A lot of people write that Dembele could be great, but we would have seen it by now. As an attacker he doesn't score or create enough, and as a defender he keeps the ball too long and invites pressure. I have nothing against him, and I hope he is not badly injured. I don't think he is a key player though.
He's the strongest player on the ball in our midfield, he has the best control, he beats players without needing pace (would be a handy attribute for some others in our squad!), he holds onto the ball too long sometimes because there's fuck all around him but what the fuck is the difference with Mason being a headless chicken or Bentaleb passing to the opposition in our half etc? He's a quality player in our squad which does not compromise of the same ability, potential does not always get realised, we can't just have a team of potential and hope for the best.
Maybe him and Wanyama, Bender or even Song would make a strong, technically sound double-pivot-pairing?
I agree he could and should produce more in the final third but he's been getting shots off in the past couple of games and they've not been worse than the shit finishing from Mason or even Kane this month - might be harsh and unpopular but it's true.