Encouraging news from Dembélé

Mousa Dembélé may not be happy with his game time at Tottenham and is frustrated but as fans we are sometimes frustrated with him.



He is a quality player who should show more quality, he should shoot more, for instance, his shot time stat of one every 105 minutes is woeful and his forward passing statistic is low as well.

He has played in several positions as Mauricio Pochettino tried to decide how he could best be utilised within a system that prefers passing to dribbling. perhaps that wasn't achieved. As a number 10 he doesn't shoot enough and as the link midfielder you want to see more in attack again. In our system and with his physical qualities he could perform the defensive midfield role that has a stronger defensive element, would he be happy doing that though.

On a positive note, Dembélé has not moaned in the media and he embraces the fact that improving the situation is down to him to warrant more game time. He gave these encouraging thoughts to the London Evening Standard and Belgian publication Sporza.


"After my holidays, I will talk to the boss and my future at Spurs. We will see.  
"I've played so few minutes, it is a big disappointment to me. At one point I showed what I've got and I thought I took my chance, but as quickly again I fell out of the team. 
"Do I get little credit at Tottenham? Yes, I have that feeling at times, but it is ultimately down to me. I have to stay positive. I am still confident."

The massive point in all that is 'it is ultimately down to me' not I need a run of games but an admission, an understanding that it is the player himself who must do even more to force his way back in. That is exactly the attitude that many Spurs fans are looking for from him. If he does that then he can become an even better player and that's good news for Spurs.

Is there more Pochettino can do to make him feel values, yes probably if feels he isn't getting the pat on the back we all need sometimes. Within the meeting, which is a fairly standard affair and not the 'demand' as it's portrayed in some areas, Pochettino will need to explain how he sees the Belgian international's future role and what aspects of his game he can work towards improving to play a more significant part.

As long as Dembélé can see a road ahead there shouldn't be a problem, if he can't see how he can change his situation then he will become restless, so the meeting is an important one between the two.