Hold on. Were the stats his opinion? Or were they actual facts and stats based on a game? Fucking spastic.
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Wonderfull response......................taken out of the Lance Armstrong book of 101 best defensive strategies, he would be impressed with the personal attack but bitterly disappointed that you haven't gone with a lawsuit.
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Mousa Dembélé: the unassuming driving force behind Tottenham success story
Mousa Dembélé’s eyes widen in acknowledgement. Yes, the Tottenham Hotspurmidfielder knows this particular story. It is the one about the pithy and offensive line that was once delivered by Sir Alex Ferguson. “Lads, it’s Tottenham.”
According to Roy Keane, Ferguson used it as his pre-match team-talk. He did not need to add anything else. Spurs were the team with the smart shirts and the nice style but they would routinely fold. For years, Ferguson held the upper hand.
When Louis van Gaal addresses his Manchester United players before Sunday’s Premier League fixture at White Hart Lane, the tone will be different. “Lads, it’s Tottenham,” will have an alternative meaning. Mauricio Pochettino’s team are the coming force, the one with the clarity, tempo and excitement. And, above all, it is they who have the title dream.
“In the past, everybody always liked Tottenham but to make the step forward – it was different,” Dembélé says. “You can feel that there is a different vibe now. And people respect us differently. Other teams know that they need to play against us like they play against a top team. The way that teams look at us is important. I speak with a lot of players and they say: ‘Ah, yeah, Tottenham is a nice club.’
“The most important thing for a club is to have a certain way of thinking and there is a clear plan here. They know what they want. It’s [not for] a long time that I have seen that they know exactly what they want. There is a good vibe. I don’t have this feeling just because we’re having a good season, although that has a lot to do with it. You can just feel that we’re in the right direction. We feel like this is the start of a bigger Tottenham future.”
There have been the signs under previous managers, particularly Harry Redknapp and, even, André Villas-Boas, that something was firing at the club. But the wheels soon came off. Dembélé argues that the Pochettino overhaul is built to last.
At the heart of it has been the emphasis on hardiness, which is not a word that has been associated too readily with Tottenham over the years. Pochettino has created something of a fear factor, while remaining clubbable and fairly matey with his players, which is a neat trick when pulled off and the No1 rule is to do things his way. Those who have not or cannot, including Emmanuel Adebayor, Aaron Lennon and Andros Townsend, have found that it is a short distance to the exit door.
“It’s exactly like that,” Dembélé says. “It’s important to have someone who has a strong way of thinking and who can translate it to the team. And if you don’t fit into the team, it’s going to be difficult for you. What he wants is how to press, how to be ready for the team, how to come back, determination.
“If he explains that he expects this and this from a player – for example, he wants a midfielder to press and come back, press and come back – and you are not willing to do it, then you don’t fit into the philosophy. So, I have the feeling that anybody can come into the team and anybody can come out, almost.
“Everybody knows that they can be the best player in the team but if they don’t work, then it’s not going to be good enough. I think that’s the difference. We don’t have superstars. Of course, we have players who can make the difference, like Harry Kane, but even Harry knows: ‘OK, I need to work.’ And you see it. I don’t know another striker who works harder than Harry. This puts him on another level to most other strikers.”
Tottenham have been running hard since the season’s first whistle. Pochettino’s gruelling pre-season was designed to instil endurance but he does not subscribe to the old-school view that, from around Christmas time, training becomes merely about ticking over. Instead, Pochettino’s sessions have maintained their intensity. He has continued to work his players extremely hard.
The fear has been the risk of burnout but it has not been realised. The team looked fresh, for example, in last Saturday’s high-octane draw at Liverpool and the fitness programme has come to look perfectly calibrated. Pochettino’s players are defined by their stamina and athleticism and, crucially, they have been conditioned to avoid muscular injuries. A further notable detail is that almost all of Pochettino’s best XI stand six feet tall or more. The only small players are Danny Rose and Christian Eriksen.
“I’ve played in other teams and we speak with a lot of other players and you can’t compare it,” Dembélé says of Pochettino’s fitness programme. “We work very, very hard and the training sessions are still tough now. The staff have a certain way of thinking to make the players fit for the whole year and not to be on holiday for the last five weeks.”
It is easy to make the link between physical and mental toughness, and Dembélé is confident that Spurs will not crack on either front during the run-in. They may fall short of Leicester City in the final reckoning – how they could come to regret the 1-0 home defeat to the league leaders on 13 January – but it will not be because of the pressure. “Honestly, we are not feeling the pressure at all,” Dembélé says. “It is a bit different but there is a nice stress and not a negative stress. Tottenham have always had unbelievable players and the only thing that has changed is our mentality. We were very disappointed, for example, to only draw at Liverpool. We went there with respect but we thought: ‘OK, it’s at least 50-50. We can do something.’ So it’s a different mentality.”
Dembélé has been the unsung hero of Tottenham’s title push. His midfield colleagues Eric Dier and Dele Alli have shot to prominence; Kane has been irrepressible; Hugo Lloris has held everybody together; and Toby Alderweireld, somewhat belatedly, has been recognised as one of the outstanding central defenders of the season.
Dembélé’s profile is low, partly because of his quiet and unassuming nature, but he has found his groove, driving the team with his urgent and probing passes. According to Opta, he has an accuracy of 90.22% – the fourth best in the league – while, perhaps under the radar, he has also made the fourth highest number of tackles.
The 28-year-old prefers to talk about the team, and how his qualities have been highlighted by it doing so well. “It’s just easier to come into the team because there is a philosophy,” he says. “Eric Dier is playing unbelievably and Dele, too. They are amazing players but we also have Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentaleb and Tom Carroll. Whoever plays, there is a certain structure so the team is not collapsing because of one or two players.”
Dembélé, who will be in the Belgium squad for Euro 2016, signed a new contract at Spurs in January, tying him to the club until 2019. There are likely to be several more new deals put forward in the coming months by the chairman, Daniel Levy, and it is clear who must be kept the sweetest.
Pochettino is hot property – Ferguson has described him as the best manager in the league – and, were United to part company with Van Gaal in the summer, there would surely be covetous glances from the Old Trafford hierarchy towards the Argentinian.
“Are we worried about losing him?” Dembélé asks. “We are very happy here with the manager, we have a good structure but there are things that we can’t concentrate on too much because we don’t have it in our hands. I don’t read a lot of things and, if I hear things, I don’t really think about them because it’s useless.
“If it happens, it happens. I don’t know what’s happening, whether it’s rumours or not. Responding to rumours makes them more interesting so I don’t really want to talk too much about it.” Dembélé’s focus is purely on beating United.
Monster today. Another big performance.
This is the Mousa United couldn't handle when he was at Fulham 
Some of your Belgian teammates hopefully
Some of your Belgian teammates hopefully
superb game. again. United at times had 3 on him, still couldn't get the ball off him. He's the glue that holds the midfield together, without him we're half the team. shame he didn't get a well-deserved 4th when the crowd was howling for it. looking forward to seeing the 2nd half highlights on MOTD.
A Majestic Titan.
Absolutely ran rings round United today. He was treating them like a competitive dad against a bunch of kids. A joy to behold.
Absolutely ran rings round United today. He was treating them like a competitive dad against a bunch of kids. A joy to behold.
He s been so good, his skill is so natural that he rarely watches the ball when he dribbles around players, he s always looking beyond the player he s about to beat, like he s not even there. A mere nuisance to brush aside on his way to bigger and better, beast mode this season. In the second half he was just unbelievably good, they kept trying to bully him but they didnt even get to touch the ball.
Three separate mentions for Spurs players in F365 winners and losers article. Starting with this one....
Premier League winners and losers - Football365
Mousa Dembele and Tottenham
During the first 20 minutes at White Hart Lane on Sunday, Tottenham were overrun by Manchester United. In that time, Kyle Walker completed one pass, Erik Lamela two and Danny Rose one, Harry Kane touched the ball only once and Tottenham didn’t even make it into United’s penalty area. Louis van Gaal’s side may have arrived late to the ground, but they started with great intent.
In previous seasons, Tottenham would have surrendered the lead at that point. Yet not only did Mauricio Pochettino’s players dig in and show their impressive resolve, they forced themselves onto the front foot. The key to that was Dembele.
In the past, most Tottenham supporters would have had the Belgian towards the bottom of a list of those to be relied upon in a crisis, but this has been a season of revision on Dembele. From a lightweight, frustrating attacking midfielder has come a revelatory central midfielder who is almost impossible to shake off the ball. While others around were close to losing their heads, Dembele was busy keeping his. He’s become a man, my son.
Premier League winners and losers - Football365
Mousa Dembele and Tottenham
During the first 20 minutes at White Hart Lane on Sunday, Tottenham were overrun by Manchester United. In that time, Kyle Walker completed one pass, Erik Lamela two and Danny Rose one, Harry Kane touched the ball only once and Tottenham didn’t even make it into United’s penalty area. Louis van Gaal’s side may have arrived late to the ground, but they started with great intent.
In previous seasons, Tottenham would have surrendered the lead at that point. Yet not only did Mauricio Pochettino’s players dig in and show their impressive resolve, they forced themselves onto the front foot. The key to that was Dembele.
In the past, most Tottenham supporters would have had the Belgian towards the bottom of a list of those to be relied upon in a crisis, but this has been a season of revision on Dembele. From a lightweight, frustrating attacking midfielder has come a revelatory central midfielder who is almost impossible to shake off the ball. While others around were close to losing their heads, Dembele was busy keeping his. He’s become a man, my son.
He was immense as usual yesterday, but can't say I agree with the author here in that it wasn't down to Dembele. We did what we did when Man City came to The Lane, the team dug-in and kept it's shape, forcing Utd out wide where they were ineffective, we didn't over commit and stayed on our feet and we were not isolated one on one.
It is often spoken about our fitness but almost always when we are relentlessly pressing teams, but the first 20mins yesterday is an example that we can get oppo teams to punch themselves out, and when they start to flag, we put the hammer down and blow them out of the water.
I am making official my apology to Mousa Dembele. The past couple of seasons haven't been great for him but this season he has been exceptional in almost every match he has played. Whilst a lot of focus will rightly be directed toward a handful of the players who catch the eye, or, like Dier, have come out of nowhere to perform ably in a new position, it really is down to Mousa that many of these players have thrived. Can we honestly say that Alli and Dier haven't benefitted enormously from having Dembele shepherd them in the middle? Would we have come away from Anfield with a point were it not for a herculean performance from him?
If we win the league a huge debt of gratitude belongs to this man, and it speaks volumes that when he appears to have taken a knock the eye rolling has been replaced by praying that he is okay.
So, Mousa, I take it all back, you've been outstanding this season.
If we win the league a huge debt of gratitude belongs to this man, and it speaks volumes that when he appears to have taken a knock the eye rolling has been replaced by praying that he is okay.
So, Mousa, I take it all back, you've been outstanding this season.
He absolutely bossed that midfield yesterday.
I can see Manure putting an offer in for him, they were pretty toothless in the MF, he would sort out some of their problems. I've no qualms about the likes of Kane and Lloris being interested in going there, hopefully if they came calling for him, Moose would give them the brush off too. He's back to his fantastic form of the Bale season, but this time around he's got 9 other outfield players who run their socks off too, and for 90 mins. Manure managed about 25 before they had to start pacing themselves, and from HT on were run off their feet. By the end, we could have scored 6.
I can see Manure putting an offer in for him, they were pretty toothless in the MF, he would sort out some of their problems. I've no qualms about the likes of Kane and Lloris being interested in going there, hopefully if they came calling for him, Moose would give them the brush off too. He's back to his fantastic form of the Bale season, but this time around he's got 9 other outfield players who run their socks off too, and for 90 mins. Manure managed about 25 before they had to start pacing themselves, and from HT on were run off their feet. By the end, we could have scored 6.
McGinn will be a fine understudy to him. Similar players. The young Scot can learn from him; perhaps surpass him