Has the message finally got through to Dembele?

Are we at last seeing signs that the penny may have dropped for Mousa Dembélé? He may have figured out that he can't just stay in his comfort zone and do what he has always done.



He has talent but as Les Ferdinand said, we used to tell him he could be good enough to play for Real Madrid. Dembélé though didn't improve, that alone tells you he isn't pushing himself to be the best he can, he didn't have that motivation.

Recently I have been encouraged by two separate interviews with the press, one in which he says he didn't play enough last season but that it is ultimately down to him and the recent one where he was saying he has to produce more.

Last season it took him 105 minutes on average to take a shot, he only had 11 all season in the Premier League, this season he has played 157 minutes and already had 2 shots. one every 79 minutes.

Is Dier a central midfielder? Is Dembele a right-sided player? Both doing excellent jobs so far. Dembele winning ball back regularly.


He says he wants to add goals to his game and he cut inside to have a shot on target yesterday, he looked solid on the right, worked well with Walker and the triumvirate of Dembélé, Dier and Walker gave us a sound platform on that side which fell to pieces when Lamela was brought on.

Dembele completed more passes (56), take-ons (3) and tackles (5) than any other player in today's game.

In a piece written by Ben Pearce for the Ham & High he asked Mauricio Pochettino about Dembélé contributing from the right.

“I think he is a very good player and needs to show more consistency during the season. Our job is to provide the good tools to improve his game and [help him to] be an important player for us.

“For me the position is not important – it is how we play. Mousa can play in different positions on the pitch and this is one of the positions that maybe he can play in the future too.”

There are definitely signs he is trying to be more positive, he was given offside against Manchester United when clean through and yesterday a shot on target to add to the everyday work he does. While Lamela looks a long way off having the right attitude, Dembélé may well have turned the corner. If he has then that may benefit us if he has to move centrally.

As a defensive midfielder he didn't move the ball forward quickly enough, as a number 10 he didn't create much. The realisation that if he wants to play at Spurs he has to provide more is looking as if it may have been learnt. Fingers crossed.

Further Tottenham Reading
Villa in for Dembele
Which Spurs pair combine for the most goals - who should we be looking out for today
Are there 50 better players than Lamela in the Premier League?

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