There have been many opinions and discussions on were it all has went wrong for Tottenham over the past two seasons. Many citing a lack of spending, lack of focus from the club on footballing matters, running down of contracts, players leaving, the stadium delays, losing our marauding WBs, being over trained blah blah blah we have all spoke at great detail about it all.
However for me, although it has been mentioned, it certainly has not had the levels of significance it should’ve. There have been the odd mention or article. Many players that have played with him, refer to him as the GOAT. He really was a true Rolls Royce type of a player.
With that much time on my hands this Easter, I stumbled across this article that was reported Aug 16. Which I thought I should share. It just emphasised the level of importance Poch placed on Mousa. Imo our failure to ensure we had a ready made replacement was the major mistake over the last few years.
Mousa Dembélé I always referred to as our team’s bicycle chain. Our bicycle has been chainless since he left imo. The real reason for our down turn from the heights of the free flowing 16-17 spurs team. And further the decision to sell him mid season for a pittance to may I add - which both Levy and Poch are to blame for was the cardinal sin.
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/tottenham-vs-liverpool-mauricio-pochettino-jokes-that-spurs-do-not-exist-without-mousa-dembele-a7213991.html
We miss you Mousa.
Mousa Dembélé
posted on 14/4/20
Fair comment Ted. The squad obviously needs a refresh.
That said, I think we can also look at Poch and say that the 'buy nothing' season is partly down to him refusing players that were lined up by the club. Were they exactly the ones he wanted? Maybe not. But maybe a bit of pragmatism on his part would've saved his job. Heck, it might've won us a trophy.
posted on 15/4/20
i heavily criticized Levy last January for the ludicrous decision to sell him without replacing him. Fitness wise he was a problem, but he was worth having just for those big games, as he was the only midfielder we had capable of dominating a midfield against top opposition.
the decision to not replace him was an absolute joke when guys like Tielemans were on the market.
Poch should have never allowed it to happen, but it was a poor poor decision by Levy, imo. I reckon a fit Dembele in the CL final and we are far more competitive in that game than the absolute disgrace of a non performance that we saw. Biggest game in the club's history and not one caaant showed up.
posted on 15/4/20
cost me 2k to get to madrid and get accommodation and went round the houses on 3 different flights just to make it, and we would have been no worse off with me on the pitch. was absolutely furious with that performance.
posted on 15/4/20
It's been a combination of things really. The change of stadium is going to be another obvious factor when you consider we were unbeaten all season at old WHL prior to moving, yet still lost games in that 16/17 season when playing at Wembley in Europe.
The Dembele sale and the timing of it certainly won't have helped, although we should have been lining up a replacement before then because he was past his best by that point. I still remember when he got skinned by Pogba in the FA Cup semi for their goal.
posted on 15/4/20
comment by Tottenham Chronic (U3423)
posted 17 minutes ago
i heavily criticized Levy last January for the ludicrous decision to sell him without replacing him. Fitness wise he was a problem, but he was worth having just for those big games, as he was the only midfielder we had capable of dominating a midfield against top opposition.
the decision to not replace him was an absolute joke when guys like Tielemans were on the market.
Poch should have never allowed it to happen, but it was a poor poor decision by Levy, imo. I reckon a fit Dembele in the CL final and we are far more competitive in that game than the absolute disgrace of a non performance that we saw. Biggest game in the club's history and not one caaant showed up.
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How do we know how much say Poch had in his sale? He complained about just this last summer, that he was more a coach than manager, hinting that he had little say in the windows. Pretty obvious in the last few seasons his control of transfer dealings was limited.
posted on 15/4/20
comment by Tottenham Chronic (U3423)
posted 1 hour, 1 minute ago
i heavily criticized Levy last January for the ludicrous decision to sell him without replacing him. Fitness wise he was a problem, but he was worth having just for those big games, as he was the only midfielder we had capable of dominating a midfield against top opposition.
the decision to not replace him was an absolute joke when guys like Tielemans were on the market.
Poch should have never allowed it to happen, but it was a poor poor decision by Levy, imo. I reckon a fit Dembele in the CL final and we are far more competitive in that game than the absolute disgrace of a non performance that we saw. Biggest game in the club's history and not one caaant showed up.
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Yeah tbf Chronic I do remember you being one on here in particular that recognised how pivotal his role in the team was.
Simply saying he was getting on and it was right to recoup the 9m before he left on a free, is entirely missing the point imo.
The club should have identified his replacement earlier and if there were problems with this, told Mousa to honour his contract as he is still vitally needed and wait until July to leave.
posted on 15/4/20
comment by Tottenham Chronic (U3423)
posted 1 hour, 4 minutes ago
cost me 2k to get to madrid and get accommodation and went round the houses on 3 different flights just to make it, and we would have been no worse off with me on the pitch. was absolutely furious with that performance.
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Initially I couldn’t of work. Things got cancelled and by the time I knew for certain I could go it was costing at least 4K late May time. No way could I justify it on my salary. Feel for you.. just imagine the memories last you could have had- Frigg we all could of had.
posted on 15/4/20
comment by Spurtle (U1608)
posted 59 minutes ago
It's been a combination of things really. The change of stadium is going to be another obvious factor when you consider we were unbeaten all season at old WHL prior to moving, yet still lost games in that 16/17 season when playing at Wembley in Europe.
The Dembele sale and the timing of it certainly won't have helped, although we should have been lining up a replacement before then because he was past his best by that point. I still remember when he got skinned by Pogba in the FA Cup semi for their goal.
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Yeah Spurtle I hear you. In fairness though I don’t care what any one says Pogba on form is one of the best CMs in the world - just doesn’t show it too often. There weren’t many that were able to turn Dembele inside out.
posted on 15/4/20
comment by Tottenham Chronic (U3423)
posted 1 hour, 14 minutes ago
cost me 2k to get to madrid and get accommodation and went round the houses on 3 different flights just to make it, and we would have been no worse off with me on the pitch. was absolutely furious with that performance.
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Really? It wasn’t that bad. Michael Cox did a good article explaining why.
If it wasn’t for an unfair rule it could be so different
posted on 15/4/20
comment by TobyJanKaneobi (U15068)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by Spurtle (U1608)
posted 59 minutes ago
It's been a combination of things really. The change of stadium is going to be another obvious factor when you consider we were unbeaten all season at old WHL prior to moving, yet still lost games in that 16/17 season when playing at Wembley in Europe.
The Dembele sale and the timing of it certainly won't have helped, although we should have been lining up a replacement before then because he was past his best by that point. I still remember when he got skinned by Pogba in the FA Cup semi for their goal.
————————-
Yeah Spurtle I hear you. In fairness though I don’t care what any one says Pogba on form is one of the best CMs in the world - just doesn’t show it too often. There weren’t many that were able to turn Dembele inside out.
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Pogba was the only one from memory who genuinely got the better of Dembele when they faced (not every time though).
Dembele also really struggled in the home leg vs Juventus where they basically sat Khedira on him all game and he got marked out the game.