Mousa Dembélé Reinventing His Game at Tottenham
By Ryan Wrenn
Mousa Dembélé’s role at Tottenham since his arrival from Fulham in 2012 has been in a state of near constant flux. He’s earned consistent appearances – never fewer than 26 in a Premier League season – but has rarely impressed enough to be an inarguable starter.
At Fulham, Dembélé’s role was as ambiguous but far more crucial. He was a talented player in a team notably lacking in them and therefore found himself to be a focal point of the west London side’s attack. Never quite a number 10, he played from deep and utilized his impressive dribbling skills to drive the ball forward. The Belgian international’s value to the side was evident even if he rarely produced either goals or assists.
He was brought to Tottenham as part of André Villas-Boas’ overhaul of the side following the Portuguese manager’s appointment in 2012. It was thought then that Dembélé would be a good fit for Villas-Boas’ overtly direct style of play and that he might even begin to contribute more to the goal tally.
Instead, Dembélé found himself out of his depth at Tottenham’s level. He was no longer a central part of the action. The likes of Gareth Bale then Christian Eriksen proved their worth to the side, greater than Dembélé’s, and he became more of a bit player than a central cog. Eventually, he even saw his roles further reduced by the advent of Spurs’ youth academy graduates: Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason. The players around him either equaled or bettered his contributions to the side, and by the midpoint of last term it seemed as if Dembélé’s days at Tottenham might be numbered.
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And then came his performance in February when Arsenal visited White Hart Lane. Harry Kane scored both of Tottenham’s goals in the 2-1 win, but Dembélé’s efforts at the ti\op of a central midfield trident were just as invaluable.
The creative responsibilities fell toward Eriksen and Érik Lamela while Dembélé sat deeper, playing as a sort of defensive number 10. He hassled Arsenal’s attempts to play out of defense, retrieving the ball high up the pitch and laying it off efficiently for those players around him to take it forward. It was inspired play and no doubt proved his value to Mauricio Pochettino.
Though Dembélé wasn’t able to quite maintain that level of excellent play afterwards, it was a good enough turn that he was spared the midfielder purge Tottenham initiated this summer. Paulinho, Benjamin Stambouli and Étienne Capoue all departed the club, but Dembélé managed to stay put. Pochettino even went so far as to publicly state his intention to give Dembélé chances this season, and in the opening two games has kept that promise.
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Though he started against Manchester United in the nominal role of right winger, he in fact played much deeper than a typical player in the position would. He dropped into central midfield and assisted with the energetic press that came to define large swaths of that unfortunate 1-0 loss.
Against Stoke City Saturday his new role in the side became even more crystallized. He played as part of a midfield trio alongside Mason and Eric Dier. While that pair played more traditional roles of box-to-box and defensive midfielder, respectively, Dembélé played in something of a specialized role.
He pressed. He hassled Stoke’s midfielders and centre-backs. When he retrieved the ball, either via pass or a successful press, his subsequent passes were almost always to the sides and almost never toward Stoke’s goal. He recorded precisely one shot and rarely attempted to set up an assist, and that was likely all by design. The press is so vital to Pochettino’s system that the Argentine is willing to field a player whose sole role is to make it happen.
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This wasn’t the job that Tottenham brought Dembélé in to do. He was supposed to add spark to the attack, to find ways to unlock opponents. Instead he mostly found himself playing observer, either from his ineffectual positioning as some amalgam of a box-to-box midfielder and creative dynamo or from a perch on the bench.
Now he appears on his way to becoming the central engine in Pochettino’s pressing machine. There isn’t a metric yet developed that can satisfactorily measure a player like Dembélé’s contributions to a side. Most stats and numbers about the game reflect some positive thrust. A goal, a key pass, a won tackle. Dembélé’s value is less positive than it is preventative. He helps stop the opposition from being able to play their game and thereby increases the amount of time Tottenham have to play theirs. That can be a thankless job, but so far Dembélé seems eager to do it.