How Mousa Dembélé Unlocks Tottenham’s Potential

Amid a season that’s struggled to shine, Mousa Dembélé’s performance for Tottenham on Sunday was nearly blinding.

It wasn’t just that he earned the penalty that Harry Kane would convert to level the score for Tottenham. That’s huge, but it was only one small part of the Belgian midfielder’s brilliance on the day.

Last season he could make the claim that he was among Tottenham’s most important cogs. He offset Eric Dier’s defending in midfield and, more often than not, was the most influential player at the center of the pitch in any given game.

His game was always omni-directional. Managers in the past determined that such talents made him the ideal attacking midfielder and played him as such. Unfortunately Dembélé’s inability to score regularly — or even function as a traditional playmaker — made him ill-suited for such an advanced role.

It took Mauricio Pochettino to recognize where Dembélé’s value really lied. It wasn’t in creating or finishing, clearly. Rather, it was in control.

Some teams rely on their defensive midfielders for control. They break up counter-attacks, provide some simple but reliable distribution and generally form the base of the attack. Dier does all those things well for Tottenham, but it’s Dembélé who really takes it to the next level for Tottenham.

The difference — and why Dembélé is only really blossoming now at Tottenham, late in his career — is that the type of control Tottenham thrive on can’t come exclusively from a defensive midfielder like Dier. With Pochettino preaching the value of pressing high up the pitch, they need a player in midfield who can reliably reclaim the ball either direct or indirectly.

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Dembélé’s pace and knack for a precise tackle make him vital in this regard. There aren’t many players who can expect to glide past him in midfield, and with Dier in support there aren’t often many viable passing options into dangerous areas either.

That style of play was well established last season. Dembélé was the perfect pivot for Dier, both complementing and supplementing the latter’s hold on midfield.

What perhaps was lost to many in his performance last season was precisely what value Dembélé added to Tottenham’s attack as well. Sure, reclaiming possession and passing it back forward is contribution enough, but Dembélé does something more that further separates him from his peers.

Dembélé’s control doesn’t stop with merely denying the opposition the same. He also wields the ball phenomenally well. In possession he can surge forward from midfield with the ball at his feet, seemingly immune from the same tackles he so expertly delivers.

That close control of the ball means that Dembélé functions as a new wave playmaker. No, he’s not threading through balls in the path of Tottenham’s wide players, or lofting balls over opposition backlines for Kane to convert. Those tasks can be left to Christian Eriksen or Érik Lamela.

Rather, Dembélé physically pushes the ball forward through his dribbling, delivering it into areas where passes might not otherwise go. From such positions, he doesn’t need to do much more than lay off simple passes to players much more capable of finishing or creating chances.

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It was in just such an effort that Dembélé was taken down in Arsenal’s box by Laurent Koscielny on Sunday. Koscielny and Arsenal on the whole understood that, while Dembélé might not himself be a threat on their goal he was playing courier to a ball that could be very dangerous regardless.

His efforts weren’t enough to steal the win at the Emirates, but it was a performance that reminded everyone just how indispensable a fully fit Dembélé is to this Tottenham side. Once the Premier League resumes after the international break, Dembélé will set about reclaiming his position as Tottenham’s central gear. If Sunday is any indication, the club can expect to start reaping the benefits very soon.