11 - Ousmane Dembélé - V1

[Leo_Messi]

This is a controversial statement, but Barca won't be able to win a CL again until Messi leaves/retires imo. The way the team needs to be set up around him is too hard to create, especially with a limited manager like Valverde. He's also quite old now. The smart thing to do would be to prepare the team to be ready for his exit and have a balanced team mostly set up already.

As far as Dembele goes, I don't see him as an Eto'o type like you do, Eto'o had a killer instinct which Dembele seems to lack, especially in front of goal. I see Dembele as a very talented creative/support player in one of the attacking midfield positions (right, left or centre). He could take the creative burden along with one or two others once Messi goes (it will take multiple players to match the creative output of one Messi).

Nothing controversial about that. It has been pretty obvious since at least 2016. You cannot create a TEAM that evolves around 1 solve individual (mostly) no matter how talented he is. Football is a team sport for a reason. Even more so if said individual (Messi) does not contribute defensively and does as he pleases (tactically).

Messi needs to be the cherry on the cake and to be sourended by hard-working players. This is where he is at his best whether during the Pep era or Lucho (the triplete season in particular after the team (club de amigos) woke up in January of that year and struck a deal with Lucho).

Otherwise it all becomes too predictable. Especially in the CL where you are playing against like-minded (in terms of talent) teams in the knockout stages. Even worse if you have an old team as we have with many past it players with too much influence.

As for Dembélé, Neymar when he was Dembélé's age (22), he had more or less the same contribution as Dembélé with 300+ more minutes played. One goal less and 6 assists less I believe.

Eto'o did not became a killer in front of goal overnight either. Like most "killers" he was incredibly wasteful at times too. Dembélé has all the ingredients to become a big success. Unfortunately he has not been used correctly at all, not had the right mentor (manager) nor the luck (many injuries) nor the support from seniors at the club. Vidal took that role last season and when Dembélé was fit and had what resembles a bit of consistency, he did rather well in an otherwise dysfunctional team in particularly attacking wise where everything was and is about Messi.

EDIT: I don't think that Dembélé is some kind of Maradona or Pelé reincarnated just that we will regret selling him. In particular as I could mention many other players that should be shown the door before him. Coutinho, Suárez, Rakitic etc. to mention a few. That would be like selling Arthur next summer if he will have a similar season like his previous season or if, God forbid, he will suffer from a serious injury and not get consistent playing time much like Dembélé. Later to be moved one and deemed a "failure".

You need to look at things in their right context. Dembélé has not had the required environment to succeed. Once he is given that AND fails, I will not be against selling him.

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you that Dembele had a great season with Dortmund (one season), which is why we broke the bank in signing him. The fact is that he doesn't fit our system and we are not going to change our system (yes there is another debate to be had there I know) to accommodate him. Ergo the only solution is to cash in on him. Another poor season (and you can't agrue that he hasn't had two poor seasons) and his value will drop even more.

See the reply above and in particular the last part of it. Basically as I wrote just above, you need to look at things in their right context. Dembélé has not had the required environment to succeed. Once he is given that AND fails, I will not be against selling him. If he fails in such circumstances it won't be due to talent or lack of "football intelligence" but due to not being the right fit. It happens. Plenty of very successful players were misfits at club x or y later to turn into big deals at another club. I cannot be ruled out that Dembélé could be such a case but can anyone of his critics seriously tell me that he has had the right environment to succeed in? I don't see it at least. On any front actually.

Let us forget Dembélé for a while, should he be sacrificed for the likes of a 33 year old has-been on insane wages (compared to his actual level and contribution) like Suárez or a 31 year old has-been oil tanker in Rakitic? Or what about arguably one of the biggest transfer flops to date in football history in Coutinho that is a misfit everywhere regardless of position?

 

[Hamzah]

Oh I definitely want him to stay, he will be vital in the post Messi era, just think that his role should be as a creative player.

 

[Tekkers]

if griez or neymar comes he should hand in a transfer request. he's too talented to be riding the bench for suarez because the club don't have the guts to sell him and because messi doesn't want to sacrifice himself for the team and play closer to the goal (allowing midfielders like de jong and arthur to do their job).

it's not even an emotional decision but a logical one. just hope he has people looking out for his best interest if the signings do occur, because i'd love to see him reach his full potential elsewhere. would probably watch them more than this new (or "old) barca tbh.

 

[Afromaticz]

This team has zero identity, Valverde just let's the players roam freely on the pitch instead of having them play in a certain system. How could anyone expect a young player like Dembele to improve under these circumstances.
The real issue is that this team needs a complete overhaul and there's atleast 4 key players that need replacing..ASAP!

Its clear as day that Messi and Suarez can no longer play together. You might get away with havin 1 player not pressing or running, but you can't carry 2 of them. So one has to go and i for one know exactly who that is... BYE Suarez.

The decline of Barca didn't happen overnight we might have been dominating domestically but whenever the chips were down in the big games we've been found wanting. Messi's brilliance papered over the cracks over the years but even his quality is not enough.
And now this board got us lookin stupid chasing after Ney who toyed with us before he joined Qatar and Griezmann who turned us down last season.


Its going to be a long summer

 

[Poor_Sunyol]

Let us forget Dembélé for a while, should he be sacrificed for the likes of a 33 year old has-been on insane wages (compared to his actual level and contribution) like Suárez or a 31 year old has-been oil tanker in Rakitic? Or what about arguably one of the biggest transfer flops to date in football history in Coutinho that is a misfit everywhere regardless of position?

I would get rid of all three. If the club had another option than Suarez then I think he would have been gone by now but Dembele failed to live up to expectations. I get the feeling that you would like the club to build around Dembele, like we have around Messi? Is that the case?

 

[Afromaticz]

Messi's style of play is a huge problem with the current set of players that we have but try tellin tell that to his fan boys who would rather see him win a Ballon dor or Copa instead of Barca winning a european silverware lol fuck i care about the guy's individual achievements.

 

[Afromaticz]

I would get rid of all three. If the club had another option than Suarez then I think he would have been gone by now but Dembele failed to live up to expectations. I get the feeling that you would like the club to build around Dembele, like we have around Messi? Is that the case?

Solely relying on Messi is what got us in this mess in the first place.

 

[Leo_Messi]

I would get rid of all three. If the club had another option than Suarez then I think he would have been gone by now but Dembele failed to live up to expectations. I get the feeling that you would like the club to build around Dembele, like we have around Messi? Is that the case?

Good to hear that.

Not necessarily build around Dembélé (as in him being the vocal point of the team) but as an important and most importantly young and highly promising piece of the team and attack. Alongside the likes of FDJ, Arthur and whoever the board decides to buy.

MDL (or another highly rated CB) would have been ideal to buy instead of Griezmann AND Neymar (I still insist on both of those two arriving this summer, unfortunately) so the team could have 3 potential long-term pillars and highly rated players in the defensive department, midfield and attack. In other words players that will most likely form an important part of the team long after the old guard (club de amigos) calls it a day. Ideally.

Dembélé is the least of our problems. In fact I have no doubt that he would become one of our main trump cards in a more optimal environment for not only him but the team as a whole. It requires some of the changes that I wrote about in this thread and the Neymar thread. Changes that I don't see happening.

I have also been resigned to the club losing Dembélé for weeks ever since the coordinated Neymar propaganda campaign was kickstarted and ever since Dembélé was rumored to leave the club and that meeting between his agent and the board. In public he was declared untransferable but we all know it is part of the game and a way not to make him lose value for potential suitors. Playing hardball and all. I have no doubt in my mind that he will be sold if we resign Neymar. Most likely as part of the Neymar deal as written earlier. Griezmann arriving already makes his life difficult in the current setup and with Valverde around and the old guard seemingly wanting to play it all. Who does not recall Suárez's nonsense claims (after the Roma fiasco) of not wanting to play all the games prior to important CL knockout games? What happened? Status quo continued and he was even "forced" to have that surgery after the Liverpool fiasco as he had apparently played semi-injured for months. That is the foresight of our "old guard". The same old guard that publicly guaranteed the continuation of Valverde.

So things are wrong on so many departments at the club that I don't know where to start. Selling Dembélé is just a tiny part of the insanity that has been going on for too long. For starters we don't have a damn sporting project. Been the case for years. It has been FC Messi more than anything else.

 

[BBZ8800]

likely not. I've once seen a documentary on this guy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrincha and they said he was enormously dumb, basically retarded – but that didn't prevent him from becoming become a world class player and play next to Pele and stuff. football doesn't need a big iq

That's not how numbers and averages work.
If out of 1000 dumb players, you have 1 out of them who made it, then chances for a dumb guy to make it are 1 out of 1000 and you can't use a reply: Garrincha was the same.
What about 999 other talented and dumb players who failed?

Regarding comments by other users about being shy, they are doing the same mistake: Messi is shy, Xavi is shy.
Lol.
Messi is the most talented player ever and he made it INSPITE of being shy.

Also, one more time, to be an attacker at the top3 clubs in the world, you need bravery, confidence, some cockiness on the field and an insane belief in your skills.
That is more quite the opposite from "being shy".

Also, people are going into extremes in debating (ok, I am doing the same often, tbf).
But in this case, one user mentioned: "Dembele was not shy at Dortmund".
Of course.
He is not AS SHY as he can't take the ball and make a dribble here and there.
The same as how Malcom is not THAT bad that he won't ever score a goal or have a good game. But he is not good enough on larger samples, inspite of those good games and goals here and there.
He is not an absolute crap. He is just not good enough.
The same is with Dembele. He is not THAT DUMB or THAT SHY that he can't actually run or have good matches here and there.
But in overall, on larger sample size, Dembele's personality traits are huge obstacles for his development and he can make it ONLY if he will excel in all other areas.

Too shy? LMAO. Sportsmen's outfield characters have nothing to do with their performance.

Take Kawhi Leonard, this year's NBA finals MVP, for instance. Textbook introvert, but a great, great basketball player.

I don't follow NBA. I have googled this guy.
He is a good in defense, right?

So, that basically confirms some things which I have mentioned on previous pages.
For attacking players: in 90% of cases, they will be extroverts, cocky, guys with insane confidence since they have to PROVOKE things all the time (dribbles, assists, goals).
If you want to be a pivot or a CB, you can be a quiet or a shy guy. You don't have to be a proactive and not all pressure will be on your shoulders to create something.
If you defend, you only need to "stop" that other guy who is provoking things all the time.

Again, I don't watch NBA and I don't have too much knowledge about basketball and a setup of their teams, but let me guess...
This Leonard, a quiet MVP guy is:
1. is awesome in defending and he is better in defending than in attack?
2. he is quiet, but he is a hard worker, an insane team player with insane workrate (in football's terms)?
3. also, he is an awesome professional, rarely causing problems and he always gives 120% on a field?
4. he probably has a high IQ, and is awesome in game reading, predicting moves and can see things which other players can't see?

If majority of these is true:
Then again: a quiet guy can make, but more often in defensive roles, if they will work hard, be team players, offer 120% on every match and if they will have high IQ.

Now, go back to Dembele:
1. shy
2. low IQ
3. horrible professional
4. doesn't give 120% since he is kinda lazy and disconnected from everyone all the time
5. his reading of the game and predicting future moves of teammates? Lol. A guy doesn't know what he will do in 2 seconds

He has all the potential to be a consistent goalscorer albeit a more unorthodox one much like Eto'o was. He too started as a winger (even a right back) at Mallorca and was loaned to numerous clubs where successive managers could not see his potential.

You are talking in this post:
1. only about football talent
2. and on which position a player played

Zero words about intelligence, motivation, players' personality.

Etoo was a leader, a lion, a guy with a character.
He was a total opposite of a lazy personality of Dembele.

Not to mention that Etoo was a hard worker, giving 120%.
Also, Etoo was not dumb.

For a comparison, the only Barca's jersey which I have is Etoo's from 2004/05 season.
It shows how much I loved Etoo, his skills, passion, hard work.
On the other hand, I can't stand Dembele, his IQ and personality.

Those two have nothing in common on a psychological level.

Remember Etoo, his passion, body language, look in his eyes, a fighting spirit in 2004 (aged 23).
That was his debut season.
And then look at Dembele after 2 seasons here and his eyes, body language, IQ and passion (even celebrations after a goal can tell you a lot about a player, his confidence, a fighting spirit and passion):

 

[Leo_Messi]

You are talking in this post:
1. only about football talent
2. and on which position a player played

Zero words about intelligence, motivation, players' personality.

Etoo was a leader, a lion, a guy with a character.
He was a total opposite of a lazy personality of Dembele.

Not to mention that Etoo was a hard worker, giving 120%.
Also, Etoo was not dumb.

For a comparison, the only Barca's jersey which I have is Etoo's from 2004/05 season.
It shows how much I loved Etoo, his skills, passion, hard work.
On the other hand, I can't stand Dembele, his IQ and personality.

Those two have nothing in common on a psychological level.

Remember Etoo, his passion, body language, look in his eyes, a fighting spirit in 2004 (aged 23).
That was his debut season.
And then look at Dembele after 2 seasons here and his eyes, body language, IQ and passion (even celebrations after a goal can tell you a lot about a player, his confidence, a fighting spirit and passion):

Still going strong, I see. Good to see.

I was talking about actual performances likewise and the obvious talent and potential of Dembélé. Even commented on the absurd notion of "football intelligence" having a correlation to intelligence as a whole and whether or not Dembélé has "football intelligence" or not. He clearly has that in abundance. What he needs is continuity (which he has had zero of), a manager that can guide him and get the best out of him (Valverde is clearly not such a manager), have the trust and support of the "club de amigos" clan and the right environment and tactical setup to fulfill that enormous potential and his many obvious assets that I mentioned. How he has been used so far has been a waste of time for the reasons that I mentioned.

Eto'o was a raw diamond much like Dembélé. Eto'o too was deemed not good enough at RM and a host of other clubs that he was loaned too. Even initially at Mallorca he was used as a RIGHT BACK. It took

As for Eto'o he is one of my all-time favorite players due to his personality on the field and some of the values that you mentioned which I love to see in any player. I have been fortunate enough to see Eto'o in person numerous times at the Camp Nou, at various stadiums in Spain and abroad (CL). So I know about all his strengths as well as weaknesses and his career as I was fortunate enough to watch it up close. So we don't disagree at all.

As for Dembélé's personality, the guy is a kid. Who due to numerous injuries, a new country, language barrier (he should have done better in this department but not everyone is good with languages), a lack of sporting project and playing style other than "give the ball to Messi 99% of the time and see what he can create", zero continuity even when ready and a largely clueless manager that has done nothing to improve him. The guy has never played 3 full games in a row as well.

You openly admitting that you can't stand Dembélé is not old news. I share that sentiment just for another of our players which is Coutinho who has done much worse despite being 5 years younger and having no excuses of language barrier, age, not being part of the "club de amigos" clan nor problems with assimilation as he already lived in BCN before. Yet he has been performing much, much worse and was the more expensive transfer. So I don't understand the obsession and criticism of Dembélé in this context.

As I said once/if Dembélé gets the right environment to shin in (I have no doubt that he will not be at the club in the next season), he will do so.

As for Eto'o there are clear similarities in terms of player profile (if you ask me) and with the right guidance Dembélé could and should be much more involved closer to goal rather than being chained on either touchline (left or right) where his talent is less effective. He could (IMO) be a deadly false number 9.

 

[BBZ8800]

Good to hear that.

Not necessarily build around Dembélé (as in him being the vocal point of the team) but as an important and most importantly young and highly promising piece of the team and attack. Alongside the likes of FDJ, Arthur and whoever the board decides to buy.

MDL (or another highly rated CB) would have been ideal to buy instead of Griezmann AND Neymar (I still insist on both of those two arriving this summer, unfortunately) so the team could have 3 potential long-term pillars and highly rated players in the defensive department, midfield and attack. In other words players that will most likely form an important part of the team long after the old guard (club de amigos) calls it a day. Ideally.

Dembélé is the least of our problems. In fact I have no doubt that he would become one of our main trump cards in a more optimal environment for not only him but the team as a whole. It requires some of the changes that I wrote about in this thread and the Neymar thread. Changes that I don't see happening.

I have also been resigned to the club losing Dembélé for weeks ever since the coordinated Neymar propaganda campaign was kickstarted and ever since Dembélé was rumored to leave the club and that meeting between his agent and the board. In public he was declared untransferable but we all know it is part of the game and a way not to make him lose value for potential suitors. Playing hardball and all. I have no doubt in my mind that he will be sold if we resign Neymar. Most likely as part of the Neymar deal as written earlier. Griezmann arriving already makes his life difficult in the current setup and with Valverde around and the old guard seemingly wanting to play it all. Who does not recall Suárez's nonsense claims (after the Roma fiasco) of not wanting to play all the games prior to important CL knockout games? What happened? Status quo continued and he was even "forced" to have that surgery after the Liverpool fiasco as he had apparently played semi-injured for months. That is the foresight of our "old guard". The same old guard that publicly guaranteed the continuation of Valverde.

So things are wrong on so many departments at the club that I don't know where to start. Selling Dembélé is just a tiny part of the insanity that has been going on for too long. For starters we don't have a damn sporting project. Been the case for years. It has been FC Messi more than anything else.

Sorry, again no words about personality, IQ and passion.
Only: Dembele is talented, Dembele needs players who move, Dembele needs counters and similar.

Dembele with his personality will never be the main attacker of Barca.
Or, if he will be, we will end at the 4th place all the time.

His type of personality can work only with 2 other guys, who are braver and bigger stars around him, like Griezmann and Messi.

On the other hand, imagine Dembele-Jovic-Malcom attack.
We would reach Arsenal's levels of low since Malcom is not good enough, and Dembele can't be a leader and that equals=a disaster on a larger samples.

So, if you want to build a team with Dembele, he will need 2 Griezmanns or Messis around him.
Dembele will always have a waterboy/supporting act personality.

So, even if he'll somehow make it (which I doubt) that will only be in a world where he will be injury free and surrounded by at least 2 guys who will take the attacking burden and the most of the pressure.
Dembele can be a one man leader only in a smaller club like Dortmund, where there is no pressures to win every match and to win every single trophy.
Barca, and our expectations and a too huge step and pressure for his type of a personality.

But again, a time will tell and prove some things and theories.

 

[Leo_Messi]

Sorry, again no words about personality, IQ and passion.
Only: Dembele is talented, Dembele needs players who move, Dembele needs counters and similar.

Dembele with his personality will never be the main attacker of Barca.
Or, if he will be, we will end at the 4th place all the time.

His type of personality can work only with 2 other guys, who are braver and bigger stars around him, like Griezmann and Messi.

On the other hand, imagine Dembele-Jovic-Malcom attack.
We would reach Arsenal's levels of low since Malcom is not good enough, and Dembele can't be a leader and that equals=a disaster on a larger samples.

So, if you want to build a team with Dembele, he will need 2 Griezmanns or Messis around him.
Dembele will always have a waterboy/supporting act personality.

So, even if he'll somehow make it (which I doubt) that will only be in a world where he will be injury free and surrounded by at least 2 guys who will take the attacking burden and the most of the pressure.
Dembele can be a one man leader only in a smaller club like Dortmund, where there is no pressures to win every match and to win every single trophy.
Barca, and our expectations and a too huge step and pressure for his type of a personality.

But again, a time will tell and prove some things and theories.

None of us here have any idea about his personality and I am not sure if you are aware of it but men who have just turned 22 years old are mostly immature and not the "finished product". That should be obvious. Other than him coming late to training once or twice across 2 seasons, what exactly his so wrong about his personality?

Passion? You don't become a professional elite footballer playing at some of the largest clubs and a World Cup winner, all at the age of 22, without passion, dedication, motivation etc.

It seems to me that you have some sort of irrational dislike/hatred for Dembélé that clouds your judgement completely and makes you spin everything in a very negative fashion.

I don't mentioned anything about Dembélé being "the main attacker for Barça".

Not sure where Jovic or Malcom came from out of a sudden? No sane person would be calling for such an unproven attack. I hope not at least.

If Messi had been surrounded by scrubs throughout his entire Barça career he would not have made it to the degree that he made it. No player, regardless of talent, would for that matter and never did.

Yes, time will tell, but I find it strange that you are not much more harsh in regards to Coutinho? Could it be because you predicted that he would be the perfect Iniesta replacement? Not the first nor last time that you or anyone else will be wrong.

 

[BBZ8800]

As for Dembélé's personality, the guy is a kid. Who due to numerous injuries, a new country, language barrier (he should have done better in this department but not everyone is good with languages), a lack of sporting project and playing style other than "give the ball to Messi 99% of the time and see what he can create", zero continuity even when ready and a largely clueless manager that has done nothing to improve him. The guy has never played 3 full games in a row as well.

Those are excuses.
We are not Unicef or an organisation to help kids to have a happier life and childhood.
We paid him 145M because we needed results.
Not in 2025, but in 2017 or in 2019.
And he is not delivering what we paid for.

Also, Dembele is a kid.
At his age, Ronaldinho was killing opponents at a World cup in Korea in 2002.
Etoo was 1 year older at his debut season at Barca.
Messi was 22 in a CL final in 2009'.

Other players were leaders and key players in key matches in his age.
While Dembele is a kid.
Well, exactly. That is his personality. He is a not a man, he is still a kid. He is not that motivated. He is playing playstation etc.
That will be a reason why he will end at Arsenal in 2 years and not winning CLs and WCs like Etoo or Ronaldinho.

a manager that can guide him and get the best out of him (Valverde is clearly not such a manager), have the trust and support of the "club de amigos" clan and the right environment and tactical setup to fulfill that enormous potential and his many obvious assets that I mentioned. How he has been used so far has been a waste of time for the reasons that I mentioned.

One thing which I don't like lately is that users here started to use the manager alibi for everything.
If Dembele worked under Pep or Klopp, he would turn into a world class player.
If Arthur worked under Pep or Klopp, the same.
If Malcom... the same.
If Alena/Puig... the same.

Well, true.
But now, you guys make it sound as the only way to develop and improve as a player is with playing under Pep or Klopp.
And if your stupid club is not coached by Pep or Klopp, you are doomed and all players will stagnate.

Well, what about 1000s of other players during our history?
Xavi was coached by Antic, Sera Ferrer, Rexach in his formative years.
Puyol also.
Ronaldinho played in a farmer's league in Dembele's age.
Did Etoo had world class coaches at Mallorca who turned him into a great player?

Ok, Valverde is bad.
But my point is: you don't need to have ONLY Pep or Klopp to prosper.
100s of world class players over the past worked with mediocre coaches and turned awesome.
Yet, Dembele, Malcom, Alena and current guys have an alibi for everything: poor guys didn't work with Pep or Klopp...

As I said once/if Dembélé gets the right environment to shin in (I have no doubt that he will not be at the club in the next season), he will do so.

I personally think that Dembele will fail at Barca and in EVERY SINGLE club in which he will play in the future (if those will be big clubs).
He is just too hot and cold, too lazy, too dumb to offer consistent plays.

Imo, he will be the next Quaresma, Balotelli type of a player, or slightly better than them.

I don't see how Barca can build a system around him, and which coach will be able to cure 10s of his deadly flaws.

Imo, too much work, and the probability for a success is way too low.
I can see him being sold this or the next summer as a way more likely possibility.

Unless if he will explode.
Which is highly unlikely with his injuries, personality, IQ and a fact that we will have Messi, Suarez, Griezmann (and maybe Neymar) in attack.
His Barca's ship has probably already sailed...

(Not as if he ever had a chance with his mental traits though)

 

[Leo_Messi]

Those are excuses.
We are not Unicef or an organisation to help kids to have a happier life and childhood.
We paid him 145M because we needed results.
Not in 2025, but in 2017 or in 2019.
And he is not delivering what we paid for.

Also, Dembele is a kid.
At his age, Ronaldinho was killing opponents at a World cup in Korea in 2002.
Etoo was 1 year older at his debut season at Barca.
Messi was 22 in a CL final in 2009'.

Other players were leaders and key players in key matches in his age.
While Dembele is a kid.
Well, exactly. That is his personality. He is a not a man, he is still a kid. He is not that motivated. He is playing playstation etc.
That will be a reason why he will end at Arsenal in 2 years and not winning CLs and WCs like Etoo or Ronaldinho.



One thing which I don't like lately is that users here started to use the manager alibi for everything.
If Dembele worked under Pep or Klopp, he would turn into a world class player.
If Arthur worked under Pep or Klopp, the same.
If Malcom... the same.
If Alena/Puig... the same.

Well, true.
But now, you guys make it sound as the only way to develop and improve as a player is with playing under Pep or Klopp.
And if your stupid club is not coached by Pep or Klopp, you are doomed and all players will stagnate.

Well, what about 1000s of other players during our history?
Xavi was coached by Antic, Sera Ferrer, Rexach in his formative years.
Puyol also.
Ronaldinho played in a farmer's league in Dembele's age.
Did Etoo had world class coaches at Mallorca who turned him into a great player?

Ok, Valverde is bad.
But my point is: you don't need to have ONLY Pep or Klopp to prosper.
100s of world class players over the past worked with mediocre coaches and turned awesome.
Yet, Dembele, Malcom, Alena and current guys have an alibi for everything: poor guys didn't work with Pep or Klopp...



I personally think that Dembele will fail at Barca and in EVERY SINGLE club in which he will play in the future (if those will be big clubs).
He is just too hot and cold, too lazy, too dumb to offer consistent plays.

Imo, he will be the next Quaresma, Balotelli type of a player, or slightly better than them.

I don't see how Barca can build a system around him, and which coach will be able to cure 10s of his deadly flaws.

Imo, too much work, and the probability for a success is way too low.
I can see him being sold this or the next summer as a way more likely possibility.

Unless if he will explode.
Which is highly unlikely with his injuries, personality, IQ and a fact that we will have Messi, Suarez, Griezmann (and maybe Neymar) in attack.
His Barca's ship has probably already sailed...

(Not as if he ever had a chance with his mental traits though)

Those are not excuses but objective facts.

Dembélé was a recently turned 20 year old kid when we bought him. With 2 seasons of professional football in him. To expect him to turn into a Messi in his prime or Ronaldinho in his prime or Eto'o at his prime (long after the same Eto'o turned 22 let alone 20) is to be incredibly naive, biased or harsh. Not all players are superstars at his age. Look at Ronaldinho. He peaked early (22-25) and quickly faded away before the normal prime of footballers (26-30). No football career is identical nor player development.

He is not delivering as hoped (despite doing overall good, statistics confirm this as well, he has stats more or less identical to Neymar at the same age) because of various factors that I mentioned. Many of them not his fault. On the other hand due to your bias and open dislike of him, you are obviously trying to spin it like he has been another Coutinho (lol) and is at fault for everything.

You are comparing Dembélé with some of the best players (absolute elite) in the past 20+ years such as Messi (maybe even the GOAT) and Ronaldinho. That is utter nonsense and hard to take seriously.

What are you blabbering about? I correctly wrote that having a great manager who is able to get the best out of the team as a whole and that team's most talented individuals, is always preferable to a clueless manager like Malmierda who has been incapable of developing Dembélé. Fans of Rennes who watched every game of Dembélé openly wrote about the positive changes of his time at Dortmund. Can we say the same about his last 2 years here? No. Is he at fault for that as well? Yes, but far from entirely.

Funny that you mention Xavi and Puyol while forgetting their most important manager and the one that gave them their debut. Van Gaal.

Eto'o was coached by useless coaches (tons of them) when he was Dembélé's age (surprise he was a flop everywhere) but met the right manager at Mallorca who TRUSTED him and had a plan for him (stopped playing him as a right back for starters!) and rest is history.

For 2 out of those 4 years at Mallorca he had one of the best coaches in history (Aragonés!) as his coach. So yes, he had a coach that Malmierda can never be compared to. He had Manzano for another 1 year (2002-03) as well who was a great coach of the time.

Nobody said anything about only needing "Klopp or Pep to succeed". You are once again inventing claims out of the blue and arguing against them as if I had written what you are arguing against. Done it throughout your posts with all due respect. Hard to have a discussion like that if this is the case. No offense.

You keep continuing blabbering about "building a system for him". I never said anything about that. As for the rest, you have already written that you don't rate him at all and that he is a horrible, horrible player. This is not news. I just wish that you were as dedicated to write the same about Coutinho who is actually the BY FAR bigger flop on every front. As I predicted (BTW) back in May of 2017 or was it June in his player thread here.

 

[Potroh]

It just a somewhat logical question:

Why not giving a special SUB-FORUM to this BBZ8800 guy???

A nice own platform of his, where he could continue to write his utterly stupid essays, based on his own emotions, biased hate and dislike, twisted and meaningless statistics and absolute lack of knowledge about football!

That way the forum would be at least a bit cleaner, more homogeneous, so folks interested in BBZ's brain-farts could go there to hail him, specially that bidirectional communication is impossible with this by-hard adventurer and autistic bezonian creature of pseudo-football-lecturer.

I fear it's just not an accident that he comes from an ex-communist country (just like I do), where somehow he 'inherited' the methods of the 'official' Stalinist propaganda. All he does it trying to wash BRAINS here - with his own agendas - and showing the "right way" to the otherwise highly and depreciatingly stupid hordes here. With those, who do not share his hates and disdain.

We all know how he hates Dembele, Arthur, etc., earlier Neymar - who was a much worse player in his communistic eyes than Pedro used to be, thus and more importantly, his twisted views have NOTHING to do with Barca! It's simply an ego-trip, and I'm positive that it has no place in a Barca forum in its present form!

But in case the mods (are you listening people?) are blethering enough to let him continue these rotten propaganda essays against present and ex Barca players (mostly stepping into the personalities and private spheres of players), you - as fellow users - should at least stop answering him, as all he tries to represent here is nothing but POISON against everything that makes sense around this wonderful game!