Mousa Dembélé

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Oh no. Look, I know he's a good player, because I took the trouble to ask a Hibs supporting mate about him. A couple of seasons ago, it would look more likely. But (1) we're now (almost assured of) Champions League, and (2) with a conveyor belt of outstanding young players coming through the academy. Surely if we bring people in now they need to be proven EPL or equivalent? And haven't we got a MF on loan at Rangers who's getting very good reviews? You'll probably tell me he plays differently, fair enough I don't watch Scottish footie.

Hibs are 2nd tier Scottish football, and they arent playing well and they probably won't get promoted. We are challenging for the title, and barring something dramatic will be in CL next season. I'll be the first one to eat Humble Pie if he joins us, but I can't for the life of me see why it would happen.

One thing I accept - we urgently need to find a good understudy to rotate. Moose is not a 50 match a season player.
 
Oh no. Look, I know he's a good player, because I took the trouble to ask a Hibs supporting mate about him. A couple of seasons ago, it would look more likely. But (1) we're now (almost assured of) Champions League, and (2) with a conveyor belt of outstanding young players coming through the academy. Surely if we bring people in now they need to be proven EPL or equivalent? And haven't we got a MF on loan at Rangers who's getting very good reviews? You'll probably tell me he plays differently, fair enough I don't watch Scottish footie.

Hibs are 2nd tier Scottish football, and they arent playing well and they probably won't get promoted. We are challenging for the title, and barring something dramatic will be in CL next season. I'll be the first one to eat Humble Pie if he joins us, but I can't for the life of me see why it would happen.

One thing I accept - we urgently need to find a good understudy to rotate. Moose is not a 50 match a season player.
McGinn is the perfect understudy. Sure he's plying his trade in a footballing backwater but he has been so outstanding that he has been called up to the national team. On that call up he played a full 90 debut winning motm against Denmark (proving he can mix it with our Eriksen no less).

Keep in mind that an international call up from second tier Scottish football is quite remarkable in itself (the national team is made up of players who play in England as well as in the SPL), let alone then being the outstanding performer on the night.

We would get him relatively cheap and he's young enough to be further moulded as a true Poch player.
 
Somebody posted this earlier on reddit... his dribbling stats for this year:

kfIex7j.jpg


raw
 
Mousa Dembélé: the unassuming driving force behind Tottenham success story
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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.
it really looks like his head has been photoshopped into this picture
 
Does that mean he's been tackled 7 times all season??
:dembele:

I'm almost positive that if it does he mean he's been tackled 7 times this season, he feels like it's 7 times too many.

Let's face it, John McGinn would have made 700 successful dribbles this season and won us the Champions League had we signed him before his international call up. :pochsmirk:
 
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.

In seasons past it used to be that I would be screaming at Dembele to pass the fucking ball faster. He was forever slowing our play down, even if was clear to everyone how talented, he always was. That's the main difference to me. He's found the perfect balance to when to move the ball on quickly and when to use his body strength to fend people off to slow things down and just retain possession. It's a credit to him that he's managed this, but as with so many things at this club right now, it cannot be overestimated how much credit must go to Poch and his team of coaches.
 
In seasons past it used to be that I would be screaming at Dembele to pass the fucking ball faster. He was forever slowing our play down, even if was clear to everyone how talented, he always was. That's the main difference to me. He's found the perfect balance to when to move the ball on quickly and when to use his body strength to fend people off to slow things down and just retain possession. It's a credit to him that he's managed this, but as with so many things at this club right now, it cannot be overestimated how much credit must go to Poch and his team of coaches.

Imagine if we had shipped him off to the graveyard of ex-Spurs in the North East last summer?!!?!
 

This one clip shows the intelligence and shape of the team. Dembele could have passed the ball quickly to Eriksen but he saw that he was being tracked by Schneiderlin, so he trusts his own ability to carry the ball having committed 2 Man U players. Meanwhile Eriksen is patient and doesn't run off into the distance, he remains deep & central and always an option to receive the ball. The movement of Lamela, Kane & Ali is a major worry for Man U at this point if a ball is played through then we are 3 on 3, but Dembele does the even more dangerous thing and squares it to Eriksen (who is completely aware of those ahead of him and Rose wide left). By passing the ball to Eriksen and have Rose out wide we have just created an overload of 4 vs 3. Spurs that.
 
Reminds me of his first season with us. When he was injured, our form was relegation standard. When he played, it was top 2.

I went mental when AVB played him in the EL, and got him injured.

Need to wrap him in cotton wool and find someone to deputise/rotate. He's not a 50 games a season player, that's for sure.

Has his on going hip injury now been sorted? I remember that we had to nurse him so that he could get to the World Cup. Don't ever see mention of it anymore. No 'elite' player should have to play 50 games a season.
 
Has his on going hip injury now been sorted? I remember that we had to nurse him so that he could get to the World Cup. Don't ever see mention of it anymore. No 'elite' player should have to play 50 games a season.
I tried looking this up but couldnt find anything. I very much hope that the new training regime has helped him overcome the hip problem permanently. When he's out we absolutely can't replace him. He's always the obvious outball when we're under the cosh - he's the only one that can shield the ball from 3 of the oppo, and then give it to one of ours in space.
 
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