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Mousa Dembele

Jordinho said:
I think that would require a change in formation, one deep midfielder and two box to box: Sig - Hudd - Sandro. Would be interesting to see us try it at least.
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it doesn't require a change of formation. Sigurdsson is very capable playing cm and this might hopefully mean Ade plays as an AMC just behind Defoe.
 
Didn't get a chance to view the game Saturday, but from the match thread sounded like Sig improved when he was moved out to the left? Where exactly was he playing in the first half?
 
I think you could put Ozil there and he'd struggle badly. Sig was pretty decent from about 30 minutes onwards, which was around the same time he moved to the left. Dempsey was pretty crud all game, both left and central. Probably didn't help that the fans groaned everytime he got near the ball.
 
Rossi22 said:
I think you could put Ozil there and he'd struggle badly. Sig was pretty decent from about 30 minutes onwards, which was around the same time he moved to the left. Dempsey was pretty crud all game, both left and central. Probably didn't help that the fans groaned everytime he got near the ball.
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Biut let's be fair here. Dempsey gets hammered because, well, he's not as 'sexy' as Sig, but he has balls and doesn't hide. Further, he played on the left for Fulham but is the sort of left-side player who cuts in frequently. Thus he is absolutely not in any way an ideal replacement for Bale, who can hug a touchline if necessary/provide a speedy outlet. Add to this the fact that as good as Verts is, pace is not a virtue, PLUS he is also a fill-in at LB, and our left-hand side was back-up on Saturday. No natural pace, thus even if Dempsey HAD hugged the line a bit more, he'd still have ended up coming inside simply because he was not going to do Ivanovich or Cahill for speed. I still think Sig had the 'vital' role in the first-half and once again came up short for whatever reason (we can all debate them I suppose). For me, he is technically decent (albeit his first touch isn't always fantastic) but it simply becomes a case of
a) being more fluid
b) not getting enough games which contributes to his stiffness
c) not playing with enough brass in his boots

So many times in the first-half he simply did not show up for the ball, instead looking immediately for space. That's great if you have Bale and Lennon able to work the wide positions with the full-backs pushing up too, as the flow of passing will be that much quicker and the spaces to exploit that much greater. But when your left-hand side cannot get in behind quickly, you have to be patient, show for short balls, and probe/conjure in such a fashion. I don't ever see Sig doing that. Indeed, when he did show up deeper for a pass, I don't remember him once turning and trying to probe or create. IMHO you need the man in his position to do that. Maybe when he gets more confidence we will see that player come out?

I think Dempsey's second-half has been underrated. Look, in the ideal world, we'll have Moutinho come February and all this becomes academic, but until then, Dempsey works very hard and does look to goal/to create more often than not. He's not Juan Mata but the boy won't freeze.
 
thfcsteff said:
Biut let's be fair here. Dempsey gets hammered because, well, he's not as 'sexy' as Sig, but he has balls and doesn't hide. Further, he played on the left for Fulham but is the sort of left-side player who cuts in frequently. Thus he is absolutely not in any way an ideal replacement for Bale, who can hug a touchline if necessary/provide a speedy outlet. Add to this the fact that as good as Verts is, pace is not a virtue, PLUS he is also a fill-in at LB, and our left-hand side was back-up on Saturday. No natural pace, thus even if Dempsey HAD hugged the line a bit more, he'd still have ended up coming inside simply because he was not going to do Ivanovich or Cahill for speed. I still think Sig had the 'vital' role in the first-half and once again came up short for whatever reason (we can all debate them I suppose). For me, he is technically decent (albeit his first touch isn't always fantastic) but it simply becomes a case of
a) being more fluid
b) not getting enough games which contributes to his stiffness
c) not playing with enough brass in his boots

So many times in the first-half he simply did not show up for the ball, instead looking immediately for space. That's great if you have Bale and Lennon able to work the wide positions with the full-backs pushing up too, as the flow of passing will be that much quicker and the spaces to exploit that much greater. But when your left-hand side cannot get in behind quickly, you have to be patient, show for short balls, and probe/conjure in such a fashion. I don't ever see Sig doing that. Indeed, when he did show up deeper for a pass, I don't remember him once turning and trying to probe or create. IMHO you need the man in his position to do that. Maybe when he gets more confidence we will see that player come out?

I think Dempsey's second-half has been underrated. Look, in the ideal world, we'll have Moutinho come February and all this becomes academic, but until then, Dempsey works very hard and does look to goal/to create more often than not. He's not Juan Mata but the boy won't freeze.
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I agree fully with this. Dempsey has done a lot more to impress me so far than Sig. He also adds a bit of a physical presence when we are forced to play it long that Sig isn't capable of at this point at least. Has been important when Ade has been out.
 
Sig doesn't hide either. In fact he does more closing down and defensive work than Dempsey plus his performance for 60 minutes of the chelski game is better than anything Dempsey has produced so far.

How can you say Demspey doesn't go hiding is beyond me. The guy has been involved in games where barely anyone noticed he was even playing?
 
I hope Dembele is back for Sunday. I miss him gliding past players with ease and his partnership with Sandro
 
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