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No Dembele. He kills us.
Agreed, sadly. I would love to have a fraction of his talent, and especially his ability to beat a man, but he's too often languid on the ball and runs into dead ends. Slows down our play too much. Seems he's just not the right fit - as much as I'd love him to be.
:dembelewtf:
Think he's right for certain matchups as he can hold the ball up better than maybe anyone else in the EPL.
Just a thought, I would drop Kane (really resting) and play Son up front. I would try to get that competitive spirit out of him, which he showed last season, to get back into the side. Maybe its all happened too quick and easy for him. 30 odd goals, England call up, number one (and only )striker? Rather than hugging him, maybe he needs a bit of a shock?
Will son be fit?
If Son is not fit then as soon as. It gets to a point , he may need a shake up to see how he reacts.
Yep.
I'd love to see a whole season of Dembele as an AM. He could be a revelation in the final third if it all clicks.
IMO the only problem is overall pace. That could bite us if Erksen and Lamela have trouble retaining/holding up the ball.
If pace lets us down, a quick double sub of Trippier and Rose is the sleeper blockbuster movie of the Christmas period.
4-4-1-1 with Davies and Rose and Walker and Trippier would give so much through balls and crossing for Kane, Alli and Dembele.
We are so fit, it will literally sicken them.
If the class of Eriksen and Lamela fails, it's time to Redknapp this bitch.
Kane and Mason = Crouch and VDV style (don't scoff, Crouch and VDV had a great understanding) . Rose = Lennon. Trippier crosses like Bale. Alli = Kranj/modders. Dembele = himself (since him and Sandro got more prem points than the top 4 teams)
Top drawer. Top fower.
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Dembele slows us down on the ball with his distribution from defensive midfield.
It's crazy because the last few seasons Townsend, Paulinho, Soldado, Lennon, Holtby etc gave us such amazing balance and runs, it really frustrates me when they cleverly constantly beat offside traps with lightening give and go's and telepathic understanding with Davies and Walker but our DM is just not releasing.
Time and time again Siggy and Dolphin were like live wires cutting the opposition to shreds with laser precision only for Dembele to delay the pass.
It is criminal that our main DM last season didn't spot all those Ade surges forward, and Paulinho's quicksilver Brazillian Magic.
He just could not get on the same cerebral page as Rose, Townsend, Walker, Capoue and Chiriches.
I felt sorry for Dembele. Soldado was even showing him where he wanted the ball, constantly demanding it and grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck but Dembele just isn't up to it despite Soldado leading by example.
Dembele and Rose are unfit. And the sleeper blockbuster of the Christmas period? You're 48, don't you get embarrassed by this kind of talk?
Just Click "disagree" next time. Then go out and get some sun. That's an inordinate amount of energy to expend in rebutting a fairly reasonable opinion. Considering you've been up all night arguing with the Internet, I'm surprised you had it in you. Well played.
A lot of You are worried about Dembeles deficiencies going forward.
He usually does well defensively though, and that is an important aspect when we have to play without Dier for this game.
He usually does well defensively though, and that is an important aspect when we have to play without Dier for this game.
No fucking way
edit: I've realised you might have been sarcastic, but it's hard to tell when you seem convinced Trippier would be a great right winger, something numerous coaches and established football managers haven't considered.
IQ or age?
He was actually very direct and attack up until his injury. Wouldn't play him on the left, why change Lamela's position, when he's in such a good run of form?
He's been played as a DM for years. He's only been given a more attacking role this season and one or two half games in the past.
Dembele is awesome. Others blaming a DM for not being attack minded is probably a case of transferring blame because Holtby, Lamela, Lennon, Soldado, Townsend etc are more affable and had better twitter accounts. It was on them to create, not Dembele. If anything Dembele did a great job babysitting the above due to the gaps they create off the ball.
DM at Spurs is a poison chalice. Bentaleb and Dembele are currently feeling the long term effects of it. Dier and Alli luckily don't have all the Lennons, Soldado's, Townsends, Siggy's and Holtbies to cover for so they are getting more respect (plus they are awesome).
The ironic thing is, a DM looks much much better when they have someone like Dembele in front of them. Dier was cut to shreds when Mason and Kane were replaced with Chadli and Lamela. The spine is important. We wen't from 2-0 up to 2-2.
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He's had something like 20 assists from right back in the past 3 seasons. I think it's worth checking out seeing our only right wingers are Townsend and Lamela. Playing Lamela as a traditional winger was a disaster. Townsend getting a goal and an assist a season in open play in the prem and leaving us wide open or a boozy Lennon is what managers have seen fit to put there in the past few seasons. It's probably cost us 4th.
Just because someone manages, does not mean they are beyond reproach. Poch put Chiriches in a back line.
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Different positions, most of the time a right back will be running into space, a right midfielder has to make it themselves. I get the idea, but I don't think it's an option. I'd be incredibly disappointed to see us start with 4 full backs.
Dier's scored a few goals, but we're not going to play him up front. Although if Kane gets injured..
Our success stories have come moving players. Bale, Dier etc. In fact it's fashionable to turn a winger like Rose into a left back and I think the opposite should be true.
It makes less sense to make Davies a winger. It makes sense to make Rose a winger since he was one for years, and he led the table for mistakes by an individual that led to goals in the prem not so long ago as a defender.
IMO Trippier and Walker on one side is a pacy option when the midfield monsters are not working out.
Obviously my first choice would be Kane, Dembele, Alli, Bentaleb, Eriksen, Mason etc before changing formation.