Ousmane Dembélé

Laplacian

Senior Member
Di Maria was absolutely rapid though, blistering pace. Trincao unfortunately lacks that edge in pace wingers like him normally need. Without that pace, his other skills need to be so much better than what would otherwise be needed - be it precision passing, movement, dribbling, decision making, etc. which is why I am a bit worried about his long term fit here.

Having said that, at least he's a direct and creative winger, something we haven't had in ages, so I would start him as much as possible to see what he can provide. Him and Dembele to rotate for that position.

DI Maria is still ridiculously quick.
 

Barcilliant

Senior Member
Dembele is simply a hit or miss player and always will be. You will have moments of sheer brilliance and moments of absolute trash. I don't think he will ever be a consistent player for us. His style is much better suited to a counter attacking team with pace and physical presence in the box.
Alot of the time he is too fast for the rest. Pedri goal he was literally there by himself till Pedri came along.
 

soul24rage

Senior Member
Dembele is simply a hit or miss player and always will be. You will have moments of sheer brilliance and moments of absolute trash. I don't think he will ever be a consistent player for us. His style is much better suited to a counter attacking team with pace and physical presence in the box.
Alot of the time he is too fast for the rest. Pedri goal he was literally there by himself till Pedri came along.

I agree. There's only three scenarios in which I would play Dembele in our team

1. If the opposition play a high line (aka Bayern and Liverpool), Dembele should start.
2. Bring him in as a sub late in the game against tired opponents.
3. If playing against team that sits deep, play him on the right touchline with either Bob/Dest.

Also, I hope Koeman now realizes that Dembele should never play on the left as Firpo and Alba loves to hug the touchline.
On the right, both Dest and Bob can play inside the pitch which allows Dembele to be on the touchline where he plays best.
 

Laplacian

Senior Member
Dembele is simply a hit or miss player and always will be. You will have moments of sheer brilliance and moments of absolute trash. I don't think he will ever be a consistent player for us. His style is much better suited to a counter attacking team with pace and physical presence in the box.
Alot of the time he is too fast for the rest. Pedri goal he was literally there by himself till Pedri came along.

So the issue is the squad building and we need quick forwards to accommodate Dembele's play style.
 

jamrock

Senior Member
Funny how much better he is dribbling & passing (which is still not good enough) on the right wing, messi doesn't play there anymore so give him a good run of games there, but it will be difficult if he doesn't him improve his passing & defensive work rate.
 

Sailor Mars

Well-known member
Needs to be better defensively. Even when he decides to track back and help in defense, he just runs beside the opposing attacker. Gotta use the body to get the player off the ball, or get in front of him to cut off his options.
 

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