11 - Ousmane Dembélé - V1
- Thread starter Jair Ventura
- Start date
xXKonan
Senior Member
Funny enough this game tells you how much Valverde trusts Dembele now.
Last season the idea of Valverde playing Dembele in an away match with both our RB's injured as an RWB would be unfathomable. It would have likely been Paulinho at RWB with Coutinho up Front and Iniesta in the Middle with Rakitic and Busi. Dembele would have either been subbed on very late or not be played at all depending on the score line.
Didn't know what to expect at him at RWB but I was impressed the most at his commitment and hard work. Didn't sulk or anything and just put on a shift the best he could.
Last season the idea of Valverde playing Dembele in an away match with both our RB's injured as an RWB would be unfathomable. It would have likely been Paulinho at RWB with Coutinho up Front and Iniesta in the Middle with Rakitic and Busi. Dembele would have either been subbed on very late or not be played at all depending on the score line.
Didn't know what to expect at him at RWB but I was impressed the most at his commitment and hard work. Didn't sulk or anything and just put on a shift the best he could.
Alik
Moderator
Shouldn't even need to be mentioned.
Messigician
Senior Member
Actually Xavi said Mourinho coached the B team a few times and said he played the Barca way, he doesn't know why Mourinho changed his philosophy.
Also he had a very convincing job interview when he applied here. Showing the board how he will get the best out of Deco and Ronaldinho with a disciplined approach while playing free flowing attacking football.
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Messigician
Senior Member
Oi lay off him. Dembele is showing his versatility as a player, he cannot score every game. All i want to see is effort and he definitely put a shift in and played well depsite not getting on the scoresheet.
Not to derail the thread but this is an interesting quote. I imagine the interviews went something like this.
Laporta: How will you get the best out of Ronaldinho and Deco?
Mourinho: With a disciplined approsch while playing free flowing attacking football
Laporta: Interesting, we will get back to you Jose
Laporta: How will you get the best out of Ronaldinho and Deco?
Pep: By selling them
Laporta: Great, you got the job
Pep: Also sell Giovanni Dos Santos, he parties too much and won't live up to the hype
Laporta: Agreed, cut
Pep: And lastly we will sell Samuel Eto'o, and will replace him with Adebayor
Laporta: Steady now
Messigician
Senior Member
Hahaha I never understood Pep's problem with Eto'o he wanted to sell him from day 1 and after an incredible season where he scored in the champions league final he still swappee him for a similar player Zlatan while
e paying an insane fee.
khaled_a_d
Senior Member
Pep wanted authority over the players, Eto,R10 & Deco were already huge star and probably bigger than him in the camp nou at that time, he wanted to send a message and make sure his authority is unquestioned
I think it was a rookie mistake for a young upcoming coach, with a strong character like Eto he didn't take it well and their relation was never fixable with big prides and egos on both sides.
Also, I think Pep had an idea that a tall mobile striker who is good with the ball who can draw defense is the best type of attacker. I mean Adebayor,Ibra & Lewandowski ?
God bless Txiki & Laporta for rejecting Adebayor
Messigician
Senior Member
Didn't we bid 24m for Adebayor but Arsenal rejected our bid?
shadows
Member
Getting rid of Deco and Ronaldinho was the right call as they were clearly floundering and more interested in partying and stuff..thank god Pep did that.. Eto`o was always the more determined of the 3 (better work ethic) and could`ve been a good option to keep till we got Villa.. Not sure what Pep was thinking (as well as the board) for that insane Ibra deal which not only handed them a proven goal scorer for free but also paid cash on top of that..I wish the board had rejected this request as well, would`ve spared us some money and Inter probably wouldnt have won the champions league with Ibra there..we could`ve had a better chance of repeating with Eto`o... That year transfer window was one of the worst as all of the buys bombed badly? ( or did i miss anyone?)
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khaled_a_d
Senior Member
We made bids but their were negotiations, we could have gotten him if we increased our bid but we refused too and also we rejected to just let Eto go for nothing (way pep wanted him out killed his value)
Eto kind of wanted to stay and prove Pep wrong too, at the end board told Pep to stfu and use Eto
R10 & Deco was right call, though not sure Deco was partying or not, but he was 31 , clearly declining with Iniesta ready to be undisputed starter
Board didn't want Ibra actually and was more interested in Villa, but Pep pushed for Ibra badly and board had to get him Ibra as they wanted to renew him
Maxwell wasn't a bad transfer
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shadows
Member
ya they should`ve probably told Pep to shut up and manage the team on that one
..could`ve turned out better for us that year probably with Eto`o in the Champions even with that volcanic ash thing denting us big time ( and even though he was sucking towards the end of 2008-09, probably due to being overplayed by Pep without rest). So basically we got the man which board and everyone except Pep thought would fit right into Pep`s system i.e Villa, one year later paying 60mn (Ibra + free Eto`o) + 40 mn (Villa) minus 1 Champions league...Mind you Eto`o was what 29?Ya forgot about Maxwell..but wasnt brought in mainly as a sub for Abidal?..Guess the stupid Chygrinsky deal and Ibra deal made me forget that, my bad..Ya he was decent when called upon.
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