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Mousa Dembele

'sometimes it's best'

Yeah.. you couldn't be more vague if you tried. How do you know Bale or Lennon weren't 100%? They have both put in performances exactly like that previously this season.

AVB said afterwards in the press conference bale is 100% fit.
 
'rush players back'

He passed his fitness tests. He was fit. How was he rushed back?

When players have been out with pulled muscles it's always going to be difficult to judge if they're fit or not. I just don't think the technology is there to say what will happen if they play. He was obviously feeling something last weekend, he wasn't training with the team earlier this week. There will be a higher chance of injury if he played the game against Southampton, no doubt. Even if he passed a fitness test.

That's not to say it wasn't a risk worth taking. That's a completely different discussion and I agree with you that just saying in hindsight that it was the wrong decision because he got injured makes little sense.
 
Twitter / OptaJoe: 14% - Tottenham have won only 14% of their (seven) PL games without Mousa Dembele, compared to 64% when he plays. Absence
 
Twitter / OptaJoe: 14% - Tottenham have won only 14% of their (seven) PL games without Mousa Dembele, compared to 64% when he plays. Absence


Well to be fair two of those seven were Chelsea, one was Arsenal and one was Emirates Marketing Project. Not exactly games we'd be expecting to win.
 
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Well to be fair two of those seven were Chelsea, one was arsenal and one was Emirates Marketing Project.

Exactly. Shows that OptaJoe is a statistical cretin as 7 games is far too small a data set to try to draw any meaningful conclusions
 
Well to be fair two of those seven were Chelsea, one was Arsenal and one was Emirates Marketing Project. Not exactly games we'd be expecting to win.

Exactly. Shows that OptaJoe is a statistical cretin as 7 games is far too small a data set to try to draw any meaningful conclusions

True... although when Dembele started against ARSEnal and Emirates Marketing Project this season we have beaten them... plus he was absent when we lost at home to Wigan...
 
Are we looking to move Dembele into a more advanced role now since we seem to be beefing up midfield? Perhaps something like this:

--------------------Soldado-------------------
---------Dembele-------------Bale------------
-----------------Paulinho/Pjanic type?----------
-------------Sandro-------Capoue------------
BAE/Rose-----Verts-------Daws/Kaboul----Walker
---------------------Lloris--------------------

Obviously playeras are being signed to be part of a squad and not necessarily first 11.
 
I don't think so. I think Dembele is the box to box midfielder of the three midfield. He will be allowed his surging runs and will provide, for us, what Yaya Toure does for Emirates Marketing Project, even if a B version.
 
Are we looking to move Dembele into a more advanced role now since we seem to be beefing up midfield? Perhaps something like this:

--------------------Soldado-------------------
---------Dembele-------------Bale------------
-----------------Paulinho/Pjanic type?----------
-------------Sandro-------Capoue------------
BAE/Rose-----Verts-------Daws/Kaboul----Walker
---------------------Lloris--------------------

Obviously playeras are being signed to be part of a squad and not necessarily first 11.

I pondered this myself last night as I concluded that right now, with injuries being what they are, we are suited for a 3 - 5 -1-1 with Dembele right behind Soldado perhaps...

What's interesting is that no-one speculating is able to find a place for JD right now other than off the bench!
 
I do think Dembele's place in the first 11 will be at risk when Sandro returns from injury. He did well in the first half of last season but had a poor second half. He began to make too many errors from then on. And his contribution to the team was very minimal as he only scored 1 goal and didn't have any assist. He simply needs to improve his game if he doesn't wants to get dropped from the first 11.
 
I pondered this myself last night as I concluded that right now, with injuries being what they are, we are suited for a 3 - 5 -1-1 with Dembele right behind Soldado perhaps...

What's interesting is that no-one speculating is able to find a place for JD right now other than off the bench!

I think it's odds on JD will not be a Spurs player in September.
 
Just how good could Mousa be? I still think he could be the best of the lot of our talented midfielders. He seems to have everything and makes the game look effortless. I really want to see him kick on and take his game up a few levels, I think he could be devastatingly good
 
Just how good could Mousa be? I still think he could be the best of the lot of our talented midfielders. He seems to have everything and makes the game look effortless. I really want to see him kick on and take his game up a few levels, I think he could be devastatingly good

needs an arrogance about him
 
I thought he was the pick of the bunch in the opening 15 minutes..impossible to knock off the ball..but why doesn't he shoot!
 
Just how good could Mousa be? I still think he could be the best of the lot of our talented midfielders. He seems to have everything and makes the game look effortless. I really want to see him kick on and take his game up a few levels, I think he could be devastatingly good

I don't think he has everything. I think:

- His passing is safe and straightforward (doesn't hit long or creative passes)
- Doesn't seem to have a great awareness of his teammates around him when he has the ball, so doesn't move the ball very quickly (though he is fantastic at holding onto the ball under pressure!)
- His movement is average - he doesn't look for space with the urgency that a lot of top midfielders (and even Tom Carroll) do
- Doesn't score many goals

Still, overall I think he can be a great player for us if he can consistently play at his best. Fantastic at keeping possession, great at harassing and winning the ball back, and has that ability to dribble past opposing players in midfield and the final third.
 
I don't think he has everything. I think:

- His passing is safe and straightforward (doesn't hit long or creative passes)
- Doesn't seem to have a great awareness of his teammates around him when he has the ball, so doesn't move the ball very quickly (though he is fantastic at holding onto the ball under pressure!)
- His movement is average - he doesn't look for space with the urgency that a lot of top midfielders (and even Tom Carroll) do
- Doesn't score many goals

Still, overall I think he can be a great player for us if he can consistently play at his best. Fantastic at keeping possession, great at harassing and winning the ball back, and has that ability to dribble past opposing players in midfield and the final third.

I agree. His ability to drift past players is wonderful, yet it's after this where he falters. He seems to invariably run into a dead-end, normally on the left just outside the penalty box, which is due I believe to him lacking a bit of vision.
 
I thought he was the pick of the bunch in the opening 15 minutes..impossible to knock off the ball..but why doesn't he shoot!

The goal against Lyon last year was stunning, i wish he would do it more often.

Right now im thinking he is a slightly better version of jenas, Dembele is another like lennon who could do with a sports psychology coach.
 
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