Dembele in the Matic Role

Once Bale

I think Demeble was poor when he came on against Stoke but sometimes he seems to do the impossible to keep hold of the ball when he has 2 players on him.

And keeping possession is vital to any team - especially a team like ours at the moment.

Poch, please start him against Hull. Thanks

IMO the defensive midfield role is a specialist role and is crucial in this day and age where full backs are more like wing backs (don't give a monkeys what Sherwood and Ferdinand say). I don't want to make do with someone in that role like arsenal do with arteta, I want someone with that natural instinct to do what the role requires, and I've seen absolutely nothing to suggest Dembele will be of any use as our DM.

comment by Once Bale leaves they are facked! (U12707)
posted 32 minutes ago
With the ball at his feet Dembele is the most natural footballer we have at the club. I just don't think he is being effectively used.
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You can say that about every player we have signed in the last 2 years

comment by Ledley's resurrection - Bonafide Football Manager legend and Wonderkid Hunter (U20121)
posted 17 minutes ago
IMO the defensive midfield role is a specialist role and is crucial in this day and age where full backs are more like wing backs (don't give a monkeys what Sherwood and Ferdinand say). I don't want to make do with someone in that role like arsenal do with arteta, I want someone with that natural instinct to do what the role requires, and I've seen absolutely nothing to suggest Dembele will be of any use as our DM.
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Agreed. Stambouli is not great but FFS he's the only one that remotely understands that role.

I would bet Vertonghen is a better DM than Dembele and I don't want to see Vertonghen there either.

comment by Ioavirgo (U10470)
posted 12 seconds ago
comment by Ledley's resurrection - Bonafide Football Manager legend and Wonderkid Hunter (U20121)
posted 17 minutes ago
IMO the defensive midfield role is a specialist role and is crucial in this day and age where full backs are more like wing backs (don't give a monkeys what Sherwood and Ferdinand say). I don't want to make do with someone in that role like arsenal do with arteta, I want someone with that natural instinct to do what the role requires, and I've seen absolutely nothing to suggest Dembele will be of any use as our DM.
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Agreed. Stambouli is not great but FFS he's the only one that remotely understands that role.

I would bet Vertonghen is a better DM than Dembele and I don't want to see Vertonghen there either.
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The key qualities for me are:

Positioning
Anticipation
Tackling
Interceptions
Team work

If they can pass like Xabi Alonso then it's an added bonus. If not then they can pass it 5 yards sideways so someone more creative. I don't want someone in that role because they can't facking shoot ffs

The problem we have is take bar our two central midfielders who try to protect our back 4, the rest of the team lacks a physicality so our midfield is terribly exposed.
If you expose Matic so much then all his frailties would come to the fore. We are an easy team to play against because we allow the opposition to play as we don't collectively press as we have too many lightweight players missing the required technical atrributes.. Watching the Liverpool / Chelsea game highlighted pressing at its most effective. Chelsea pressed with energy from the front. They truly have 10 defensive players with great energy and purpose..The amount of times Liverpool lost the ball around their penalty box was alarming. Could we have nicked the ball of Liverpool like that..not a chance.!! They would just toy with us as they did at the lane. Liverpool haven't put in a similar performance since!!!!
Poch realises we don't have the players for his philosophy so pressing tends to be done in isolation.
Dembele would be a star if we let him go to another team with a proper structure.. Cast your mind back to his early days where he put in great performances. The guy hasn't become a bad player all of a sudden. He needs a run of games and a settled side to play in..
We would massively regret it if we let him leave.

comment by Once Bale leaves they are facked! (U12707)
posted 1 hour ago
The problem we have is take bar our two central midfielders who try to protect our back 4, the rest of the team lacks a physicality so our midfield is terribly exposed.
If you expose Matic so much then all his frailties would come to the fore. We are an easy team to play against because we allow the opposition to play as we don't collectively press as we have too many lightweight players missing the required technical atrributes.. Watching the Liverpool / Chelsea game highlighted pressing at its most effective. Chelsea pressed with energy from the front. They truly have 10 defensive players with great energy and purpose..The amount of times Liverpool lost the ball around their penalty box was alarming. Could we have nicked the ball of Liverpool like that..not a chance.!! They would just toy with us as they did at the lane. Liverpool haven't put in a similar performance since!!!!
Poch realises we don't have the players for his philosophy so pressing tends to be done in isolation.
Dembele would be a star if we let him go to another team with a proper structure.. Cast your mind back to his early days where he put in great performances. The guy hasn't become a bad player all of a sudden. He needs a run of games and a settled side to play in..
We would massively regret it if we let him leave.
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Chicken

Matic is a byproduct of a favourable system. A lot of DM's in the league would excel in that Chelsea team.

comment by Edinspur (U1109)
posted 15 minutes ago
Matic is a byproduct of a favourable system. A lot of DM's in the league would excel in that Chelsea team.
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That's true, although he's either disciplined enough to know his role and not go forward or he's simply useless going forward. Remember when Zokora used to go forward?!