Spurs fans on Twitter have been discussing former midfielder Mousa Dembele.
A Spursy Podcast asked Lilywhites supporters for their opinion on the Belgian international, who left the club in January of last year to join Chinese side Guangzhou R & F. Spurs signed the midfielder from Fulham in 2012 and he went on to make 249 appearances for the North London club, contributing 10 goals and 12 assists (per Transfermarkt).
Regular injury problems perhaps led to an early departure in 2019, with the 32-year-old struggling for regular fitness in his later years with the club. Now that ‘A Spursy Podcast’ has provoked a discussion on the former Fulham man, Spurs fans have been airing their opinions.
Was Dembele world class in his time at Spurs?
Yes
No
A sample of tweets from Spurs fans discussing Dembele can be seen below.
Was world class for a season. But he didn’t do it for long enough, didn’t score/set up enough goals. But obviously a very good natural footballer
Also don’t buy that Spurs declined when he left. He was way past his best, and that was when he still played for us
— Noah (@noahbergman) May 14, 2020
Had everything and one of those that looked phenomenal in training and thats what the players see day in day out and us fans don’t. Had some great games for us and some not so good and was probably a bit unpredictable. That said he’s a million times better than what we now have
— James Thrussell (@ThrussellJames) May 14, 2020
He dominated games without people even realising, held the ball in midfield which allowed us to build attacks off him, was very disciplined, assists & goals not as high as what you’d have liked but he was good at giving it to he creators to supply the assists. Watch juv away game
— scott mcdonald (@scottmcd83) May 14, 2020
We desperately miss him in midfield, not been the same without him but the reality is we never won anything when he was with us. I think he was an outstanding player however more goals and assists in his game and he wouldn’t of been playing with us
— John Mac (@chumbamac) May 15, 2020
He was strong, great at dribbling and almost impossible to knock off. Transition the ball from defence roc midfield so well. However, he could have been so much more. He rarely played forward passes & often would go past players & then make the pass he should have made earlier.
— Adam (@therealflannerz) May 14, 2020
When he was on it he was unplayable…elite players don’t speak so highly without good reason. But…he could drift out of a game, overly injured and never pulled the trigger enough. Hence our ‘special relationship’ team never came calling…
— Mr P (@Bobbert56) May 14, 2020
These Spurs fans clearly rate Dembele highly but perhaps feel that he never reached his top potential with the North London club.
What do we think?
Dembele’s best season for Spurs perhaps came in the 2015/16 Premier League season, when he averaged a superb 7.69 rating for his performances in the top flight and unfortunately it seems as if regular injury problems prevented him from being able to maintain that level of performance.