I've come around to the idea that both Paulinho and Dembele are very good, maybe excellent players, who don't suit our style of play now and probably won't in the future. There have been moments when we've almost looked like we know what we're doing, and aside from the Newcastle game, where things only worked because they had no one who could score and were on an awful run, those teams have not included either one. Put simply, there's not a place for a box to box midfielder in our best team now, and probably not in the future either. We need a deep lying playmaker (Bentaleb's all we have now, but he's considerably better than nothing), players who can cause problems by running at defenders (Lennon, Chadli, Townsend), a striker who can score (Ade), and either another striker or a #10 (Eiriksen or Soldado). (I'm really not sold on Paulinho in the #10 role, by the way. He's good at making late runs into the box, probably passes at least as well as Eiriksen, is a good header of the ball and excels at dribbling tricks and backheels. But Eiriksen has a deadly shot, especially from free kicks, and Paulinho does nothing but launch them into the stands when he shoots from any range, so there's no comparison, for me.) We also need a DM, at least against some teams, so we'll need to only play two runners/dribblers. The sensible thing to me is to sell Paulinho and Dembele and get the best deep lying playmaker we can. I don't like to say that since they're my two favorite players, the ones I've most enjoyed watching. Alternatively, we could work out a style of play that features a box to box role, though I'm not sure how attractive that style of play can be. Dembele worked well in AVB's system.
Nearly every team in the league has a midfielder that gets up and down the pitch, all game. Toure, Henderson, Ramires, McCarthy, Fer, De Guzman, etc. Dembele's excellent on the ball and his passing's good when he has time but the two don't mix. When you hold onto the ball(Demebele's biggest strength) you will always end up having to play a pass under pressure(a weakness of his). He just hasn't progressed any and if the new manager didn't want him then I could understand and would happily see him leave. I definitely wouldn't sell Paulinho though. Paulinho's trouble is the same as many others that come to the Premier League, the energy levels takes them back. They're used to periods of high intensity in a game but not 90 minutes of it. That's why he looked great at the Confed Cup, he could get forward, or out to the wing and if the move broke down then the opposition would either quickly counter with a couple of players or build up more slowly which gave him the chance to get back. In the PL I think teams counter in greater numbers which means that he has to be able to sprint up and down the pitch all game and I don't think that's him. Either he needs to be given less defensive responsibility or we need to be effecient in slowing down the oppositions attacks.
Another problem with Paulinho is that an all-around player in a team that hasn't established who will start, or what they'll do when they do start, tends to add to the confusion. Someone like Southampton could make a place for him. When he plays for us, everyone, including him, seems to be unsure what he should do and where he should play. He's creative enough to play farther forward, but his shooting is crap (except for backheels). He can be great at winning the ball and getting it forward with flair (he was superb the game I went to against Swansea), but at other times he goes missing, and he's not strong enough on the tackle to shield the back four. Aside from the going missing problem, which you talked about, what do you see his role being? Do you think he could be successful taking over the Modric role? He may be closest to a Lampard type, but I only see that role working in teams with a slow buildup.
I have to agree with RWAB (and the Huddlefro) as we didn't need Paulinho. He's Brazilian but has inferior passing, Ok not a deal breaker as just because you're from the land of samba, doesn't mean you have to be a stereotypical Brazilian as look at Sandro, he should have been British. But as much as I see talent in Paulinho and predict in the future he will become a top midfielder player who scores important goals, if we look at our current setup there isn't room for someone like Paulinho unless he's offering end product as he's a bit of a pussycat when it comes to tackling, doesn't have a wide range of passing, isn't scoring or assisting but gets into great goal scoring positions. It's fine if he wants to try and be Frank Lampard but fat frank has been scoring goals from midfield all his career so talk is cheap. If Paulinho wants to nail down a position then he better start producing or he's no better then Jenas, who was another box to box midfielder but he did produce against lesser teams. . ......Paulinho has potential, it's been a struggle to adapt but if you said let's sell Paulinho and Dembele and sign Moutinho or Pjanić, we would become a better team, a more balanced creative team. To have a central midfield with no playmaker limits your options. Madrid have Modric. Barca have Xavi. Munich have Kroos. City have Silva(operating free form) . Liverpool have Gerrard. Juve have Pirlo. Who's our cultured passer? not Eriksen as he can't dictate play so we need someone who wants to sit and control with their passing rather then someone who wants to do flicks and run all day.
Holtby's a good #10. Maybe not Spurs' quality #10, but a #10 nevertheless. He's been mediocre in deep lying roles at best. Meanwhile in a couple of months he's now tied for Fulham's assist lead. What I've seen from Eiriksen and Holtby is that Eiriksen has the goal scoring and the dribbling, while Holtby's the one who knows how to create goals with clever passes in the box.
