11 - Ousmane Dembélé - V1

[Ousmane Dembélé]

As you very well know but still pretend... It is not most active because he plays or doesnt play. It is most active because so many fans hope(d) big things from Dembele.

How can he be expected to deliver when he's barely played?

There is no point going in circles calling him a flop or saying he's going to become a great player, we payed 150m for him and we'll know soon enough whether he'll sink or swim here.

I understand this a forum and it's purpose is to discuss and speculate, but what is there to discuss? The kid has barely played.

There is absolutely no reason for this thread to be melting down at this stage in Dembele's Barca career. It's getting tiresome really; his every decision on the pitch, every facial expression, body language, tabloid rumor etc. is picked apart, blown out of proportion and micro analyzed.

The only thing that matters is his ability on the pitch and while he hasn't blown anyone away in the little he's played his performances surely don't warrant this kind debate?

 

[Lelouch vi Britannia]

You guys realize the alternative to him is Paulinho/Gomes/Vidal, not prime Henry, right?

Do any of you want to tell me with a straight face that he hasn’t shown more than those 3 in the little he’s played?

 

[henias]

I personally think he can offer more, I wont judge him until he given at least 2 solid run of league games. Plus he's been absent for most part of the campaign. His potential is there. Just need more game time now.

 

[Lelouch vi Britannia]

I personally think he can offer more, I wont judge him until he given at least 2 solid run of league games. Plus he's been absent for most part of the campaign. His potential is there. Just need more game time now.

Oh yes, he can do much better. But he hasn’t even been bad. Which is more than you can say of the players who are playing over him.

Like you said, just needs to freaking play.

 

[BBZ8800]

You guys realize the alternative to him is Paulinho/Gomes/Vidal, not prime Henry, right?

Do any of you want to tell me with a straight face that he hasn’t shown more than those 3 in the little he’s played?

It's like talking to a wall.

Has he shown more in attack?
Yes
Has he shown more in midfield?
No
Has he shown more in defense?
No

That's like asking: who is better: Messi or Puyol?
Well, Messi is better. At least for creation, attack and scoring.
But you'll still need a few Puyols in your team.

With the way how you are asking question, I can already see questions next season: why we don't play ALL: Messi, Suarez, Coutinho, Dembele and Griezmann?
And when some of them will get benched, you'll ask: but why is Griezmann on the bench and Rakitic/Paulinho/insert a random workhorse is playing?
BECAUSE you need a certain number of attacking and workhorse players.

So, it is NOT about who is better.
It is about a balance of a whole team.

In EV's setup, he usually plays with 2 or 3 attacking players.
That means Messi/Suarez/Coutinho or Iniesta usually.
When you add Dembele, it is too crowded for EV's system.

Unless, in Camp Nou easier matches like against Girona.

But in genereal, EV is not interested to play against Real or Atletico with Messi-Suarez-Dembele, and Coutinho behind them.
Personally, I wouldn't play that lineup either. At least with a CURRENT Dembele.

When he'll be a too good to be benched, then we'll risk more probably.

 

[Raketa10]

He will be ok but as I said before he needs time and attitude improvement. Talent was never questionable but he for sure needs to improve his defending skills for Valverde type of football.

 

[Tekkers]

Felt the back of his leg several times vs Espanyol, another injury incoming. Even worse than Bale this guy

I'm starting to realize that a lot of you guys aren't Barcalona fans, you're simply Messi fans. The best thing to happen to Barca's fanbase is for Messi to retire because then we'll finally weed out you fanboys who have nothing but negativity for every player who isn't Messi.

Look at you laughing it up at the possibility of a Barcalona player possibly being injured again. And why do you guys have to micro analyse every single thing this guy does? He touches the back of his leg it's a cause for concern. He doesn't celebrate it's a cause for concern. He slips it's a cause for concern. Just pathetic you guys are man, really.

The only good thing I can say is that you guys on this site are like the worst of all the Barca fans out there. You have nothing but contempt for everybody who isn't Messi (as judging by your avatar you're a Messi fanboy), which isn't the case for the genuine Barca fans. As someone stated a few posts before mine, this is the same site that has had nothing but ridicule for Ter Stegen, while outside of this site and in the real world the guy has long been considered a top 5/top 3 goalkeeper in the world. Hilarious.

 

[Lelouch vi Britannia]

It's like talking to a wall.

Has he shown more in attack?
Yes
Has he shown more in midfield?
No
Has he shown more in defense?
No

That's like asking: who is better: Messi or Puyol?
Well, Messi is better. At least for creation, attack and scoring.
But you'll still need a few Puyols in your team.

With the way how you are asking question, I can already see questions next season: why we don't play ALL: Messi, Suarez, Coutinho, Dembele and Griezmann?
And when some of them will get benched, you'll ask: but why is Griezmann on the bench and Rakitic/Paulinho/insert a random workhorse is playing?
BECAUSE you need a certain number of attacking and workhorse players.

So, it is NOT about who is better.
It is about a balance of a whole team.

In EV's setup, he usually plays with 2 or 3 attacking players.
That means Messi/Suarez/Coutinho or Iniesta usually.
When you add Dembele, it is too crowded for EV's system.

Unless, in Camp Nou easier matches like against Girona.

But in genereal, EV is not interested to play against Real or Atletico with Messi-Suarez-Dembele, and Coutinho behind them.
Personally, I wouldn't play that lineup either. At least with a CURRENT Dembele.

When he'll be a too good to be benched, then we'll risk more probably.

Yes, Vidal and Paulinho offer so much in defense

Also, your beloved Workhorse XI couldn’t create a single chance against Chelsea so maybe it wasn’t such a great idea after all.

 

[Raketa10]

Yes, Vidal and Paulinho offer so much in defense

Well they actually offer more than Dembele. I am not for playing Vidal or Paulinho over Dembele and I never was but to be fair defending is not one of his strengths.

Look I want him to succeed and I like this kid but I am also trying to stay objective.

 

[Tekkers]

Can someone please highlight to me the instances in this video that were a grave cause for concern? I saw no single slips in this match, or are we going to let our head explode because he got tackled a couple times? (Despite him dribbling the whole team in Robben-like fashion?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBkpmaLivFw

Well they actually offer more than Dembele. I am not for playing Vidal or Paulinho over Dembele and I never was but to be fair defending is not one of his strengths.

And defending is neither Vidal or Paulinho's strength. They offer nothing offensively, whilst offer the bare minimum defensively.

Dembele's offensive capability >>> Vidal + Paulinho's "defensive strengths"

 

[Raketa10]

And defending is neither Vidal or Paulinho's strength. They offer nothing offensively, whilst offer the bare minimum defensively.

Dembele's offensive capability >>> Vidal + Paulinho's "defensive strengths"

I agree there...

I really hope he’ll start against Malaga and score. He really needs that goal for confidence boost.

 

[Ghostmaster]

And defending is neither Vidal or Paulinho's strength. They offer nothing offensively, whilst offer the bare minimum defensively.

Dembele's offensive capability >>> Vidal + Paulinho's "defensive strengths"

But it's not only Dembele who is the problem defensivily, it's Messi and Roberto as well. You see if Dembele is not willing to work hard in defense and cover for others, then who is going to cover for him, Messi and Roberto? Rakitic alone?

 

[Tekkers]

But it's not only Dembele who is the problem defensivily, it's Messi and Roberto as well. You see if Dembele is not willing to work hard in defense and cover for others, then who is going to cover for him, Messi and Roberto? Rakitic alone?

Then there's clearly some miscommunication going on between the player and the coach. Either Valverde isn't make his directives clear for Dembele, or he simply doesn't want a player who has suffered two injuries this season to possibly re-injure himself pressing like Mandzukic on steroids.

It could also be that the manager doesn't want a player running around like a headless chicken on defense, and thus dismantling the teams formation, as is the case in the English football leagues. Because for all this talk about his pressing, in the games I've watched his "lack of pressing" hasn't led to many instances where our right back was left in 2 v 1 situations against the opposing teams left flank, because he actually does drop back (and helps keep the formation) and doesn't just hoover in the final 1/3 of the field waiting for his teammates to play him the ball once they've regained possession. Mesut Ozil he certainly is NOT.

This "lack of pressing" concern just seems like another way for so-called Barca fans (well, you guys aren't really Barca fans because of the way you hate every player who isn't Messi) to yet again scapegoat this young man.

 

[Ghostmaster]

Then there's clearly some miscommunication going on between the player and the coach. Either Valverde isn't make his directives clear for Dembele, or he simply doesn't want a player who has suffered two injuries this season to possibly re-injure himself pressing like Mandzukic on steroids.

It could also be that the manager doesn't want a player running around like a headless chicken on defense, and thus dismantling the teams formation, as is the case in the English football leagues. Because for all this talk about his pressing, in the games I've watched his "lack of pressing" hasn't led to many instances where our right back was left in 2 v 1 situations against the opposing teams left flank, because he actually does drop back (and helps keep the formation) and doesn't just hoover in the final 1/3 of the field waiting for his teammates to play him the ball once they've regained possession. Mesut Ozil he certainly is NOT.

This "lack of pressing" concern just seems like another way for so-called Barca fans (well, you guys aren't really Barca fans because of the way you hate every player who isn't Messi) to yet again scapegoat this young man.

Lol I don't hate him, I am trying to explain why Vidal, Gomes and Paulinho was selected ahead of him for now. EV knows that this team is imbalanced with Messi, Roberto and soon to be 34 year old Iniesta, these guys need a lot of cover, so he is throwing players who work hard in defense even if they don't have skills of the CBs. If you add another player who needs cover no matter how talented he is offensivily, then we have more problems, more imbalance. My suspision is that EV plan is to play Semedo together with Dembele since Semedo has more pace, more experience defending and can cover a lot of ground, but now he got injured, so might need to wait even more for Dembele to make regular starts.

 

[MagIX]

It's like talking to a wall.

Has he shown more in attack?
Yes
Has he shown more in midfield?
No
Has he shown more in defense?
No

That's like asking: who is better: Messi or Puyol?
Well, Messi is better. At least for creation, attack and scoring.
But you'll still need a few Puyols in your team.

With the way how you are asking question, I can already see questions next season: why we don't play ALL: Messi, Suarez, Coutinho, Dembele and Griezmann?
And when some of them will get benched, you'll ask: but why is Griezmann on the bench and Rakitic/Paulinho/insert a random workhorse is playing?
BECAUSE you need a certain number of attacking and workhorse players.

So, it is NOT about who is better.
It is about a balance of a whole team.

In EV's setup, he usually plays with 2 or 3 attacking players.
That means Messi/Suarez/Coutinho or Iniesta usually.
When you add Dembele, it is too crowded for EV's system.

Unless, in Camp Nou easier matches like against Girona.

But in genereal, EV is not interested to play against Real or Atletico with Messi-Suarez-Dembele, and Coutinho behind them.
Personally, I wouldn't play that lineup either. At least with a CURRENT Dembele.

When he'll be a too good to be benched, then we'll risk more probably.

I agree with you, it is so simply and clear.
But your a still talking to a wall: he has not yet understood.