. Absolute joy(s) to watch.
What really sticks out in the clip the club posted was why Ndombele could never hold a candle to him Not only did you see Dembele drop back to win the ball, but when opponents tried to press him he just smashed through them like they weren't there - as opposed to Ndombele who never did the former, while if opponents pressed him he vanished from view to the point you thought the pitch had opened up and he was waiting for the next NFL match so he could be rescued
Truth be told Dembele took a good while to settle. He played in a much more advanced role at Fulham having initially trained as a striker and both AVB and Poch deployed him behind the striker. He wasn't nearly as effective and his relative lack of goalscoring prowess was exposed. As the 2015/16 season went on, he dropped into a deeper CM position. Then followed 2 years when he was literally unplayable but his decline due to injuries was pretty rapid. Even still I think selling him midway through the 18/19 season just to avoid losing him for free was a huge mistake and may well have resulted in less of a scramble for top 4 and perhaps even a different result in the CL final.
There was definitely a period of time where he was a bit of a black hole in possession. He’d beat 2 or 3 players in typical fashion, completely taking them out of the game, and then just not know what to do. Teams would recover and all his hard work was undone. Playing him deeper was definitely the masterstroke. Just an unbelievable midfielder.
How pissed would we be if all it took to turn Dele back to the 17/18 version was chopping off his dreads
Matty Taylor got sacked by Walsall, wonder if the club will look at bringing him back to the youth setup?
Pritchard with the opener, Etete with the assist for the winner. Clarke playing on the wrong wing, Defoe barely getting a touch from the bench.
Bale on loan last season? Alderweireld from Atletico? We don't sign a lot of players from massive clubs. Reguilon and Bentancur are probably the only two others since van der Vaart.
