Elias
- How contrived towards 'project Dele' do you think the edit of the TV show may have been?
I mean we got all sides of him; the glowing rhetoric and Fergie anecdote, the 'cute talk of chocolate bars, we got the critique of training, we got the mini spat with dier....
Then as the doc drops we have the odd HT sub against Everton which made us worse and a short exile from the squad (whilst the TV hype died down?); followed by a pledge of commitment from the club and a couple of 'rehab cameos'.
Am I over thanking this or was it all masterfully orchestrated to reboot a gifted player who'd lost his way?
To be blunt, my view is you're guilty of some over-thinking.
Timelines and agendas are important.
1) The "Dele is a bit of an idiot" narrative would have been a production team decision developed over the summer. Basically, in the cutting room, they had lots of cilps of Dele behaving like a dodo, and decided to edit in the dumb moments and leave out any "smarter" moments they may have filmed. This was basic reality TV "let's use editing to emphasise personality traits and thus create the Dele character". There's nothing sinister about this other than the fucked-up, concocted, nature of all reality TV.
2) The Fergie anecdote. My instinct is this was real. Fergie did like Dele's attitude from afar, and conveyed this to Mourinho, who also likes spiky players. Mourinho retelling the anecdote to Levy was Jose telling a story he knew would thrill Levy. But I believe when Mourinho became our gaffer he wanted to find that Dele, not Dele's brother, and in the Amazon series it's clear that Jose's challenge to Dele did produce a near immediate bounce in his performances.
Unfortunately, Dele's form went to shit after the first lockdown, and culminated in the HT hooking against Everton. But the entire Amazon narrative was edited & created weeks and months ago, long before that Everton game. The fact it was broadcast around that time is irrevelant to any meta-narrative.
My broader sense is Mourinho saw GLC and Ndombele improving after he challenged them, and Dele deteriorating in recent weeks. If PSG had made a big bid for Dele, I suspect Mourinho would have sanctioned the move to free up funds to "complete his squad puzzle". But PSG made an insulting bid of £1.5 million for a loan, so Levy said "Non, Fuck Off".
So, no, I don't believe there's any "masterful orchestration to reboot a gifted player who'd lost his way".
Dele will likely stay. If he rises to the challenge, and becomes an important member of our squad, then great. But it's up to him. And with Bale & Carlos Vinicius added to our attacking options, and GLC & Tanguy providing the creativity from midfield, Dele will genuinely have to raise his game in training to be trusted by Mourinho with a run in the team.
Having said all that, I think Mourinho was very smart to involve both Ben Davies and Dele in yesterday's game. He's kept them interested even though neither are now first choice in their natural positions.