Dembele - I know I am not going to be popular but...

[ffcwickford]

A very expensive 'Kenny Achampong'!

It is OK to beat players but going back for a second go - very rarely works - unless there is an end result he is sadly a waste of a 'shirt'!

This needs to be sorted quickly, you either go direct - as in the Spurs Cup game or you take players on in the box making them tackle you or foul you! - it really is that simple!

The chant ' Moussa Dembele runs circles around you' needs to be changed to 'Moussa Dembele runs circles round himself!'

[MJG]

He is not a goal scorer thats for sure. he does not have the appetite to be direct with the ball when he has it, gets to the edge of box either wide or central and instead of running into the box and taking the defender on, he will cut away. With the way he can keep the ball he could induce a foul in the box if he just took them on.

Also without the ball, when we attack maybe down the flanks, instead of surging forward to get into the box and on the end of things, he ambles up like he's on a sunday stroll. No desire to score.

He has a load of skill, but I wonder what's upstairs.

[Edwatch_Winston_Malone]

I think that general opinion has changed towards Dembele as there appears to be little or no end product...

[Jimpav]

He showed flashes of class last night but doesn't take or create chances.

He could get a place in the Shakhtar team with those credentials.

[elgreenio]

I think he'd be ok if we managed to get the groundsman to raise the pitch in the middle and leave the wings lower, maybe that way he wouldn't like running uphill into the middle and the inevitable crowd of players that comes with it

[The Bronsons]

He's beginning to look like a luxury we can't afford. Matthew Briggs is more of a goal threat and he's a defender!

[finnster01]

He has a load of skill, but I wonder what's upstairs.

I think you may have hit the proverbial nail on he head there Mr MJG.

If that is indeed the problem, not much coaching will help on that front.

[Boggers]

Looks like everyone is starting to realise he's all fart and no poo

[epsomraver]

Sorry I disagree, he is a class player but like the rest of the team has no idea at present who or where he supposed to be playing to, he has now also started chasing back and winning the ball back.

[LBNo11]

...he makes lovely mazey sideways runs, and then the attacks fizzle out as he runs deeper into a wall of defenders; not all his fault though, admittedly he tries to take on one too many defenders, but too often he has nobody there to support him, so who to pass it to? Our attack is often static instead of running off the ball to draw defenders away from him and give him the space to pass or to shoot.

A talented player who may shine with pacier players around him who telegraph his moves and give him better support...

[finnster01]

Time to call the Samaritans me thinks  093.gif

[Dan in Notts]

The frustrating thing is that it doesn't feel like he's that far away from being absolutely devastating - if he could just do what he does in a slightly different part of the pitch, or in a different direction, it feels like he could produce goals, chances or free kicks in dangerous areas (though I guess it can't be that simple - I suppose teams are quite adept at shuffling players like him into less dangerous areas of the pitch).

The strangely impressive thing is that it's quite an achievement regularly to beat 5 or 6 players and never end up in front of goal.  By the law of averages, you'd think he'd end up there once in a while.

[MJG]

Sorry I disagree, he is a class player but like the rest of the team has no idea at present who or where he supposed to be playing to, he has now also started chasing back and winning the ball back.

By class I take it you mean he has skill, which i dont think anyone disagrees with. Its what he does with it. Even last season he was doing what he did last night, nice runs beats half a team but then...go back and do it again. I just want him to be more direct, lift his head up and look for a pass or shot.
As winning it back, reminds me of Murphy really when he loses it he'll go chasing.

[Oakeshott]

I think Dembele may be a specific example of what may be a general problem.

Hopefully we have a good scouting network, but it is unlikely to be as extensive as those of the better financed clubs such as the two Manchester ones, Arsenal and our neighbours. Thus it is improbable that the likes of Dembele, Kasami and Ruiz haven't been carefully considered by such clubs and decided against. Obviously they won't always get it right, and a good manager can bring a player on, as Tigana did with Saha. But in all probability such players have weaknesses that the better sides take the view are unlikely to be easily remedied - hence the ability of less well financed clubs such as us to buy them.

I fear Dembele is one such. Far too early to reach conclusions about Kasami and Ruiz, but on the little I've seen so far of both I have concerns - Ruiz in particular looked far too slow (in thinking) for the Premiership. Hope I am wrong.

By contrast, those who have grown up in the Premiership seem to me to develop more surely and I think we have a real gem in Briggs.

[DukeTyrion]

He reminds me of McManaman, but don't forget McManaman eventually became a very good player, once he learn't to get his head up.

[Jack Fulham]

Show boater and indecisive - Dembele

[BalDrick]

Strobe has written a really good piece on TIFF (yep, something worth reading there today - who'd have thought?), in which he posits that Jol is aiming for a system in which Dempsey, Dembele and Ruiz are given a licence to roam, in support of (I think) one striker. I said before the season started I didn't see how we'd see more than a maximum of 2 of those 3 on the pitch at the same time, but if (and that's a mighty big if) it succeeds, we will be very easy on the eye, highly likely to be given to Keeganesque scorelines (5-4 etc). Which I'd take happily, even if sometimes it'll be us scoring the 4 not the 5. It's clearly a work in progress but such is the lot of a club under new management. If it comes off, it'll be a lot better than anything Hughes ever tried to instil (in fact didn't he revert to a Hodgson system by the end?) or indeed the safety-first approach of Hodgson. Yes the latter worked very well but come on, there were plenty of us who said we were getting a bit bored of it.

Strobe goes on to say the key to this system is the 2 midfielders - Sidwell and Murph last night - and I think he's right. Trouble is, Murph doesn't look very happy (does he ever to be fair?) and I'm not sure he has the legs for a full season, especially 2 games a week. But the new lad Kasami, of whom last night was my first viewing, looks to be really good with stacks of potential, and there's the lad Gecov to come too, and I thought Sidwell looked the real deal last night.

New manager + distraction of Europa = we're not going to set the league alight this season, which is fine with me. Suspect we won't get nearly as far in the Europa as last time either, but Rome (nor indeed Roma I daresay) wasn't built in a  day.

[finnster01]

Jol has wanted to play 4-2-3-1 from day 1. That is no secret (look at his Ajax team and even his old Spurs).

The whole theory behind that formation is simply quick transitions with the L/RB's bombing forward catching the opposition out of balance and creating a counter. The two mids are supporting the defence, one typically a tackler and the other a passer. The reason Murphy has been shite this year is simple he has been told to focus more defensively. Sidwell/Etuhu will be used interchangeably as the ball winners and tacklers.

All well and good, except the very simple fact that our up front/wing players are not fast enough to go for it and create a proper counter and catch them unbalanced and we don't have a striker who can find his way out of a phone booth, never mind find a goal.

It is very obvious to me that we don't have the players to play Jol football. What I don't understand is the very simple fact that he doesn't get what most of his critics sees every match. So as long as he continue to try fitting a square peg into a round hole we will not be successful. Simple as that. Jol is too stubborn to try something else, hence why I am on his case because I think he will take this team and turn it into a complete disaster.

I do not think he is a good manager. I think he is a selfish fat slob that played us and politics against the board at Ajax a year ago and picked up a bigger checque before he got fired. He is not Fulham and that is my sincere opinion. I sniffed him out on day one. I don't expect any of you blind Jol followers and sheep to agree with me, but everytime I look at a match and read the table and think about the teams we have yet to play away I get very depressed.  I hope I am very wrong, but this Fulham team is on a real slippery slope and as a lifelong fan, THAT WORRIES ME. Couldn't care less about Jol. Fulham will still be around after that twit is gone, but I rather it wasn't lighting it up in the Championship.  :035:

[leonffc]

He reminds me of McManaman, but don't forget McManaman eventually became a very good player, once he learn't to get his head up.

............ after he ran his contract down, stitched up his club and moved abroad  

[Alternative]

I think that general opinion has changed towards Dembele as there appears to be little or no end product...

Yes 'Flatters to deceive' now.

I think he could come good with coaching though.