Mousa Dembélé

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Then why wasn't he ever awarded player of the year....?

Coulda won it 3 seasons straight!

They were too busy giving it to Chelsea/City or Liverpool players!
He was never particularly flamboyant enough to get the attention.

A bit like Carrick (to be clear I'm not comparing the two).

Alderweireld should have been player of the year too.
 
Then why wasn't he ever awarded player of the year....?

Coulda won it 3 seasons straight!

They were too busy giving it to Chelsea/City or Liverpool players!

The two seasons he hit peak he was up against Ngolo Kante, the 17/18 season I recall Fernandinho was receiving higher plaudits.
 
Dembele was one of the most press resistant footballers you'll see, you could put him in a cage with 5 other fellas and - on his good day - it would take them 10 minutes to get the ball off him. Having a player like him to take the ball in any situation was incredibly useful.

But he was and has become the most over hyped legend of any spurs player I can remember.

Superior to Modric ? Hoddle ? Ardiles ? Ridiculous.

Fans love a dribbler, but his passing was perfunctory at best, and I'm not talking about assists and through balls, I'm talking about general incisiveness and passing through midfield lines. He was often very slow to release the ball, and when he did it was incredibly safe. Many occasions where he slowed transition, not enabled it. There's nothing wrong with that when you have others around taking risks, and when it was all clicking for us, and people like Eriksen to take the ball off him and actually be incisive it was a great blend, but lets not pretend his ability with the ball was close to people like Modric, Hoddle, Ardiles - all of whom were press resistant as well as being able to see incisive passes and deliver them, and quickly. Ardiles and Modric also grafted and were much more dynamic around the pitch than Dembele.

He only played about 50% of available (PL) minutes for spurs (8975 minutes - Modric 7933 minutes) And everyone seems to forget the many phases where he was coming back from his chronic injury and he would take about a month to get back up to speed (and his speed was never exactly "speed") and he'd get caught dawdling on the ball or be off the pace.

That Juve game someone posted above is a great example of bad Dembele as well as good, he was like a turtle in a windsock for the first half hour - getting caught messing about and unable to track runners - and by the time that 30 minutes was over, we were two nil down and the tie effectively lost.

he had some great attributes, and when part of the right blend was really good, but he needed that blend as much as that blend needed him.
 
That Juve game someone posted above is a great example of bad Dembele as well as good, he was like a turtle in a windsock for the first half hour - getting caught messing about and unable to track runners - and by the time that 30 minutes was over, we were two nil down and the tie effectively lost.

Until Dembele shifted into god-mode and tore their MF apart and we ended up leaving there with a draw and 2 away goals; putting us in the driving seat for the home-leg?


(...... A home leg that by rights we should have put to bed; but failed to do so through being naive.)

he had some great attributes, and when part of the right blend was really good, but he needed that blend as much as that blend needed him.

Totally agree about the blend he was an integral part of......

Eriksen, Wanyama, Dembele was perfection.
 
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Dembele was one of the most press resistant footballers you'll see, you could put him in a cage with 5 other fellas and - on his good day - it would take them 10 minutes to get the ball off him. Having a player like him to take the ball in any situation was incredibly useful.

But he was and has become the most over hyped legend of any spurs player I can remember.

Superior to Modric ? Hoddle ? Ardiles ? Ridiculous.

Fans love a dribbler, but his passing was perfunctory at best, and I'm not talking about assists and through balls, I'm talking about general incisiveness and passing through midfield lines. He was often very slow to release the ball, and when he did it was incredibly safe. Many occasions where he slowed transition, not enabled it. There's nothing wrong with that when you have others around taking risks, and when it was all clicking for us, and people like Eriksen to take the ball off him and actually be incisive it was a great blend, but lets not pretend his ability with the ball was close to people like Modric, Hoddle, Ardiles - all of whom were press resistant as well as being able to see incisive passes and deliver them, and quickly. Ardiles and Modric also grafted and were much more dynamic around the pitch than Dembele.

He only played about 50% of available (PL) minutes for spurs (8975 minutes - Modric 7933 minutes) And everyone seems to forget the many phases where he was coming back from his chronic injury and he would take about a month to get back up to speed (and his speed was never exactly "speed") and he'd get caught dawdling on the ball or be off the pace.

That Juve game someone posted above is a great example of bad Dembele as well as good, he was like a turtle in a windsock for the first half hour - getting caught messing about and unable to track runners - and by the time that 30 minutes was over, we were two nil down and the tie effectively lost.

he had some great attributes, and when part of the right blend was really good, but he needed that blend as much as that blend needed him.
Boo :klinsmann:

And that someone was me. The whole team started badly against Juve but he was the one who turned it around.

You make him sound like Tom Hundredstone
 
Tottenham hero who left for China was "best in the world" according to De Bruyne

Tottenham hero who left for China was "best in the world" according to Kevin de Bruyne​

Tottenham Hotspur hero Mousa Dembele turns 35 today, so Mirror Football has taken a look at what his former team-mates and opponents have said about his brilliance on the pitch

By
Daniel Blackham
08:00, 16 Jul 2022

Tottenham Hotspur have boasted a number of talented footballers throughout recent years, including Golden Boot winners, World Cup winners and European champions. But Mousa Dembele was unquestionably one of the best to pull on the famous white shirt - just ask any of his team-mates.

Dembele was a rock in the middle of the Spurs midfield under Mauricio Pochettino, and played 249 times for the club during his time in north London. He failed to collect any trophies, and it's easy to argue his time at the club was somewhat overlooked.

However, while pundits and fans might not have truly recognised his genius at the time, that certainly wasn't the case with his team-mates. Indeed, Kevin de Bruyne explained that he felt Dembele would be the best player in the world in a five-a-side format.

The Manchester City megastar said: “For me, in a 5-a-side, he’s the best player in the world. So strong on the ball, you can never take it off him. Offensively and defensively [he’s] one of the best.”

Dembele was known for his strength on the ball and his ability to move the ball forward and create chances for attackers. And Dele Alli previously explained what it was like playing with the Belgian.

“He’s very good. His feet are unbelievable," the former Spurs man said. "He’s so big as well but shifts his body so easily, I don’t know how he does it.”

One of Dembele's opponents, Wesley Snock, described Dembele as having more talent than either De Bruyne or Eden Hazard. He said: “Some may say they want Eden or De Bruyne, but Mousa has the most qualities – it’s not normal how strong he is on the ball. I’ve seen him during training turn Kompany into a fool.”

Dembele's time at Tottenham ended shortly after the 2019 Champions League final, which Spurs lost to Liverpool in Madrid. The midfielder ended up leaving the Premier League to sign for Chinese Super League side Guangzhou City.
 
Dembele was one of the most press resistant footballers you'll see, you could put him in a cage with 5 other fellas and - on his good day - it would take them 10 minutes to get the ball off him. Having a player like him to take the ball in any situation was incredibly useful.

But he was and has become the most over hyped legend of any spurs player I can remember.

Superior to Modric ? Hoddle ? Ardiles ? Ridiculous.

Fans love a dribbler, but his passing was perfunctory at best, and I'm not talking about assists and through balls, I'm talking about general incisiveness and passing through midfield lines. He was often very slow to release the ball, and when he did it was incredibly safe. Many occasions where he slowed transition, not enabled it. There's nothing wrong with that when you have others around taking risks, and when it was all clicking for us, and people like Eriksen to take the ball off him and actually be incisive it was a great blend, but lets not pretend his ability with the ball was close to people like Modric, Hoddle, Ardiles - all of whom were press resistant as well as being able to see incisive passes and deliver them, and quickly. Ardiles and Modric also grafted and were much more dynamic around the pitch than Dembele.

He only played about 50% of available (PL) minutes for spurs (8975 minutes - Modric 7933 minutes) And everyone seems to forget the many phases where he was coming back from his chronic injury and he would take about a month to get back up to speed (and his speed was never exactly "speed") and he'd get caught dawdling on the ball or be off the pace.

That Juve game someone posted above is a great example of bad Dembele as well as good, he was like a turtle in a windsock for the first half hour - getting caught messing about and unable to track runners - and by the time that 30 minutes was over, we were two nil down and the tie effectively lost.

he had some great attributes, and when part of the right blend was really good, but he needed that blend as much as that blend needed him.


I love Dembele and rate him very highly (more highly than you, by the sounds of it) but anyone saying he was better than Modric is 100% off their fucking rocker.
 
Dembele was one of the most press resistant footballers you'll see, you could put him in a cage with 5 other fellas and - on his good day - it would take them 10 minutes to get the ball off him. Having a player like him to take the ball in any situation was incredibly useful.

But he was and has become the most over hyped legend of any spurs player I can remember.

Superior to Modric ? Hoddle ? Ardiles ? Ridiculous.

Fans love a dribbler, but his passing was perfunctory at best, and I'm not talking about assists and through balls, I'm talking about general incisiveness and passing through midfield lines. He was often very slow to release the ball, and when he did it was incredibly safe. Many occasions where he slowed transition, not enabled it. There's nothing wrong with that when you have others around taking risks, and when it was all clicking for us, and people like Eriksen to take the ball off him and actually be incisive it was a great blend, but lets not pretend his ability with the ball was close to people like Modric, Hoddle, Ardiles - all of whom were press resistant as well as being able to see incisive passes and deliver them, and quickly. Ardiles and Modric also grafted and were much more dynamic around the pitch than Dembele.

He only played about 50% of available (PL) minutes for spurs (8975 minutes - Modric 7933 minutes) And everyone seems to forget the many phases where he was coming back from his chronic injury and he would take about a month to get back up to speed (and his speed was never exactly "speed") and he'd get caught dawdling on the ball or be off the pace.

That Juve game someone posted above is a great example of bad Dembele as well as good, he was like a turtle in a windsock for the first half hour - getting caught messing about and unable to track runners - and by the time that 30 minutes was over, we were two nil down and the tie effectively lost.

he had some great attributes, and when part of the right blend was really good, but he needed that blend as much as that blend needed him.
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Spurs fans have a weird thing for rating their own players against each other. I rejoice that we have had Modric Hoddel Dembele and Ardiles. That's a handy midfield right there.
Hoddle & Ardiles were from a different footballing era....
I'd be intrigued to see how they dealt with 'the modern game...'
Likewise, how would Modric and Dembele have dealt with the likes of Greame Souness, and Vinny Jones....
Imagine Gavin Maguire (fucking thug) having ANY place in today's game?

He'd be sent off before the teams came out!!!
 
Spurs fans have a weird thing for rating their own players against each other. I rejoice that we have had Modric Hoddel Dembele and Ardiles. That's a handy midfield right there.

Annoys the piss out of me..... Then they have the cheek to waffle on about it being a squad game.
 
He was in Lucas team of best players he’s ever played with. KDB mentioned him among best in the world. Poch too.

But these guys don’t know much compared to a forum poster that says he’s not a great passer and didn’t play enough minutes :dembele:
 
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