I wouldn't mind seeing Dembele pushed up behind the striker if we were to use a real playmaker alongside Sandro. Might not be ideal against every opponent, but I think that his ability to drift past players and make short, accurate passes would be more effective there. He'd have to shoot more often to make the role his own, though. We need somebody playing in a deeper role that can dictate play and control the tempo. That's what Modric do so well for us and it's what we're missing. Not such a big issue when teams play an open game and leave themselves vulnerable to the counter, but it's a big miss when they park the bus.
This would be he best solution by far and many can see this except our glorious leaders . We will end up muddling through and as usual win nothing as the club never address these obvious weaknesses year on.
Wouldn't you call Bale a "miracle player"? I think Bale was originally bought as a left back.His change to the forward line was something out of the blue....and he became the player he is now. A "miracle player" indeed!
I thought the idea here was to leave MD where he is, he's brilliant at what he does there, and get an attacking playmaker in front him, someone that can take it on and pass, create or score, can someone tell me why I'm reading that we get a playmaker and put him behind MD who we've pushed up...when we know he's not all that??
Any chance of getting Rafa back considering his marital woes - think he would fit that role for a season or two!!!
I'd say both were options, eitherway I'd like Dembele to have the opportunity to throw off some of his defensive duties at points in the match and give their a defence a different kind of problem by pitting his physicality and ball control up against them. Yaya Toure and are two other players who can use their strength and skill to unsettle sides higher up the pitch, I know Toure doesn't play that high up often but I think it's where he's best, to be honest.
YV - I do see your thinking, and YT as you say played high at times last season and was very effective. I'd trust YT when passages of play give him a shot, I've little confidence in MD in the same position. We do need to get someone who can score imo. If you play in a forward role you must contribute more than 2 or 3 a season, MD just isn't a finisher, its the biggest drawback for me.
He looked like he would be after the Norwich game though, eh? Even Dempsey has struggled to score since moving, there's something about moving to Spurs that seems to destroy a midfielder's abillity to score goals, like you were saying with Sig and set pieces, even if we signed Beckham, within in a month you could guaruntee he'd be sending deliveries pea-rolling into the wall. 'Keepers being unable to deal with easy long shots was threatening to become another one after Robbo and Gomes.
Very true! Dempsey had one really good season, I never expected him to repeat it tbh, double figures will do from him, into the teens a bonus. And MD did score a beauty on his debut, but I knew it would be a long time before we saw another, he could try that another 50 times before doing it again. He's never been a goalscorer and admits it himself, he is what he is, so thats my reluctance to put him up there. Decent debate.
The special one and Real Madrid are having problems so it might be wise for Bale to hold his red dragons before making a move there. The next coach might not want him anyway. Mourinho doesn't stick around if there's a character clash or if things don't go smoothly for him.
