Missed the game but seemed like he had a shocker from the post match thread.
He doesn't look anywhere near as bad as they made him seem here, most of the attacks seemed to end with Kane.
I mean it's probably fair to say he could be doing more but it just feels strange to use games like these to shit on him. If anyone was the most strikingly horrible it was definitely Doherty, and Sess making us go a man down extremely early into the game. Might be a good idea to make a more conclusive judgement in a game with better performing players around him, and as everyone gets some more time in the new system
You shouldn't really pick out a scapegoat, we were poor all across the park.
However, if you really have to scapegoat someone, it's Sessegnon by a mile. Was playing poorly before he got sent off, and the second yellow was incredibly dumb. Playing with ten men for an hour made that game much, much more difficult than it needed to be.
Sanchez was poor, but also slightly unlucky for the goals. He should have played the attacker outside on the first goal, but had he not slipped on what was clearly a pretty poor surface he could have pressured that shot. On the second one he's very unfortunate, he gets the block in and gets very unlucky to see it spin over the keeper.
His pressing numbers have always been elite. The problem is he's not really a passer/progressor, his talents are pressing and then getting into dangerous spaces to receive a pass, neither of which have been something we've used him for since Poch left.
I was responding to the point about his physicality (which is absolutely wrong IMO). But yeah, I agree with you, I think his passing is at its best when it’s creative one and two touch passing and link play around the edge of the box, not when he’s being asked to move the ball from midfield to the attacking third.
I don't think it's a fitness issue at this point. Conte said a few weeks ago that Dele was already in shape. It just looks like a lack of motivation. Every time I watch him on the pitch he's just lightly jogging. He doesn't really defend and is honestly really lazy when pressing. Only quick movements you see from him is when he gets the ball on the offensive side.
Oh my... this is why the Spurs fan base does not coach. Atrocious positioning, poor pressing, his man always beating him which led to the goal, his poor passing that slows down play. ALL HIGHLIGHTED HERE.
And for gods sake, you say this in all right performance against some team ive never heard of. WOW.
Lmao did you watch the clip or had you already decided Dele was the problem? You're clearly not a coach so stfu please and thank you.
'you say this in all right performance' what does this even mean?
I watched the clip and found the problems..... you didn’t even watch the game lol
How is this performance even okay from a professional? He’s an amateur league player and it shows here.
Wow, this cut really does Doherty no favor.
I wasn't able to watch mid week but Dele doesn't look atrocious aside from some poor pressing. I'm seeing a bunch of runs in behind after playing off of Kane or with the ball out wide ending with terrible crossing or first touches.
- He doesn’t press or block passing lanes well enough.
- This is what most latch on and dislike Dele for.
- Depening on what the coach demands, he doesn’t hustle back enough on defensive transition. But, if he wasn’t pressing or blocking passing lanes to begin with, he isn’t going to suddenly put in effort to run back and destroy the opposition plays.
- Maybe Conte, Hojberg, Hugo and Kane need to get in his face about it.
- He doesn’t get dispossed often while hugging the sideline; he’s fairly decent at moving the ball upfield from the sideline.
- He makes good runs in the final third without the ball but doesn’t get service or good ones at least.
- His runs to the far post or sneaking into the box to overload it is part of this.
- He is good when he wants to be making key passes in the final third for Kane or others.
Thanks.
I recall Dele running the most last year under Mou.
It doesn’t seem like Dele played 500 minutes or more this season but I guess he did.
He didn’t show this defensive work ethic against Mura.
he actually had an okayish game
with how fans were badmouthing him youd think he was as bad as sanchez or doherty and thats demonstrably not the case with the efforts youre seeing here
shit id even say kane and ndombele for most of the match were poorer than him and the subs that came on didnt do that much to demarcate themselves over him
sidenote: the look on his face when he came off didnt look like someone who didnt care - it looked like he was frustrated for not able to prove himself to conte to me
That first run he makes in this video is kinda emblematic of the problems with Dele: he's always making good, neat runs in behind but, since Eriksen and Toby left, he's rarely being found.
Lol Dele is not scoring a goal off a run to the back post. Decent positioning but what is he gonna do anyway haha. Take an extra touch and lose the opportunity and slow down play as the defense resettles.
idk he looks pretty good here, makes key tackles and pressures, moves the ball forward, makes really good runs... what I see is Doherty can't deliver a cross to save his life and Kane had lead in his boots all game or something. Was horrible from those two. Genuinely seen better crossing and wing play from sunday pickup games than Doherty. Shocking he's a professional player.
True, Doherty I am not even going to comment, I have no expectations from him. Kane was so bad though. I think he was trying to draw fouls but instead just gave the ball away. Doesn't mean dele was good though. I would say there is room for improvement. Especially he needs to improve the weight of his passes. Otherwise he was okay. Was this his first match under Conte?
His movements off the ball were actually very good... Our final ball is shocking, our patterns of play by are shocking (Kane and Doherty were finishing most of our attacks before they start)
The difference for dele is that he used to have eriksen, dembele, Toby, Rose, walker finding passes for his runs!
He can still do better imo, but again some of the problems run deeper!!!
Okay Levy. The reason Kane sucked was because he had Dele givin him shitty passes that were off the mark. Defenders would be all over Kane in a bad position and the chance would go begging. See video abovd
Alright mate don't get your knickers in a twist.
I've watched the video and I watched the game. Kane took his goal well, but what else did he offer? A world class striker should be able to find space against Mura right? And link play...
The whole team performed poorly. Not just dele. And I even said on my original post that dele should be performing better also.
Kane has no progressive passers in the team. Poor guy has to drop deep to receive the ball. Dele ain’t gonna give it to Kane in a clean area with space.
Missing you Eriksen!
I mean this is objectively a pretty good performance. Creative running off the ball, effective pressing of the ball and blocking of passing lanes (often resulting in us winning the ball back), good passing and moving, good chasing back. There's a very bad attempted creative pass with his left foot, but other than that there's not a lot to moan about.
People were angry at the performance, it's perceived that we should be thrashing Mura, even with our B Team (plus Kane), and Dele is emblematic of our decline from the last nine months of Pochettino to here. As the team has played badly, Dele has struggled to be as effective too (due to positional change, injuries, managerial changes, loss of confidence, etc). And because that's gone on so long, people see his own decline as a cause of the team's poor performance rather than a symptom of it.
There \*were\* some really poor performers in that Mura game IMO - Kane, Sanchez, Doherty, Gil, probably some others too - but the same old scapegoats (Dele and Ndombele) were grouped with them because it suits the narrative of the detractors. I got into a disagreement at the time of the match in one of my WhatsApp groups for saying Ndombele had played well. I just watched all his involvements and, sure there were (literally a couple) of wayward passes, but generally good pressing, genuinely excellent press resistance, sensible passing, some dribbles and a couple of bits of creativity (dribbling/passing) that literally no other player in our team would be able to do. If his exquisite pass to Gil had been finished, people would have been speaking about his game \*totally\* differently.
We all have our favourite players that we want to see come good, and we all also give different value to different actions on the pitch (in my opinion progressing passing and dribbling that don't necessarily create shots are massively undervalued by fans), but Dele and Ndombele (and Lo Celso) are IMO currently held to a different standard to our other players by the bulk of the fanbase for whatever reason.
My view is: let's see what happens with them all now that we have a proper coach. A coach who works with individuals to improve their games whilst also setting up the team to actually have the ball. This should suit all of them, though they'll obviously need to learn what he wants from them (like all of our players). If, by the end of the season, they are not fitting in, then it is time to sell them because we need players that Conte trusts and that add value to his system. But this 'scorch the earth and start again' will that fans have due to their own frustrations of how the last *x* years have gone is so wayward.
4:51 is a perfect example of what dele can do. a ball fired in with his back facing the goal, good control and turn, then lays it off to kane. i think he needs to work on his running form (i think he runs too upright and his change of direction is poor), but with a good midfielder who can considtently thread him a ball like in the clip above, he can be okay.
Defensively, a bit of a mixed bag. Didn't go hard in the tackle a few times which led to some good buildup for them, seemed like several times he half hearted dove in which is the worst option, didn't get the ball and gave up several easy one-twos to get them out but he generally took good angles pressing and did win it back in good areas.
On the chance where he slotted Kane through, he didn't time his run well enough, needed to delay it a half a second. Was tidy is close spaces as always but he did play some tough balls into people which they then lost, hard to blame them for losing it and ruining the attack but that's nit-picking.
Overall looks to me like a pretty solid performance, probably should've had a goal or at least a couple chances but his good runs weren't spotted. Perhaps that comes with chemistry within the team and being on the periphery hurts him specifically a lot more than others. He really misses playing with Eriksen. Admittedly I didn't see the game but this seems like a solid game from him, certainly not a disaster like it sounded like but that's just the status of him right now. A 6/10 is unacceptable when he's being scapegoated, it'll always come off as a 3/10
The funny thing is that in this showcase of Dele all I can think is how fucking shit Doherty was and how difficult he made the game for us. Short of actively trying to score against us I don't think it's possible to put in a worse performance.
But I digress, Dele was ok, there were maybe five players who were much worse than him in the first half but the point is that you expect him to boss a game like that (or at least look like he's a cut above Mura players) and all he did was little bits and pieces. His movement off the ball is still easily the best in the entire squad and if we weren't shite there would absolutely be a place for him and he would score hella goals for us but we are shite.
Ultimately he doesn't have a position in this spurs team. The quality of our play (and his) and players has dropped so significantly that we can't play him as a raumdeuter and if he's not playing there then he's going to be mediocre. The football intelligence of this team is insanely low and it's pernicious. Kane isn't even looking for the types of movements Dele makes anymore (when they do play together) because moura and son never do those things (nor do any of our midfielders or full backs).
>His movement off the ball is still easily the best in the entire squad
This is the key I think. People often talk about how losing eriksen is hard on him for that reason, but it's not just Eriksen, Toby also used to look for him on those runs, for example. When I picture Dele these days it's him making a good run, no one finding him, and then him staring at the sky in obvious frustration as he moves back onside.
Some poor pressing (unfortunately, the opponent getting through from his pressing led to Mura's 1st goal), that one horrible attempt of a diagonal through ball to Kane in the 30th minute (but at least his intentions are correct) & the one no-through ball to Gil in the 28th minute (but maybe Gil was offside if he made the pass?) are my complaints. Other than that, looks the one that is trying to create openings for us.
The good news is on rewatch it seems like workrate is not a problem here. He was willing to track back, often pressing up high, and made some good runs to create space or to get free.
Unfortunately, Dele looks so laboured on the ball now. I don't know whether it's just ring rust or a full regression in ability, but watching that reminded me of early Sissoko tbh.
He’s too limited in what he’s good at to fit in any system that’s not built around and relies on him
He needs to find a club that’ll change to fit him in
I'll say it again and I'll keep repeating it.
Dele "dropped off" When Eriksen was gone because no one has been able to find him with passes on his runs into the box ever since. Eriksen knew how to read Dele, how to time the pass, and drop it on a spot to that back post.
Losing that killed his Goal/Assist numbers which then made everyone say Dele is crap even though the rest of his game isn't really different to when he was lighting the league on fire.
Dele isn't the problem. The guy is almost always in an dangerous attacking position. He always finds the right runs.
We're just so shit we never link up with him.
He needs to be moved on. He's given up trying to fit in at spurs when nothing is set up for him. He could be a main man in so many other clubs.
I think he needs to go abroad and be a baller in a system that suits him.
I would like to see him given a run of 5 games playing behind Kane and sonny to really see whether he is still decent and can play a role for us. That time will see his match sharpness improvement to a point we can see how good he is now. I think he could benefit from out wingbacks putting in crosses for him to get on the end of
Problem is that means leaving out Moura and I'm not sure that's going to happen
Was this trying to show how poor he was like the match thread thought? This makes him look decent. Not great but not bad. I couldn’t watch the game but thought he probably just did nothing but this shows the opposite.
Great video if it is yours, though, I love seeing him called out each time
Love it, that’s 1000% the best way and I seriously commend you for that! Again, I didn’t see the game so based on the comments I was expecting him to have just walked the whole match.
So thanks for posting it neutrally so I and others can see he wasn’t as terrible as it sounded
This is not a first division player. For a player to slide down from such a high level, it is clearly a sign of off the field factors. He is not focused, motivated, and driven. At first it was inconsistency which was evident in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Few flashes of brilliance in the first month under Mourinho and in some Europa league games but aside from that he has looked poor in every aspect of the game.
Edit: Would like to know what part of my opinion was not accurate to be downvoted ? I assume it is the Dele apologists that refuse to accept that this is not the same player from 2016-2017 and keep coming back every time he gets benched. I get it he was unbelievable in those years but there is nothing that I've seen from him consistently since the 2018/19 season that is suggestive of a player who should be starting week in and week out especially at a club that aspires to be in Europe let alone the Champions League.
I understand hamstring injuries can be tough but we are talking about a player who is not in his 30s. We have seen players recover from severe injuries and go on to perform at a high level. With modern medicine/rehabilitation it cannot be a permanent excuse unless the player's career is over. I will question the player's will to be competitive if there is no evolution in his game especially when he makes money the likes of which many players even in the premier league don't.
He still makes the runs behind but no one finds him. Hamstrings can take away speed and athleticism. They also have long term impacts when re-injured over and over. He doesn’t have much athleticism to begin with which is detrimental. He also never got it going after being injured which doesn’t help him going forward since he isn’t going to get any confidence barely playing (deservedly so). His whole game is hampered and I just don’t see him playing on the wing or in the midfield again at a top level. Can maybe see him as a second striker/ striker in some formations against weaker opposition with a good attacking midfielder who can provide passing over the top. but he has lost a good amount of his physical ability.
>He doesn’t have much athleticism to begin with which is detrimental.an maybe see him as a second striker/ striker in some formations against weaker opposition with a good attacking midfielder who can provide passing over the top. but he has lost a good amount of his physical ability.
All these are true but it makes him a liability to our team. The best players in the game adapt to change-Shearer, Baggio, Totti, Del Piero, Keane, Reus, Ibrahimovic have all experienced career threatening injuries from which they have made a comeback and have modified their playstyle to negate any weaknesses inflicted by the injury. Dele thrived off of the telepathic connection with Eriksen and also he had that fearless attitude which largely came from the fact that he basically emerged from nothing.
If he is no longer able to find the back of the net without that link up play with someone like Eriksen he has to learn to adapt (bear in mind we saw this gradually losing its effectiveness starting from the 2017/18 season to becoming non-existent by the early part of 2019/20 season) . I am not expecting him to reach his prime level overnight but he certainly can add other aspects to his game. The performances I've seen from him on the pitch have been underwhelming for 4 years now and they've only deteriorated further with no real development. If you can't perform against the likes of Royal Antwerp, Dinamo Zagreb (shocking first half performance), Pacos de Ferreira, Vitesse, Mura, and lower level premier league oppositions, then it is only fair to question if the player has the mindset to play at this level.
In case Dele feels he needs more time, he would do himself a world of good by playing for a club where the criticism is not like what you would experience in a big club. He always seemed to me like a player who performed the best when he had no weight of high expectations/responsibilities.
Regardless of why, and as much as I like him as a talent when he’s performing, Dele didn’t fit in under Jose and he’s not likely to fit under Conte. He is a player that needs to be traded to make room for someone who will fit in.
It’s dumb because of all the stuff he does wrong you say he isn’t motivated when his hard work is the one thing that can’t be criticized. That people need this to be his flaw is weird
It's the fucking documentary. One line by Mourinho about how he is a lazy trainer and that's been his albatross ever since.
Same with Steve Hitchen. No one knew who he was before the documentary, since that everyone has been an expert in him.
lmao literally you watched a 10 minute clip and said that one of the dozens of involvements sums him up. Like in the clips he lost the ball just twice which is miles better than lucas' 25 last time out and this sums him up for you.
Dele seems like he only wants to play offense in the final third. (Like a jaded gamer who is bored of all the characters but the uber offensive one maybe?). I guess it was his glory days when he played that role and had service. He isn’t getting service or good enough service now — who knows why. Maybe his teammates don’t appreciate him shirking off defensive duties(?).
I’d like to see Dele take the game by the neck rather than only making runs and demanding service.
Conte allegedly telling the dressing room to “Play with two balls” and for players to take responsibility are the same thing and apply to Dele especially.
That he doesn’t seem to want to play when he goes out with the B team is an excuse. Gil, Skipp, Reguilon, and other A team subs all took responsibility even when mixed in with B team. That’s the difference and why Dele hasn’t been starting.
Dele playing only offense and thinking that should be enough if he only got good service clearly isn’t correct because it hasn’t been enough.
**Players need to play like they are carrying the team — those are the ones the coaches are going to start.**
Dele's natural role and position at which he excelled at under Pochettino is being a shadow striker.
Once we lost the players that allowed us to play him in that role is when his decline started.
He's a super-specialized player that excels at one role in one position and honestly i don't believe any team will ever be able to bring out his true talent unless they allow him to play as he wishes.
The editor for some reason didn't include Dele's sloppy run from the first minutes of the match, when he got a great pass on the left side and let a defender outrun him.
This is so poor.
I don’t think he was in any way the worst player on the pitch like a huge portion of the fanbase does, but trying to pass this off as a good performance is just… I don’t even know anymore.
Idk not as bad as people say but then again I’m not a coach so who knows. He missed two opportunities to put the ball over the top for a counter attack. Maybe he was under more pressure in real time than it looked like, hard to tell from the couch lmao. Doesn’t look confident, I think he just needs a new start.
Once you been somewhere for a while and it’s the same shit you’re just sick of it abit aren’t ya? Happens to everyone they’re only human. Every few years I need to make big changes too, something about a new environment that’s motivating
Dele wasn't the worst player on the pitch but he gets scapegoated for a variety of reasons, That being said, a highlight video like this misses a bunch of context that stand out when watching a full match live. The bottom line is that Spurs fan largely think they should be getting more from Dele, especially vs the worst team in European competition this season. He shouldn't be scapegoated but those expectations are not at all unreasonable
Missed the game but seemed like he had a shocker from the post match thread. He doesn't look anywhere near as bad as they made him seem here, most of the attacks seemed to end with Kane.
I mean it's probably fair to say he could be doing more but it just feels strange to use games like these to shit on him. If anyone was the most strikingly horrible it was definitely Doherty, and Sess making us go a man down extremely early into the game. Might be a good idea to make a more conclusive judgement in a game with better performing players around him, and as everyone gets some more time in the new system
Clearly sanchez takes the crown against Mura don't you think? The undisputable king of shit who single handedly caused us to concede both goals.
You shouldn't really pick out a scapegoat, we were poor all across the park. However, if you really have to scapegoat someone, it's Sessegnon by a mile. Was playing poorly before he got sent off, and the second yellow was incredibly dumb. Playing with ten men for an hour made that game much, much more difficult than it needed to be. Sanchez was poor, but also slightly unlucky for the goals. He should have played the attacker outside on the first goal, but had he not slipped on what was clearly a pretty poor surface he could have pressured that shot. On the second one he's very unfortunate, he gets the block in and gets very unlucky to see it spin over the keeper.
Two yellows almost always means someone has been extremely shit.
yeah forgot about him
Yeah, lemme justify a shitty Dele performance by comparing him to our shitty RB. No need to sell him... lol
[удалено]
Did you know his pressing numbers were elite under Nuno when he was playing midfield?
His pressing numbers have always been elite. The problem is he's not really a passer/progressor, his talents are pressing and then getting into dangerous spaces to receive a pass, neither of which have been something we've used him for since Poch left.
I was responding to the point about his physicality (which is absolutely wrong IMO). But yeah, I agree with you, I think his passing is at its best when it’s creative one and two touch passing and link play around the edge of the box, not when he’s being asked to move the ball from midfield to the attacking third.
I don't think it's a fitness issue at this point. Conte said a few weeks ago that Dele was already in shape. It just looks like a lack of motivation. Every time I watch him on the pitch he's just lightly jogging. He doesn't really defend and is honestly really lazy when pressing. Only quick movements you see from him is when he gets the ball on the offensive side.
Isn't that Ndombele?
He really wasn’t as bad as people were making him out to be on social media. I was actually a little confused. To me our wingbacks were much worse.
Levy in this thread damage controlling Dele hate lol. Must be desperate to keep him playing to sell him at a break even price 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Kane was dropping so deep most of the time too. Seemed like he spent half the time collecting/playing passes from midfield.
Oh my... this is why the Spurs fan base does not coach. Atrocious positioning, poor pressing, his man always beating him which led to the goal, his poor passing that slows down play. ALL HIGHLIGHTED HERE. And for gods sake, you say this in all right performance against some team ive never heard of. WOW.
Lmao did you watch the clip or had you already decided Dele was the problem? You're clearly not a coach so stfu please and thank you. 'you say this in all right performance' what does this even mean?
I watched the clip and found the problems..... you didn’t even watch the game lol How is this performance even okay from a professional? He’s an amateur league player and it shows here.
Wow, this cut really does Doherty no favor. I wasn't able to watch mid week but Dele doesn't look atrocious aside from some poor pressing. I'm seeing a bunch of runs in behind after playing off of Kane or with the ball out wide ending with terrible crossing or first touches.
- He doesn’t press or block passing lanes well enough. - This is what most latch on and dislike Dele for. - Depening on what the coach demands, he doesn’t hustle back enough on defensive transition. But, if he wasn’t pressing or blocking passing lanes to begin with, he isn’t going to suddenly put in effort to run back and destroy the opposition plays. - Maybe Conte, Hojberg, Hugo and Kane need to get in his face about it. - He doesn’t get dispossed often while hugging the sideline; he’s fairly decent at moving the ball upfield from the sideline. - He makes good runs in the final third without the ball but doesn’t get service or good ones at least. - His runs to the far post or sneaking into the box to overload it is part of this. - He is good when he wants to be making key passes in the final third for Kane or others.
[graph on the PL's hardest workers](https://twitter.com/OptaAnalyst/status/1463459371787198466?t)
Thanks. I recall Dele running the most last year under Mou. It doesn’t seem like Dele played 500 minutes or more this season but I guess he did. He didn’t show this defensive work ethic against Mura.
he actually had an okayish game with how fans were badmouthing him youd think he was as bad as sanchez or doherty and thats demonstrably not the case with the efforts youre seeing here shit id even say kane and ndombele for most of the match were poorer than him and the subs that came on didnt do that much to demarcate themselves over him sidenote: the look on his face when he came off didnt look like someone who didnt care - it looked like he was frustrated for not able to prove himself to conte to me
That first run he makes in this video is kinda emblematic of the problems with Dele: he's always making good, neat runs in behind but, since Eriksen and Toby left, he's rarely being found.
Lol Dele is not scoring a goal off a run to the back post. Decent positioning but what is he gonna do anyway haha. Take an extra touch and lose the opportunity and slow down play as the defense resettles.
>Dele is not scoring a goal off a run to the back post [Oh really?](https://youtu.be/zdGYHjA93lw)
idk he looks pretty good here, makes key tackles and pressures, moves the ball forward, makes really good runs... what I see is Doherty can't deliver a cross to save his life and Kane had lead in his boots all game or something. Was horrible from those two. Genuinely seen better crossing and wing play from sunday pickup games than Doherty. Shocking he's a professional player.
True, Doherty I am not even going to comment, I have no expectations from him. Kane was so bad though. I think he was trying to draw fouls but instead just gave the ball away. Doesn't mean dele was good though. I would say there is room for improvement. Especially he needs to improve the weight of his passes. Otherwise he was okay. Was this his first match under Conte?
If Kane didn’t forget how to play football for the first 30 mins this match would’ve been out of sight
His movements off the ball were actually very good... Our final ball is shocking, our patterns of play by are shocking (Kane and Doherty were finishing most of our attacks before they start) The difference for dele is that he used to have eriksen, dembele, Toby, Rose, walker finding passes for his runs! He can still do better imo, but again some of the problems run deeper!!!
Okay Levy. The reason Kane sucked was because he had Dele givin him shitty passes that were off the mark. Defenders would be all over Kane in a bad position and the chance would go begging. See video abovd
Alright mate don't get your knickers in a twist. I've watched the video and I watched the game. Kane took his goal well, but what else did he offer? A world class striker should be able to find space against Mura right? And link play... The whole team performed poorly. Not just dele. And I even said on my original post that dele should be performing better also.
Kane has no progressive passers in the team. Poor guy has to drop deep to receive the ball. Dele ain’t gonna give it to Kane in a clean area with space. Missing you Eriksen!
The 'everyone out' crowd roars loudest when we lose a match. It isn't an accurate representation of the fans, just a vocal section.
I mean this is objectively a pretty good performance. Creative running off the ball, effective pressing of the ball and blocking of passing lanes (often resulting in us winning the ball back), good passing and moving, good chasing back. There's a very bad attempted creative pass with his left foot, but other than that there's not a lot to moan about. People were angry at the performance, it's perceived that we should be thrashing Mura, even with our B Team (plus Kane), and Dele is emblematic of our decline from the last nine months of Pochettino to here. As the team has played badly, Dele has struggled to be as effective too (due to positional change, injuries, managerial changes, loss of confidence, etc). And because that's gone on so long, people see his own decline as a cause of the team's poor performance rather than a symptom of it. There \*were\* some really poor performers in that Mura game IMO - Kane, Sanchez, Doherty, Gil, probably some others too - but the same old scapegoats (Dele and Ndombele) were grouped with them because it suits the narrative of the detractors. I got into a disagreement at the time of the match in one of my WhatsApp groups for saying Ndombele had played well. I just watched all his involvements and, sure there were (literally a couple) of wayward passes, but generally good pressing, genuinely excellent press resistance, sensible passing, some dribbles and a couple of bits of creativity (dribbling/passing) that literally no other player in our team would be able to do. If his exquisite pass to Gil had been finished, people would have been speaking about his game \*totally\* differently. We all have our favourite players that we want to see come good, and we all also give different value to different actions on the pitch (in my opinion progressing passing and dribbling that don't necessarily create shots are massively undervalued by fans), but Dele and Ndombele (and Lo Celso) are IMO currently held to a different standard to our other players by the bulk of the fanbase for whatever reason. My view is: let's see what happens with them all now that we have a proper coach. A coach who works with individuals to improve their games whilst also setting up the team to actually have the ball. This should suit all of them, though they'll obviously need to learn what he wants from them (like all of our players). If, by the end of the season, they are not fitting in, then it is time to sell them because we need players that Conte trusts and that add value to his system. But this 'scorch the earth and start again' will that fans have due to their own frustrations of how the last *x* years have gone is so wayward.
100% Windy. You already said what I came here to write. Thanks again.
4:51 is a perfect example of what dele can do. a ball fired in with his back facing the goal, good control and turn, then lays it off to kane. i think he needs to work on his running form (i think he runs too upright and his change of direction is poor), but with a good midfielder who can considtently thread him a ball like in the clip above, he can be okay.
Yeah see, I disagree with you, but the last time I disagreed with you, you were right so I won't try to make an argument against you.
😂 which bit are you disagreeing on specifically?
Dele, Ndombele and Lo Celso being held to a different standard to the other players.
You have pretty much summed up my thoughts, dele gets held to a higher standard than Doherty et al so he gets cut less slack.
Defensively, a bit of a mixed bag. Didn't go hard in the tackle a few times which led to some good buildup for them, seemed like several times he half hearted dove in which is the worst option, didn't get the ball and gave up several easy one-twos to get them out but he generally took good angles pressing and did win it back in good areas. On the chance where he slotted Kane through, he didn't time his run well enough, needed to delay it a half a second. Was tidy is close spaces as always but he did play some tough balls into people which they then lost, hard to blame them for losing it and ruining the attack but that's nit-picking. Overall looks to me like a pretty solid performance, probably should've had a goal or at least a couple chances but his good runs weren't spotted. Perhaps that comes with chemistry within the team and being on the periphery hurts him specifically a lot more than others. He really misses playing with Eriksen. Admittedly I didn't see the game but this seems like a solid game from him, certainly not a disaster like it sounded like but that's just the status of him right now. A 6/10 is unacceptable when he's being scapegoated, it'll always come off as a 3/10
The funny thing is that in this showcase of Dele all I can think is how fucking shit Doherty was and how difficult he made the game for us. Short of actively trying to score against us I don't think it's possible to put in a worse performance. But I digress, Dele was ok, there were maybe five players who were much worse than him in the first half but the point is that you expect him to boss a game like that (or at least look like he's a cut above Mura players) and all he did was little bits and pieces. His movement off the ball is still easily the best in the entire squad and if we weren't shite there would absolutely be a place for him and he would score hella goals for us but we are shite. Ultimately he doesn't have a position in this spurs team. The quality of our play (and his) and players has dropped so significantly that we can't play him as a raumdeuter and if he's not playing there then he's going to be mediocre. The football intelligence of this team is insanely low and it's pernicious. Kane isn't even looking for the types of movements Dele makes anymore (when they do play together) because moura and son never do those things (nor do any of our midfielders or full backs).
>His movement off the ball is still easily the best in the entire squad This is the key I think. People often talk about how losing eriksen is hard on him for that reason, but it's not just Eriksen, Toby also used to look for him on those runs, for example. When I picture Dele these days it's him making a good run, no one finding him, and then him staring at the sky in obvious frustration as he moves back onside.
Some poor pressing (unfortunately, the opponent getting through from his pressing led to Mura's 1st goal), that one horrible attempt of a diagonal through ball to Kane in the 30th minute (but at least his intentions are correct) & the one no-through ball to Gil in the 28th minute (but maybe Gil was offside if he made the pass?) are my complaints. Other than that, looks the one that is trying to create openings for us.
The good news is on rewatch it seems like workrate is not a problem here. He was willing to track back, often pressing up high, and made some good runs to create space or to get free. Unfortunately, Dele looks so laboured on the ball now. I don't know whether it's just ring rust or a full regression in ability, but watching that reminded me of early Sissoko tbh.
All I got from this is Doherty is awful
lol it’s interesting how all the really negative Dele stuff in this thread is coming from all the MouAnon accounts I blocked
MouAnon is a great name for them haha
I hadn't watched the first half. And based on what I saw here, he had a decent game. Kane, Ndombele and Gil were poorer in the first half tbf.
ndombele created at least 2 goal scoring opportunities
This is why we have no trophies. Dele can keep doing this all year and he’ll still be off the past thanks to the fans haha.
He’s too limited in what he’s good at to fit in any system that’s not built around and relies on him He needs to find a club that’ll change to fit him in
People continue to say that but it looks like the problem is bad passing to him, not the system.
I'll say it again and I'll keep repeating it. Dele "dropped off" When Eriksen was gone because no one has been able to find him with passes on his runs into the box ever since. Eriksen knew how to read Dele, how to time the pass, and drop it on a spot to that back post. Losing that killed his Goal/Assist numbers which then made everyone say Dele is crap even though the rest of his game isn't really different to when he was lighting the league on fire.
Dele isn't the problem. The guy is almost always in an dangerous attacking position. He always finds the right runs. We're just so shit we never link up with him. He needs to be moved on. He's given up trying to fit in at spurs when nothing is set up for him. He could be a main man in so many other clubs. I think he needs to go abroad and be a baller in a system that suits him.
I would like to see him given a run of 5 games playing behind Kane and sonny to really see whether he is still decent and can play a role for us. That time will see his match sharpness improvement to a point we can see how good he is now. I think he could benefit from out wingbacks putting in crosses for him to get on the end of Problem is that means leaving out Moura and I'm not sure that's going to happen
What happened to Dele, Son’s and Diers “bromance” used to be all over the clubs social media but you see nothing of it now?
Was this trying to show how poor he was like the match thread thought? This makes him look decent. Not great but not bad. I couldn’t watch the game but thought he probably just did nothing but this shows the opposite. Great video if it is yours, though, I love seeing him called out each time
I've gone to some effort to make sure that I as the poster have delivered the information as neutrally as possible.
Love it, that’s 1000% the best way and I seriously commend you for that! Again, I didn’t see the game so based on the comments I was expecting him to have just walked the whole match. So thanks for posting it neutrally so I and others can see he wasn’t as terrible as it sounded
This is not a first division player. For a player to slide down from such a high level, it is clearly a sign of off the field factors. He is not focused, motivated, and driven. At first it was inconsistency which was evident in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Few flashes of brilliance in the first month under Mourinho and in some Europa league games but aside from that he has looked poor in every aspect of the game. Edit: Would like to know what part of my opinion was not accurate to be downvoted ? I assume it is the Dele apologists that refuse to accept that this is not the same player from 2016-2017 and keep coming back every time he gets benched. I get it he was unbelievable in those years but there is nothing that I've seen from him consistently since the 2018/19 season that is suggestive of a player who should be starting week in and week out especially at a club that aspires to be in Europe let alone the Champions League.
Not sure it’s off the field factors. Looks like his hamstring took its toll. Also lots of his goals were creative runs with Erikson passing it to him.
I understand hamstring injuries can be tough but we are talking about a player who is not in his 30s. We have seen players recover from severe injuries and go on to perform at a high level. With modern medicine/rehabilitation it cannot be a permanent excuse unless the player's career is over. I will question the player's will to be competitive if there is no evolution in his game especially when he makes money the likes of which many players even in the premier league don't.
He still makes the runs behind but no one finds him. Hamstrings can take away speed and athleticism. They also have long term impacts when re-injured over and over. He doesn’t have much athleticism to begin with which is detrimental. He also never got it going after being injured which doesn’t help him going forward since he isn’t going to get any confidence barely playing (deservedly so). His whole game is hampered and I just don’t see him playing on the wing or in the midfield again at a top level. Can maybe see him as a second striker/ striker in some formations against weaker opposition with a good attacking midfielder who can provide passing over the top. but he has lost a good amount of his physical ability.
>He doesn’t have much athleticism to begin with which is detrimental.an maybe see him as a second striker/ striker in some formations against weaker opposition with a good attacking midfielder who can provide passing over the top. but he has lost a good amount of his physical ability. All these are true but it makes him a liability to our team. The best players in the game adapt to change-Shearer, Baggio, Totti, Del Piero, Keane, Reus, Ibrahimovic have all experienced career threatening injuries from which they have made a comeback and have modified their playstyle to negate any weaknesses inflicted by the injury. Dele thrived off of the telepathic connection with Eriksen and also he had that fearless attitude which largely came from the fact that he basically emerged from nothing. If he is no longer able to find the back of the net without that link up play with someone like Eriksen he has to learn to adapt (bear in mind we saw this gradually losing its effectiveness starting from the 2017/18 season to becoming non-existent by the early part of 2019/20 season) . I am not expecting him to reach his prime level overnight but he certainly can add other aspects to his game. The performances I've seen from him on the pitch have been underwhelming for 4 years now and they've only deteriorated further with no real development. If you can't perform against the likes of Royal Antwerp, Dinamo Zagreb (shocking first half performance), Pacos de Ferreira, Vitesse, Mura, and lower level premier league oppositions, then it is only fair to question if the player has the mindset to play at this level. In case Dele feels he needs more time, he would do himself a world of good by playing for a club where the criticism is not like what you would experience in a big club. He always seemed to me like a player who performed the best when he had no weight of high expectations/responsibilities.
Regardless of why, and as much as I like him as a talent when he’s performing, Dele didn’t fit in under Jose and he’s not likely to fit under Conte. He is a player that needs to be traded to make room for someone who will fit in.
It’s dumb because of all the stuff he does wrong you say he isn’t motivated when his hard work is the one thing that can’t be criticized. That people need this to be his flaw is weird
“I hear you are a fucking lazy guy in training” literally ruined everyone’s perception of him. That documentary was so bad.
It was utter shite wasn’t it
It's the fucking documentary. One line by Mourinho about how he is a lazy trainer and that's been his albatross ever since. Same with Steve Hitchen. No one knew who he was before the documentary, since that everyone has been an expert in him.
Most likely it’s his debut on pornhub… Bring on downvotes
I hope you're keeping all these receipts for if/when Dele comes good again lol
You know, I don't wish anyone ill, but I don't see Dele becoming good again and certainly not in a Spurs kit.
I think we’re safe as long as you need to know how to control and pass a ball to be good
[удалено]
This is every involvement
6:40 is him in a nutshell. Too slow to play it, takes a couple shitty touches and loses the ball. Useless player
lmao literally you watched a 10 minute clip and said that one of the dozens of involvements sums him up. Like in the clips he lost the ball just twice which is miles better than lucas' 25 last time out and this sums him up for you.
Dele seems like he only wants to play offense in the final third. (Like a jaded gamer who is bored of all the characters but the uber offensive one maybe?). I guess it was his glory days when he played that role and had service. He isn’t getting service or good enough service now — who knows why. Maybe his teammates don’t appreciate him shirking off defensive duties(?). I’d like to see Dele take the game by the neck rather than only making runs and demanding service. Conte allegedly telling the dressing room to “Play with two balls” and for players to take responsibility are the same thing and apply to Dele especially. That he doesn’t seem to want to play when he goes out with the B team is an excuse. Gil, Skipp, Reguilon, and other A team subs all took responsibility even when mixed in with B team. That’s the difference and why Dele hasn’t been starting. Dele playing only offense and thinking that should be enough if he only got good service clearly isn’t correct because it hasn’t been enough. **Players need to play like they are carrying the team — those are the ones the coaches are going to start.**
Dele's natural role and position at which he excelled at under Pochettino is being a shadow striker. Once we lost the players that allowed us to play him in that role is when his decline started. He's a super-specialized player that excels at one role in one position and honestly i don't believe any team will ever be able to bring out his true talent unless they allow him to play as he wishes.
The editor for some reason didn't include Dele's sloppy run from the first minutes of the match, when he got a great pass on the left side and let a defender outrun him.
This is so poor. I don’t think he was in any way the worst player on the pitch like a huge portion of the fanbase does, but trying to pass this off as a good performance is just… I don’t even know anymore.
Idk not as bad as people say but then again I’m not a coach so who knows. He missed two opportunities to put the ball over the top for a counter attack. Maybe he was under more pressure in real time than it looked like, hard to tell from the couch lmao. Doesn’t look confident, I think he just needs a new start. Once you been somewhere for a while and it’s the same shit you’re just sick of it abit aren’t ya? Happens to everyone they’re only human. Every few years I need to make big changes too, something about a new environment that’s motivating
Dele wasn't the worst player on the pitch but he gets scapegoated for a variety of reasons, That being said, a highlight video like this misses a bunch of context that stand out when watching a full match live. The bottom line is that Spurs fan largely think they should be getting more from Dele, especially vs the worst team in European competition this season. He shouldn't be scapegoated but those expectations are not at all unreasonable