Ousmane Dembélé
- Thread starter Devils
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Exactly.
We heard the same rubbish about Dembele being more committed, training longer and improving his diet last year as well.
In the end he still missed training sessions after sleeping in, fired the cook the club assigned him and picked up half a dozen injuries in the span of two months.
Time for the lad to perform on the pitch, tired of the PR.
What's weird is being tolerant of a technically deficient winger when your club has players like Ronaldinho and Neymar in its history. How are your standards so fucking low?
jairzinho
Senior Member
Thankfully next season two commonly used excuses will be thrown out of the window: pre-season excuse, and he's young he's got time. Granted 23 is still young, but if you're 23 at the end of the season and you still can't shield the ball or shoot properly then chances are that's the type of player he's going to be.
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
He needs to show up this season or he is done with Barca. He knows it.
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
Well, also the system is not made for him at all. His skill set doesn't fit our playing style.
Put him with a team who is discplined defensively and waits for counter attacks and let him shine or full on attack like Dortmund, open game. Barca plays too slow game and players inability to move hurts him a lot.
he has no issues with the team style of play he's just not getting consistent minutes, some for his own wrongdoing and the other the coaches negligence. he's had games playing in this "system" (whatever it is that valverde is running) where he's looked head and shoulders the best attacking player aside from messi.
can you even explain what barca's "playing style" is in 2019 and what attacking players possess the traits that would fit this system? because force feeding the ball to messi (who always vacates his position on the right) is not a "system"
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
Well, I think our system is outdated, just like some of our players. Suarez is past his prime by few years, RAkitic should be changed for someone younger, quicker and better, Busquets used to be good in a system where we have ball control 70% of the time, but without ball he is black hole.
The biggest problem with our system? Lack of work rate. Messi doesn't defend, Suarez is getting lazier and lazier. (Compare him from MSN times and there's a big difference). Rakitic basically runs around the field these days, but doing nothing. Coutinho is a black hole defensively and makes terrible turnovers and he is no winger, BUT he is no midfielder either, because we don't have enough defensive cover to play him in the midfield.
We don't move enough to give our midfield options either, meaning we don't run into empty spaces etc. Messi and Suarez both are very lazy with this. Usually they just stand and wait for the ball. The lack of work rate is shocking.
I guess the point is, we don't have any sort of "system". Valverde has done terrible job making this functional team. We are clueless. This is no team.
I even rate Aguero much higher these days than Suarez. Suarez used to be better, but Aguero's professional and workrate are on different level.
Who would I want? We need offensive midfielder. DeJong and Arthur are not game breakers who will make that last great pass. I would like DeBruyne for example. I think he is fantastic player. Eriksen could work as well, but I feel like our midfield could be too soft with him, maybe we would have to change Arthur for someone else who can work hard and win battles physically. Especially in Away CL matches we have been bullied for years and when you lose that midfield, you lose the control of the game. We need to gain control in the midfield again and in away matches it usually takes muscles and balls. That's why I like Vidal. Find younger Vidal.
I think we need to get rid of Coutinho as well. We just have no use for him. He is Messi-lite, but we have the real thingy, so we don't need him. He doesn't fit our team in any way.
These players were just an example, I know they are impossible to get. Maybe not Eriksen.
EDIT;
Last thing, we need to fix the balance of the team and make our right wing a threat again. I feel like our right side works quite well when Semedo-Dembele are playing, but for whatever reason Valverde doesn't like that. I always felt like we played much better when both sides were working, Semedo-Dembele on the right and Alba-whoever on the left. I think it gives us good balance and threat from both sides.
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For starters the majority of the teams Barcelona face implement a low block. This means forwards will have little space to play in, and consequently will have to rely on plays in tight spaces. Dembele as he has shown in the past two years does not have the skillset to play in tight spaces, particularly due to his ball control and dribbling in tight areas. Dembele doesn't seem to excel in quick short passing either, which Barcelona relies on even when they're not playing against low blocks. The issue is technical and related to football intelligence. For example, although he's capable of magic his first and subsequent touches are considerably inconsistent. Secondly, he regularly takes a second too long pick an option for a pass. We can see him being mediocre, invisible, and down right bad due to these aforementioned problems in various matches throughout the season. Just look back at the posts from October 2018 questioning his technique, his decision making with the ball, and comparisons to Lukaku for multiple matches. If you think I'm delusional well I'll say at least I'm not alone. Last point which is related to his intelligence, is his constant isolation from build up play and low chemistry with his teammates. You guys attribute that to several external problems: lack of consistency in minutes (even though he regularly started for a good chunk of the season), lackluster teammates (ageing players being too slow for him), and being too individualistic in style. I'd point out Arthur and Aleña are also greenhorn, far more than he is, and seem to be more involved in build up play than he is. Hell, riqui puig shows more understanding with them and he's not even a senior player. Considering he has the same build up issue in France, whereas his teammates (Griezmann, Mbappe. Matuidi) don't show similar issues I'm inclined to assert it's due to his low ability tactical ability and decision making.
which is why the team needs to move on from that era. dembele is not the issue, players like suarez, rakitic, busquets, etc. need to be shown the door. adopting a rugged mentality that real has shown its veterans (casillas, ronaldo, pepe, etc.) would do this club wonders.
if this guy leaves and inevitably becomes the player that tuchel always raves about, then this club can forget about mbappe and just forfeit him to real when he decides to exit psg. and that would be completely unforgivable.
FinBarcelonafan
Well-known member
Absolutely, while I think Real Madrid is ruthless, it makes perfect sense. Football is business and players age and get worse. It's natural. It's natural in this business, that you make hard decisions and throw away "Good name player" for the sake of the team. We need more of that, instead of throwing out contract extensions to everyone who wants one.
Of course, some players have enough dignity to leave, when they realize they are not first team players anymore, like Iniesta, Xavi. They left when they were still useful, but they knew their time had come, but then we have marginal player like Rakitic thinking he is playing the best football of his life and needs 5 year extension at the age of 31. Yeah, no thanks.
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