Where would you play Dembélé?

Tottenham seem to have several players who divide opinion, one such is 28-year-old (29 next July) Belgian international Mousa Dembélé.



Is he a defensive midfielder or holding player, is he the link midfielder, is he a right-sided midfield player, is he a central attacking midfielder? Spurs fans are divided on that issue themselves and so it seems is Mauricio Pochettino.

“Yes, he’s in my plans [for the season], Dembélé. I think we need to try to provide him [with the help] to show his real quality here. It’s true the last season was difficult for him, but not only was it difficult for him at Tottenham – with his national team too. It’s for that reason we need to try to find the best position for him, to show the quality that he has.”

Nobody questions his ability, but I certainly question his mentality, he doesn't do what it takes to succeed, it's as if we have to change to suit him rather than he has to change to suit us, which he doesn't seem to want to be able to do. Several managers have tried to get more out of him, few have succeeded, arguably Andre Villas-Boas got more from him than most.

Unfortunately in the AVB system we never created any chances, we were great at being solid and excellent until we got to the opposition penalty area, then we were lost. Sideways passing suited his game to a tee and made his stats look good.

How can a player of his ability take 105 minutes to have a shot? Nabil Bentaleb, who does more defending, only takes 84 minutes. He even said in an interview once he doesn't like shooting!

He isn't in the team to do what he likes, he is in it to do what the club, in the guise of Pochettino now, wants. The key to him to me is clear, sort out his true deep-seated motivation, until someone does he'll be the same old Dembélé and we'll be forever waiting for his to become the player he could be.

Further Tottenham Reading
The defensive area Ben Davies needs to work on
The Italian view of the AC Milan game & question marks over Erik Lamela


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