11 - Ousmane Dembélé - V1

[Messigician]

Leon Bailey? You have to be kidding me. He's not even a guaranteed starter in Leverkusen, who are currently in the bottom third of the BuLi. The rest of them, sure. That's fair. Though Lozano is also a bit of a stretch in my opinion.

Ok? Obviously not everyone will be happy with every single one of those picks but the point of the post is it's not like Dembele is the only winger around.

 

[khaled_a_d]

I don't know if stories behind him are true or not (bad eating habits, arriving late on training etc.) but if those rumors are true than I really don't understand why are we putting up with this? Those things should have been corrected from the start and that's also Valverde's responsibility. Imagine what would happen if he was doing that to Pep!!! If a player is showing the lack of respect for a club or his teammates than YOU DON'T PLAY HIM AT ALL and you force him to behave or he goes to the stands.

Why imagine? it happened
Hleb directly challenged Pep's authority by his own admission, didn't train hard refused to learn the language etc, still played and got over 1600 minutes.
Hleb joined 27 years old veteran from a big club, Dembele joined at the age of 20 from a smaller league and club
I mean, you are complaining that EV playing him now? If those rumors are true -no way to found out-the EV is just doing fine with him. You need to try to fix him, but freezing him isn't solution either

 

[George_Costanza]

Crucify him for having one bad game. Remember that he was benched after performing so well at the beginning of the season. Some of you have a jellyfish memory.

 

[MTL_Barca]

Ok? Obviously not everyone will be happy with every single one of those picks but the point of the post is it's not like Dembele is the only winger around.

Well you tried to name some of the long list of (young) wingers better than him but could only come up players like Bailey or Lozano who showed way less in their career so MAYBE he doesn't suck as much as you think.

And when it comes to older players i said we can't just buy a finished world class winger easily and you came up with Di Maria and some players we can't get easily. So point proven i'd say.

If Valverde doesn't want wingers ok fine do what you wanna do Ernie you're the coach, but just because Valverde doesn't use wingers and also doesn't seem to be the coach that could really form a young player we don't have to pretend Dembele sucks.

Its the same with Malcom. Just because Valverde didn't want him and doesn't use him you call him a shitty farmers league player. Thats not fair and its a very close minded way to look at things.

 

[Obiaseti]

I was against judging him right off the go but now I think he's had enough time to show his abilities and how he fits here. It's clear he has some very strong areas but ultimately they are just not enough for Barca and seemingly for France as well. The hope was that since he was so young he would adapt and unearth new facets to his game here since we clearly play a very different game to Dortmund. It's become more evident that for Dembele to work here we need someone who can literally coach him on some basic aspects of the game and improve his play and at the same time adjust our playstyle drastically to suit him which is not worth it frankly. Having said that I do think he can revive his career at a different team (possibly pool) under a more suitable coach. For that to happen it goes without saying that he'll also need to mature and improve his attitude. I think United might pay top dollar for him if Jose is out of the picture. They usually go for statement signings when their manager cycles end. We can probably recoup a good amount of our investment.

 

[henias]

[MENTION=15376]DonAK[/MENTION] I do agree he doesnt have much of a strong mentality but it's hard not to ignore how EV is affecting the team on many levels. Even Vidal who has so much desire to prove himself, is unhappy with how EV is managing the squad. The way the latter is perceiving the squad as two groups of people, the experienced untouchables and the new players. He doesnt care about the players' strength or talent, that could definitely be put to better use. The way he sees it is very one dimensional, let the newcomers fight with one another for spots, but the experienced ones are guaranteed a slot no matter what. Roberto is always in the starting 11, whether or not it means sacrificing another player. Munir or Paco are strikers, but they will never bench Suarez, no matter how tired or how well he plays. And theg will end up playing as wingers even though that's not their strengths. Same with Vidal and Rakitic.

I mean, I really dont see how players wouldnt be frustrated with this, whether or not they are outspoken with it. For Dembele, he seems just as mentally shattered as Semedo last season. Worst of all, EV is an utterly defensive minded oriented coach, with two explosive wingers with insane talent, they will surely end up in the drain. He doesnt care about your strengths, he will just play you anywhere that has gaps left by the untouchables. If Roberto wasn't injured, do you think would Semedo even play? Even if he plays Semedo, he will force Roberto into midfield and when things go wrong, Semedo will be the first to be subbed as the "problem".

This is why many people constantly think our signings are big problems when they are not. The coach is segregating the players too much and not have them build chemsitry in their proper positions.

I really do agree Dembele dont have the strongest of mentality, but to ignore new talents for the sake of always accomodating the older players and not trying to make use of their strengths isnt gonna make things better. On top of that, EV himself is too passive in motivating players and not strict or authoritative enough to manage young talents, just doesnt care to invest in them for the sake of his own future at that current moment.

The season still has a long way to go, while it may seem the most straightforward thing to crucify a player, I still think they have alot more to offer to the team. A short term mentality is going to equally burn out in late season, while we may seem to enjoy "results" now, we may need players like that at late season.

But knowing how Valverde doesnt change, it's still best for him to leave and allow guidance from a better coach. I would say let him go on loan.

 

[El Trencaxarxes]

Ok? Obviously not everyone will be happy with every single one of those picks but the point of the post is it's not like Dembele is the only winger around.

What a trivial point. Did anyone ever question that there were other good wingers around?

What I would still like to see you do, is pick five young wingers who have showed talent and abilities to the same degree as Dembélé has. Of the ones you mention, only Mbappé, Bailey, Lozano and Coman are young and I think only Mbappé has shown as much so far in his career as Dembélé has.

 

[Bulgroz]

Leon Bailey? You have to be kidding me. He's not even a guaranteed starter in Leverkusen, who are currently in the bottom third of the BuLi. The rest of them, sure. That's fair. Though Lozano is also a bit of a stretch in my opinion.

Coman and Di Maria are not as good as Dembele. Coman is faster, but that's about it. He's less versatile, can't dribble as well, scores less, gives less assists. And Di Maria is even more inconsistent than Dembele, even though he's 10 years older. Mane, Hazard, Insigne and Mane are better, yes, but as you pointed out they're also 5 years older than Dembele (at least). Messigician's list doesn't make any sense.

 

[Devils]

He needs a visionary manager to get him on track, in the same way Pep transformed Sterling into one of the best wingers in the world. Pep worked on Sterling's weaknesses and attitude and leveled the kid up to a top winger.

Dembele needs that sort of adjustment and EV is not the guy who is going to do that.

People were talking the same way about Sterling a few years ago the same they are talking about Dembele now.

 

[jairzinho]

He needs a visionary manager to get him on track, in the same way Pep transformed Sterling into one of the best wingers in the world. Pep worked on Sterling's weaknesses and attitude and leveled the kid up to a top winger.

Dembele needs that sort of adjustment and EV is not the guy who is going to do that.

People were talking the same way about Sterling a few years ago the same they are talking about Dembele now.

Ernie isn't the type that can or wants to work with young talent. Pretty obvious by now.

 

[ini4ever]

Yeah and if we lost Dembele Valverde wouldn't give a fuck because he ain't staying more than 2-3 years and the one who's damaged here is the club, losing one of the best young wingers in the market.

 

[messi2140]

Cant wait for Barca to send his ass back to dortmund and while they are at it give them Coutinho aswell. Im sure they will play like garbage there along with Paco.

 

[Neville]

https://twitter.com/mundodeportivo/status/1055466185028976640

He's been arriving late for quite a while now. Bad attitude all around.

 

[clemente]

Klopp completely ditched Sakho from the squad for being late, so I doubt that Dembele is "arriving late consistently", just not possible, he gets paid 200k a week to do his dream job.

 

[Centauri B]

I find these reports about Dembele highly believable. He does seem like a lazy dude at times.

EV is not some kind of idiot. He can see his lack of effort, hence putting him on the bench. This kid either shapes up, or there's no shortage of stupid and rich EPL clubs that love themselves some pacy youngsters.