Theory on Mousa Dembele...

[Kiedis]

Was he injured after Chelsea, he was a beast in that game and then seemed to be poor for a while after that? Can't really remember. Last season he was unbelievable until the QPR game, M'bia bullied him all game and after that his performances dropped off a bit.

I think it can also be down to him having to play with Parker after that game. Parker was as diciplined as a puppy, and left his position all the time, either to run with the ball until tackled or to chase an opponent all over the pitch. Poor Mousa had to stay disiplined in order for us to not be overrun in midfield.

He had to restrict his attacking play more in the second half of the season. One of his best games was at Anfield, where we played with Livermore-Parker in the centre, and Dembele could drift around knowing that if we gave away possession, it wasn't necessarily up to him to be in a holding position.

 

[spurious1]

Dembele's best performances have been next to Sandro, in the somewhat more advanced of the mid 2. I think will also excel in 4-3-3. And when he's on the top of his game, he's a really top midfielder.

As to his injury/worried about getting injured, I've always thought he was carrying something chronic, and that certainly that has an effect on his performances. Perhaps he plays his blinders when he feels nothing wrong, and when he starts to feel a little pain in the hip he backs off, perhaps unconsciously, a little. But hard to speculate.

Anyhow, don't we have a team psychologist or something, to try to get them all to the "eustress", as someone said above, level?

 

[MarkyP]

last few games appears to have found his form again, and is starting to remember when he should release the ball and when he should beat the man.. was beginning to get frustrated at the fact he can breeze past many a player for fun.. but was starting to get caught on the ball when holding it for too long... seems to be releasing the ball quicker now.... by no coincidence, against Sunderland we created as many chances as I can remember in any game this season, and in the second half.. our build up play seemed faster than at most points this season.. him being responsible for a lot of this before being replaced.

 

[NEVILLEB]

I really like him and am sure any drop in form is just related to his hip injury.

His passing could be more incise and he needs to be more attacking and aggressive in the final third.

 

[WestBelfast Spurs]

love how he drops the shoulder and ghosts past players, they know its going to happen but they cant stop it plus hes a fucking big unit

 

[Wardy]

My theory is that Dembele is absolutely immense.. oh wait that's reality

 

[RuskyM]

I thought this thread was finally going to acknowledge my blog, www.ismousadembeleavampire.com.

Perhaps I need more evidence.