- Jan 23, 2011
- 4,760
- 14,498
I can see why Dele can spark a lot of debate. On his day, he's a good player and can pull off some cool moves. He tends to thrive in teams that surround him with ball winners. Allowing him to use his instincts to great effect.
Right now though, he looks short on confidence.
Eyes don't lie. Most games he plays, you can see that he slows everything down. He persistently requires three or four touches to make a decision. He is also a turnover machine. You can count on two hands how many times he loses the ball per game these days. This is just as much of a reason we suffer defensively as the keystone cops shenanigans from the back 4. The bottom line is that he puts quite a bit of pressure on the defenders when we are under a lot of pressure, as he really struggles to keep the ball in any meaningful way. And when we do have the ball in transition, he often slows things down, then chooses a bad pass, and then the opposition team quickly breaks in the other direction after we've committed players forward. I see this as a detriment.
Of course, I'd like to think he can evolve. That he can improve. That his confidence comes back. But if I had to make a choice, let's say, of playing either him or Lamela as 10 with a free role, then I'd choose Lamela over him, based on current form. The latter is just more capable at the moment of retaining possession, moving the ball quickly, pressing and making smarter, more incisive passing decisions.
Again, it's not to say that one is better than the other. It is more a case of who is in form and whose current positive attributes outweighs the negatives. And as far as I can see, Dele's negatives right now can sometimes hurt the team.
Right now though, he looks short on confidence.
Eyes don't lie. Most games he plays, you can see that he slows everything down. He persistently requires three or four touches to make a decision. He is also a turnover machine. You can count on two hands how many times he loses the ball per game these days. This is just as much of a reason we suffer defensively as the keystone cops shenanigans from the back 4. The bottom line is that he puts quite a bit of pressure on the defenders when we are under a lot of pressure, as he really struggles to keep the ball in any meaningful way. And when we do have the ball in transition, he often slows things down, then chooses a bad pass, and then the opposition team quickly breaks in the other direction after we've committed players forward. I see this as a detriment.
Of course, I'd like to think he can evolve. That he can improve. That his confidence comes back. But if I had to make a choice, let's say, of playing either him or Lamela as 10 with a free role, then I'd choose Lamela over him, based on current form. The latter is just more capable at the moment of retaining possession, moving the ball quickly, pressing and making smarter, more incisive passing decisions.
Again, it's not to say that one is better than the other. It is more a case of who is in form and whose current positive attributes outweighs the negatives. And as far as I can see, Dele's negatives right now can sometimes hurt the team.