Ousmane Dembélé

Wouldn't be surprised if Bundesliga has delivered yet another turd.

Anyone feeling we got ripped off with him?

Yeah we surely did money wise but the quality is there and he just needs more time to gain confidence.

In fairness he hasn't played that much at all. But yes, so far he doesn't look like a 100+ mil player...

Give him some time.

Black Deulofeu is most fitting.

fútbol

eelir wrote:Anyone feeling we got ripped off with him?

Not at all. He's young as hell and when he starts and plays he is very good at setting up the strikers and has a ton of speed and can take on his defender. He was never a big goal scorer, and I doubt he ever will be but that's not what we got him for. He's unfortunaltye been injured allot, and Valverde seems to have very little risk taking with guys that aren't 100% already embeded into the team already, as shown with how little he has played Denis, Dembele after his injuries and even has benched Coutinho in games you would figure would start. Valverde don't give a damn and will play the guys he thinks are already integreted in these crucial months, as shown how he kept picking Pique even though he isn't 100% healthy from an injury, and picking complete trash Vidal ahead of Dembele, and complete trash Paulinho and Gomes ahead of Denis.

That's a fair judgement wind. Possibly the reason Valverde let Rafinha leave too.

IM not expecting goals from him, but his overall play did not really strike me as something special. Never watched him at Dortmund, but to me it looks like we overpaid, badly!!!

Unbelievable talent and we'd be more than happy to take him from you if you're not content with him, at a slight cut rate price.

danyjr wrote:Black Deulofeu is most fitting.

fútbol

Nah... come on

Every player needs time to settle, especially the young ones. Also, Dembele hasnt had much luck with avoiding injuries that keep him sidelined and hinder his progress.

I think people expect too much considering the little amount of games he played so far. If I go back in time, I don't exactly remember Neymar scoring hattricks every game since his debut... He looked pretty colorless too, to be honest.

And from what i've seen so far, Dembele is pretty good on the ball and can beat his opponent in a 1v1 with ease. Goals and more assists will come.

My main issue with him is his first touch. I don't recall a single player who was successful at Barca who has a first touch as heavy as his.

He would do great at teams that get afforded a lot of space to run into either because of the opposition or because of their tactics (Liverpool, RM on form etc)

I'm not sure how well he'll fit into our system. Full benefit of doubt to him... I think he needs at least another season for there to be any judgment passed.

Let's see. I'm not too optimistic. but I won't write him off now. It's too early.

I can't honestly believe you guys

CM Pep wrote:My main issue with him is his first touch. I don't recall a single player who was successful at Barca who has a first touch as heavy as his.

He would do great at teams that get afforded a lot of space to run into either because of the opposition or because of their tactics (Liverpool, RM on form etc)

I'm not sure how well he'll fit into our system. Full benefit of doubt to him... I think he needs at least another season for there to be any judgment passed.

Let's see. I'm not too optimistic. but I won't write him off now. It's too early.

I agree with everything, especially with the one in bold. He tends to release the ball to far away from himself on his first touch. Probably because in Dortmund he had space and could beat his marker with the help of his speed. It is not working so well at Barca.

But, still early, i hope my suspicions are false.

eelir wrote:He tends to release the ball to far away from himself on his first touch. Probably because in Dortmund he had space and could beat his marker with the help of his speed. It is not working so well at Barca.

That's only a matter of adjusting himself to the system and the leauge though. He definitely has great control of the ball and his touch isn't heavy at all.

He's got the skill and the quality, the only question and concern is his mentality imo.

I think that he needs to believe in himself more because the quality is there, the monster just needs to be awaken.

https://twitter.com/CeballosEffect/status/902168046311276544?s=09

Honestly, this thread is on the level of @free_cat's legendary De Bruyne thread.

The kid is 20, was injured all during his first season for you, started 3 games for Barca so far, played 270 minutes in the league and a handful of minutes in other competitions.

If you "never watched him at Dortmund", as @eelir says and as surely Danyjr hasn't either, how do you even manage to conjure up an opinion on him?

Nothing special?
Everyone who did watch him at BVB, and I do assume that, as opposed to you guys, the ones willing to pay >100m € for him were among those people, saw the very defintion of special.

His special talent and astounding quality is undeniable. If he will not come good, it's because you, or something else like injuries, ruin him.

I will not ruin any player, it is simply impossible. I am just making some observations. If he lacks mentality, well then he was not worth the money. I am also not saying he will be bad or anything. I am just saying even though he is young and was injured, with the price tag he had, he should have a bit more consistency in simple footballing moves or at the very least he should have produced one wow moment so far. Neither happened so, I am a bit worried we overpaid for next Pedro.

@Hapless_Hans I think most Barca fans will hope that your assessment of him is what comes true.

The opinions we are sharing are based on our viewing of his performances. Granted he's been marred by injuries and also by an enormous price tag that he's needed to justify since day 1 and thus your assessment has a better empirical chance of standing true.

I don't think the sensible fans are at all calling him a flop. And I believe he's going to get a much better chance to prove himself next season. Valverde doesn't give up easily on players that he thinks are a tactical fit in his system (eg Gomes).

CM Pep wrote:@Hapless_Hans I think most Barca fans will hope that your assessment of him is what comes true.

The opinions we are sharing are based on our viewing of his performances. Granted he's been marred by injuries and also by an enormous price tag that he's needed to justify since day 1 and thus your assessment has a better empirical chance of standing true.

I don't think the sensible fans are at all calling him a flop. And I believe he's going to get a much better chance to prove himself next season. Valverde doesn't give up easily on players that he thinks are a tactical fit in his system (eg Gomes).

I understand that.
But if Dembélé joined my club, even after paying such silly money, all I would concentrate on was just simply looking forward to what the kid will do in coming years, for my enjoyment and entertainment. Such a special talent, any negativity is just a waste with such a kid.
Never mind how much he cost (and, as opposed to Neymar or such players who eat up the wage bill, he only was expensive to BUY, he is not expensive to MAINTAIN), the kid will be a joy to watch. Isn't that what it's about?

Agreed.

You can say that because you saw him at Dortmund. I for one did not see him, so I have no idea what to expect.

Having said that, we all really want him to succeed. Lol, I was rooting for Dennis fkn Suarez to succeed after some promising showings last season/early this season.

But judging a player on a 6 second twitter clip that's not even in a real match

Forget about black Deulofeu. He's the new Gervinho.

Great move for the assist on Coutinho's goal. Could've had at least 2 more assists easily aswell.

He's making decent progress.

I'm still kinda on the fence but I think he should start against Chelsea, could cause some damage when they have to open up

He had a descent game and one assist. Love his pace and he has started shooting toward the goal . Gaining confident it seems.

Will not start. He's still too lackadaisical with possession.

He needs to work on his final ball, control and precision, decision making, if he does that he truly will be WC. He just has some of these amazing abilities, its almost like he has too much horsepower to be able to control it easily, he just zooms all over the place himself as well as when he passes or shoots the ball its often over hit or just not precise enough.

BarcaLearning wrote:He needs to work on his final ball, control and precision, decision making, if he does that he truly will be WC. He just has some of these amazing abilities, its almost like he has too much horsepower to be able to control it easily, he just zooms all over the place himself as well as when he passes or shoots the ball its often over hit or just not precise enough.

Exactly. Just like Gervinho