Granted but there is a reason he´s been put deeper, and that reason is his form early season where he was up top.
This is what I mean by taking players on
Just doesnt work for him anymore
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Granted but there is a reason he´s been put deeper, and that reason is his form early season where he was up top.
This is what I mean by taking players on
Just doesnt work for him anymore
I almost cry with frustration watching that......I have no idea what anyone else is seeing this season, but that above is a player we do not have this year, and one I PRAY returns next season.
I am honestly speechless at the notion that he hasnt regressed
I am honestly speechless at the notion that he hasnt regressed
Again can't expect the same tune when playing a different fiddle.
I see the same player, same skill set, doing exactly the same as he has since in walked through the door, to what he's doing this year only minus the goals. It's the only thing that's different in terms of output. Although I recon he could have doubled the number of goals last year had he taken all his chances, I mention this because he's also missed a far few this year too, and maybe that's why he's coming for criticism, because the goal tally is down the focus is on the sitters missed even though his conversion is probably similar, as opposed to scoring shitloads but still missing shitloads the attention is spent of the goals scored(??? psychology ???).
This is his "troubled year" 2017/18 only, I see him doing the same things (if only people would put together a montage of off the ball stuff too)................
Now consider this, who's he playing? This year he did what he does against far, far superior competition in that of Madrid and Juve. He's done this under the magnifying glass and under the backdrop of cheat in every single game, he done this as a known threat, a marked man, someone to target, someone to get at. Stop Tottenham, then stop Dele (along with Kane & Eriksen). This context is everything for me along with the fact he's 21 years old.
I will push on that last point though because it's incredibly relevant, I asked you to name another 21 year old footballer in the World who is as consistently good as Dele and as the crux of the debate is this season 2017/18 lets keep it to this season only. What 21yr old footballer is as consistently good as Dele in 2017/18?
Well Sane and Jesus...
Personally I dont get wrapped up in the age thing...Dele has played nealry 3 full PL seasons. Its experience that counts not age. He has ten times more experience than Winks.
I compare Dele to Dele, not other 21yr olds. He is not up to his own standards, and thats all that matters.
I have to admit I do feel something is different with him this year, maybe he's not getting the space, breaks or luck but last year he did appear to take more players on. He's a tall lad who is good with his head, we should be mixing it up, no shame in scoring the occasional header... we need to be less precipitable, if we shoot from outside the box defenders will have to get tighter which makes space elsewhere, if they know we're going to try and walk it in they just sit deep. Variety is the spice of life they say.
Just fuck off, you shameless troll
I'd say he probably hasn't dealt with being targetted by opponents more this year...
We've seen in previous seasons, like the West Brom punch and the Chelsea wind-up merchants... he dealt badly with them both, but (at the time) it felt like isolated incidents.
Now, either opposing managers (and players) have deliberatley set out to target and wind him up, and so far, its worked.
As the only retaliation Dele seems to have is by trying to 'win' penalties...
its just he hasn't quite mastered the dark art yet! But has built himself a reputation which he seems to be struggling to shake off... its a definite distraction to his game.
The best thing he (and Poch) can do, is get him back to doing what he does best: attacking and creating like the dynamic young midfielder we already know is in there!
Blocking out the rest of the 'noise' is key.
I think he definitely has the skill to do it... I just hope he has the intelligence too!
Barely shoots anymore.....he used to have quite a few long range efforts before
Your first line is what I meant earlier in the season about him running the risk of being found out.
Seems too easy to nullify him this season.
I ask people this: Do you think the opposition fear him like they did last year?
Last year he saw two players in front of him and ran at them. This year he stops the ball, thinks and takes the easy pass or get gets muscled.
I think this is true of us as a team at the moment, like there's a fear of giving up possession. Just need to keep the opposition guessing really
True.....it drives me nuts actually.
Won't risk losing possession by having a shot, but are ok going back to Hugo and letting him kick it off the pitch
It's always an excuse though.
He isn't playing a different position, at all. He is an AM.
He is less effective on the ball, it doesn't mean his role has changed.
I get he isn't making runs into the box, and that's from Poch, but that doesn't excuse not being able to take on players like he used to deeper, or his passing being so hit and miss.
I'm sick of the age thing. 21 is not 17.
This is his THIRD FULL PL season.
How can being 21 be an excuse, when he was BETTER when he was 19???
I bring it up because I'm saying he's the best player in the World at his age. I see this as hugely important.
Good shout on Sane, I will accept him into the club despite actually being 22yrs but he has for the majority of this season played when 21. Jesus can't accept as nothing consistent about him yet, he's been injured and is a sub more often than not. I'm confident he will be right up there next year though.
I accept your point on "own" standards and acknowledge it's been the mainstay of your comments, so I'll not attempt to push home too much my stance on other players and age debate, despite how relevant I personally think it might be.
All I can be is consistent and say his role is significantly different this year than it was last (which was also different from his previous year too). It's hard to be precise and quantify as I don't have the tactics board of Poch, so everything I see is interpreted reactively, but I watch him more than ever now as a direct result of the attention he's attracted this year (as opposed to ball watching and therefore focused on the goals etc) and I see him as our heartbeat, not in the sense of Eriksen or Dembele who provide the flow and tempo through the ball, but Dele is the energy in this aggressive in your face team, he is our chaos creator. He's the magicians focus, the player who's everyones eyes are focused on, whilst Son or Kane are slipping out unnoticed through the trap door. He also does the dirty work for Eriksen and Son snapping at the oppo heels forcing an error after error. Ultimately he is so important to the identity of this team, the way we play is imprinted through him like the lettering in a seaside stick of rock (he's not alone in that, a fair number also have this imprint).
I personally believe 21 is very young. I’d suggest he’s well ahead of almost all other 21 year olds at present. And ahead of almost all who have played in this league previously. I’m very comfortable using his age as a reason for him not performing week In week out.
He’s played in the league for three years and again, I’d suggest that’s not that long. As areas of his game improve, others will not. As we change the way we play, he has to change the way he plays.
And I struggle to accept an argument that suggests you would like to see year on year improvement from any player. That’s not realistic. Otherwise, I look forward to five years time when Hugo has a season full of clean sheets and Harry scores 214 goals. Even though every other player in the league should be improving too.
Thing is if the opposition don't know which attacking option you might lead with:
1. Long range shot
2. Dribbling through defence
3. Close linking up one-twos
4. Whipped in cross
5. Hoof from Hugo
They have to cover all bases which inevitably leads to spaces being opened up. Saying that i'm no coach so what do I know...
Don't want to be overly critical as they have performed well this season so far, just come up short a couple of times. It's always easy to criticise from afar and after the event. Lucas and Lamella will bring more variety which will hopefully help but they both need time.
1. Long range shot
2. Dribbling through defence
3. Close linking up one-twos
4. Whipped in cross
5. Hoof from Hugo
They have to cover all bases which inevitably leads to spaces being opened up. Saying that i'm no coach so what do I know...
Don't want to be overly critical as they have performed well this season so far, just come up short a couple of times. It's always easy to criticise from afar and after the event. Lucas and Lamella will bring more variety which will hopefully help but they both need time.
I'm not asking him to improve from last year, I'd like him to play to the same level.
In my opinion he isn't, and by all accounts he feels the same.
I really hope he's not as content as you are with his form.
As I said being 21 can't be an excuse when he played better when he was 19
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He's improved creatively from the past few seasons though, he already has more assists this season than he had for the entire of last season. He will definitely be frustrated he hasn't scored more goals, but I don't think you can put it down to anything other than him not being as ruthless in front of goal, he's still making the same runs he's always made, he's still doing all his flicks and tricks and does seem to be playing with confidence. So I don't think there's anything particularly worrying with his overall game, he's just having an off season in front of goal, but he's still creating for others. Next season it could be the other way round, his assists could be down and his goal scoring could be right back up again.
There are a few thoughts that come to mind with Dele from the past week.
Last season we saw Dele get sent off for a rash challenge against Gent, he was targeted by Juve and while he got a yellow, he didn't do anything stupid in the face of a great deal of provocation.
Also, in the hardest league in the world, a beautifully weighted final ball is not easy and just last week against Huddersfield there was a sumptuous final ball for Sonny to run on to which opened the scoring from Dele. I love the artistry of a good flick or nutmeg but the ability to create a defence splitting pass is something you can't take for granted this season.
Has he gone downhill? I don't think so, he's now a more 'known' element and so when you're playing Spurs you're going to have a better idea how to contain him and the threat he poses. That is a natural consequence and he will need to find ways to show he can still create chances and get in dangerous areas, I think he already is doing this to some extent too.
He's also getting more negative press and he won't win a penalty this season, even when blatantly fouled, I give you the foul at home to Manchester United where Dele was absolutely taken out and if it had been any other Spurs player the penalty would have been given. Not all of that press is wrong, he does go down too easy, I don't want to excuse that but also having seen Zaha or the worst offender Dwight Gayle, he's far from the only one doing it but it is a label he's going to need to shake.
Last season we saw Dele get sent off for a rash challenge against Gent, he was targeted by Juve and while he got a yellow, he didn't do anything stupid in the face of a great deal of provocation.
Also, in the hardest league in the world, a beautifully weighted final ball is not easy and just last week against Huddersfield there was a sumptuous final ball for Sonny to run on to which opened the scoring from Dele. I love the artistry of a good flick or nutmeg but the ability to create a defence splitting pass is something you can't take for granted this season.
Has he gone downhill? I don't think so, he's now a more 'known' element and so when you're playing Spurs you're going to have a better idea how to contain him and the threat he poses. That is a natural consequence and he will need to find ways to show he can still create chances and get in dangerous areas, I think he already is doing this to some extent too.
He's also getting more negative press and he won't win a penalty this season, even when blatantly fouled, I give you the foul at home to Manchester United where Dele was absolutely taken out and if it had been any other Spurs player the penalty would have been given. Not all of that press is wrong, he does go down too easy, I don't want to excuse that but also having seen Zaha or the worst offender Dwight Gayle, he's far from the only one doing it but it is a label he's going to need to shake.