Ousmane Dembélé

[delancey]

How many league goals has he scored this season? It?s one thing to be a threat, and another thing to execute on that threat instinctively and consistently. He may improve, sure. He may also stagnate or get injured again. His performance so far does not merit a wage increase.

 

[feggydinho]

What does Laporta see in him?

With Dembele it's nothing but holding your breath that he:
1. Does not injure himself
2. Has spectacular moment between 89 other minutes of pure shite

This story has been played out. Almost 24 and next season will be no different. Either he pulls a hamstring again during the business end of the season, or if he does play misses sitters for fun in the biggest matches of the season. Cannot count on him when it matters most and it's not viable to pay these sorts of wages for a bench player.

But he will score a wonder goal or two against relegation fodder after we're already up 3-0, so there's that...

More than 14 of dembele goals in Barca has either being the winning goal or a goal to keep us level. Though I agree that you cant fully trust him as he is mostly hot and cold.

 

[feggydinho]

How many league goals has he scored this season? It?s one thing to be a threat, and another thing to execute on that threat instinctively and consistently. He may improve, sure. He may also stagnate or get injured again. His performance so far does not merit a wage increase.

All Im saying is that he would get suitors as he is still a good player, probably not the standard we want. But then how many great players can we afford now ( Mbappe is pretty expensive)

 

[Laplacian]

All Im saying is that he would get suitors as he is still a good player, probably not the standard we want. But then how many great players can we afford now ( Mbappe is pretty expensive)

Correction

His physical gifts are really good, but he is no way at all a "good player." He can't pass, he can't dribble, and he can't finish. Last time I checked, those are the kind things you need to do to be a good winger.

 

[mc_lovin]

Correction

His physical gifts are really good, but he is no way at all a "good player." He can't pass, he can't dribble, and he can't finish. Last time I checked, those are the kind things you need to do to be a good winger.

Can we stop this binary nonsense? Hes not as good as he should be (for a worldclass winger), but he still adds plenty of value when fit. If we could invest like 300ME in offense I would seriously start discussing him, but we cant. He has been our 2nd best forward this season, so hes out of question for me.

And looking at other forwards like Mane, Sane, Vinicius etc pp puts things in perspective again. Dembele has been hardly worse.


Edit: Dembeles importance will hopefully regulate itself when Fati is back (sigh) and we get a CF. Would be immense not to depend on him entirely but as a 4th option.

 

[te amo barca]

Correction

His physical gifts are really good, but he is no way at all a "good player." He can't pass, he can't dribble, and he can't finish. Last time I checked, those are the kind things you need to do to be a good winger.

You really lack nuance when it comes to Dembele man.

 

[Messi983]

He would surely get a raise elsewhere and wont be short of suitors because of his profile (and we have players earning absurd salaries here already), now the question is do we have someone to replace him if he leaves?? I dont think Depay can be a better solution cause dumb as we make Dembele to be, he is always a constant threat to opposition (even though he can be a threat to himself sometimes)

He's not really that big of a threat in our current system, is he? Yeah, I know he's scored a few goals but is still not really comfortable playing there imo. Could still improve in time but don't have high hopes.

If we'll stay with this system and bring Haaland who is also fast but can actually finish then I'm all for selling Dembele.

OTOH if we'd go back to 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 then having both Dembele and Haaland would be great.


Does anyone think something like this could potentially work?

MATS
Dest-Araujo-Garcia-Alba
FDJ-Pedri
Dembele-Messi-Fati
Haaland

Sure, there are a lot of question marks:

1. we're very unlikely to get Haaland.
2. we don't know when Fati will be able to play again and at what level.
3. Dembele can get injured again and we won't have a replacement for him. Trincao would probably be a better fit to play in that AMC (Messi) role. I'm not saying he could invidiually bring to the team what Messi does (no player will ever be able to do that) but I think he could do well with those other players around him. But obviously as long as Messi is here he wouldn't play much.
4. Frenkie and Pedri are both hardworking "todocampistas" but can they hold up defensively? We also wouldn't have much cover for those two positons. I think Ilaix could adapt to play in a double pivot but would need time. Roberto still has some legs and could potentially be a backup for a season or two (if renewed on lower wages) until we find someone better. Nico could potentially also be an option. Busi and Puig can't play there though. Maybe we can try and turn Griezmann into a DM? Obviously, front 4 players (except Messi) would need to help out a lot defensively as well.
5. we don't know if Araujo wil stay fit and if/how he and Garcia would do together. Neither of them has much experience.

But still, that lineup would get me quite excited, lol.

 

[feggydinho]

He's not really that big of a threat in our current system, is he? Yeah, I know he's scored a few goals but is still not really comfortable playing there imo. Could still improve in time but don't have high hopes.

If we'll stay with this system and bring Haaland who is also fast but can actually finish then I'm all for selling Dembele.

OTOH if we'd go back to 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 then having both Dembele and Haaland would be great.


Does anyone think something like this could potentially work?

MATS
Dest-Araujo-Garcia-Alba
FDJ-Pedri
Dembele-Messi-Fati
Haaland

Sure, there are a lot of question marks:

1. we're very unlikely to get Haaland.
2. we don't know when Fati will be able to play again and at what level.
3. Dembele can get injured again and we won't have a replacement for him. Trincao would probably be a better fit to play in that AMC (Messi) role. I'm not saying he could invidiually bring to the team what Messi does (no player will ever be able to do that) but I think he could do well with those other players around him. But obviously as long as Messi is here he wouldn't play much.
4. Frenkie and Pedri are both hardworking "todocampistas" but can they hold up defensively? We also wouldn't have much cover for those two positons. I think Ilaix could adapt to play in a double pivot but would need time. Roberto still has some legs and could potentially be a backup for a season or two (if renewed on lower wages) until we find someone better. Nico could potentially also be an option. Busi and Puig can't play there though. Maybe we can try and turn Griezmann into a DM? Obviously, front 4 players (except Messi) would need to help out a lot defensively as well.
5. we don't know if Araujo wil stay fit and if/how he and Garcia would do together. Neither of them has much experience.

But still, that lineup would get me quite excited, lol.

Haaland is more like a dream, I dont think we can afford him. I would even prefer Mbappe to Haaland as I think Mbappe can play in many more positions but we cant afford them. ��

 

[Laplacian]

Can we stop this binary nonsense? Hes not as good as he should be (for a worldclass winger), but he still adds plenty of value when fit. If we could invest like 300ME in offense I would seriously start discussing him, but we cant. He has been our 2nd best forward this season, so hes out of question for me.

And looking at other forwards like Mane, Sane, Vinicius etc pp puts things in perspective again. Dembele has been hardly worse.


Edit: Dembeles importance will hopefully regulate itself when Fati is back (sigh) and we get a CF. Would be immense not to depend on him entirely but as a 4th option.

Disagree. Look at how Pedri, Fati, and Trincao are involved in passing transitions. Look at how Foden, Willian, Sancho, or even Malcolm back in Barcelona are involved in passing transitions. Now compare that to Dembele's, and you'll see a stark difference. Dembele's almost always isolated from these sort of team plays, and when he isn't, he places a poor first touch and/or mishits the pass.

Dembele rarely takes on players utilizing technique and an understanding of attacking space. Look at how good dribblers; Sancho, Graelish, Foden, Rashford, Sane, Vinicius etc take on players. Now compare them to Dembele. Dembele almost always relies on speed and reflexes. You all agree with me, considering everyone here likes to say "he fits counter attacking teams" - it's not a stylistic choice, it's because he lacks the prerequisites to dribble properly (aka what's needed to dribble in tight spaces and low blocks). You might argue kicking and running is a form a dribbling too, but I would say it's just athleticism.

Finishing is the only thing I'll give him good credit for, and even that's barely acceptable for our level.

Dembele's athleticism allows him to function decently at the highest level, but that's not nearly enough to call him a good footballer. Especially not while he's playing with guys like Pedri and Dest.

 

[Bobo32]

I think this american guy in Barcelona B would be able to have similar numbers that Dembele has if he was given the same minutes, and he would then have some hype to him and Barcelona would be able to sell him for nice money. If they didn't want to sell they could keep him on a lower salary than Dembele has.

What Dembele has going for him is crazy speed, ability to make a good shot 1/10 with both feet, and a pretty good sense for body feints which he can't really utilize for the benefit of the team most of the time though, as he fails too often and is too unreliable. But you could probably find some nice youtube compilations of him leaving the defenders to buy sausage...

Another thing is he plays with his head under the armpit, which most often is very negative, but sometimes this makes him do the unexpected and this is a spark that many used to look for, when Barcelona played very well but struggled to get through low defences because they played so safely. He is actually more useful against low defences than against high defences, because unlike smart and solid players he fails miserably to exploit the 1v1 or 2v1 situations, despite being so crazy fast, because he is both stupid and inherently sloppy.

Anyhow it is good to have some speed in the squad, but I'd much prefer having someone like Trincao playing most of the time, the speedy winger doesn't need to be a starter all the time.

 

[mc_lovin]

Disagree. Look at how Pedri, Fati, and Trincao are involved in passing transitions. Look at how Foden, Willian, Sancho, or even Malcolm back in Barcelona are involved in passing transitions. Now compare that to Dembele's, and you'll see a stark difference. Dembele's almost always isolated from these sort of team plays, and when he isn't, he places a poor first touch and/or mishits the pass.

Dembele rarely takes on players utilizing technique and an understanding of attacking space. Look at how good dribblers; Sancho, Graelish, Foden, Rashford, Sane, Vinicius etc take on players. Now compare them to Dembele. Dembele almost always relies on speed and reflexes. You all agree with me, considering everyone here likes to say "he fits counter attacking teams" - it's not a stylistic choice, it's because he lacks the prerequisites to dribble properly (aka what's needed to dribble in tight spaces and low blocks). You might argue kicking and running is a form a dribbling too, but I would say it's just athleticism.

Finishing is the only thing I'll give him good credit for, and even that's barely acceptable for our level.

Dembele's athleticism allows him to function decently at the highest level, but that's not nearly enough to call him a good footballer. Especially not while he's playing with guys like Pedri and Dest.

Not really the point, is it?

Anyway half the players you mentioned would look atrocious next to Griezmann and Messi (which is our reality). Dembele, for all his flaws, adds speed and (shockingly enough) physicality. He made a big step this season, plays in a sacrificial role and can hopefully grow some more.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Pay raise is a no go for me.
Players close to contract year who suddenly perform well makes me nervous, sure his progress could be permanent, but it could also be a way to secure that next big contract and be complacent again.

That said, the thing I am happy the most with Dembele this season is his positional movement, made huge stride there

 

[jamrock]

Raise is a big no

Kid has improved this season which is the only full season he as had with us, has he been what we expected, the answer to that is clear, but he has potential if utilized correctly, if we can keep him on his current wages or reduce which is unlikely, we should sign him to an extension, if only just to be able to sell him at a reasonable fee in a few seasons if he performs relatively well.

 

[Vilarrubi]

Not sure if these pay rise rumours are true or not but he needs to calm down if they are.

Other players in talks of pay cuts while this is his first season where he’s been fit and playing to a reasonable level. Before a pay rise let’s wait for a year or two of improvements and big performances in big games. Can start tomorrow by scoring the winner in Clasico. Siiiiuuuu.

 

[Joan]

Absolutely underperfomed his whole stint here and wants a raise. Even this season, when he's actually playing, is below every expectation we had the summer he was signed.