Yeah, I loved Poch but to this day I actually don't think he recognized it. And I'm not sure weeding out explains it all. The fact that Dembele on the RAM/RW up until the Liverpool game @ WHL (Klopp's first game) supports this. And even then it was only due to injury and he reverted back to putting him at AM in the next game. To prefer Mason, Bentaleb, and Dele when he had the option of MD is damning.
As RESPECT THE COCK will tell you I've been complaining about his lack of recognition of this fact for the longest. Everyone was made better by the space afforded them by MD's exploits. And I bet you if I ran an analysis CE's 'bad games' they would strongly correlate to MD's absence...much less space to find with his 'magnificent brain' without MD occupying the attentions of 4 oppo players. It doesn't surpise me that he is struggling in Italy as I think people ascribe a more complete game to him than is actually there.
Look at these results from Poch's second season with and without MD in the lineup
Mousa Dembélé - Stats 2016
Player stats of Mousa Dembélé (Guangzhou City) ➤ Goals ➤ Assists ➤ Matches played ➤ All performance datawww.transfermarkt.com
I remember whispers of it on SC from early on but I never heard/read anything from the Fulham days.
I said that Eriksens form dipped as soon as Dembele got injured at Wolves and then was eventually sold and got told this was bullshit.
It's not a coincidence that Eriksen was shit for near enough 12 months - the same length of time we had no Dembele. You take out Dembele, which in turn makes Eriksen look worse, and you can see why Spurs' form drastically dipped.
Add into that Alderweireld and Vertonghens decline, Kanes injuries and a lack of true depth and you have left the Spurs team we've seen for the last 18 months.