The balls from Alderweireld and co. generally found their targets higher up the field, true (although he was as wayward as everyone else against Saudi Sportswashing Machine): however, what followed was what rendered us virtually under siege in the second half, as three players easily crowded out the man that did receive the ball, forcing turnovers of possession that kept us deep in our half to guard against breakways and thus opened up a gap between the forwards and our midfield.
Teams have latched on to the fact that our long 'out' balls rely on the players involved bringing them down into space and then running into dangerous zones to create options for runners on the outside. In that sense, Dembele's an iconoclast, since our out ball when he's around is to just slip it to him (often deep in midfield), and then relax while he drives it forward thirty yards before being fouled or laying it off.