The Tottenham midfielder hasn’t been at his best of late.
Mousa Dembele has produced some excellent performances during his Tottenham Hotspur career and was especially impressive in the 2015/16 season.
At his best the midfielder is capable of bursting past opponents with ease, making use of his excellent technique.
Tottenham supporters could be forgiven for wondering, however, whether Dembele will ever be able to recapture his best form, with the Belgian having not been at his best since returning from his latest injury setback.
Dembele produced an underwhelming performance in Tottenham’s defeat to rivals Arsenal and faces a battle to re-establish himself as a regular in the starting line-up for Mauricio Pochettino’s team, especially following the progression of Harry Winks.
At present Dembele still seems to be short of full fitness and he should certainly be given time to build up his sharpness, though he did impress off the bench against West Brom.
At 30 years old he still has much more to offer for Tottenham but the suspicion remains that he is most effective when deployed alongside a more defensive-minded midfielder, such as Eric Dier, who is currently being used in defence, or Victor Wanyama, who remains injured.
Once Wanyama is back available it will be interesting to see whether Pochettino elects to deploy the Kenyan alongside Dembele on some occasions, with that pairing capable of bringing the best out of both players.
In Tottenham’s current system, a three man midfield which often has no natural holding player, it can be difficult for Dembele to make much of an impact going forwards as he also has so much responsibility in a defensive sense.
Playing him alongside a more defensive player could see Dembele start to rediscover his best form.
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