The Story of The Midfielder Who NEVER Lost The Ball!
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- čas přidán 13. 05. 2024
- The Premier League has been called home by many of the game’s greats but an area where the division has been especially spoiled is the midfield. Across its 30-year history, we’ve seen world-class 6s, 8s, and 10s from all across the globe, who have anchored, patrolled, and generally guided the midfields of some record-breaking sides whose legacies live on. Due to longevity and the silverware, the stars of Manchester United, City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are bound be held in higher regard, but in the archives of the smaller clubs, there are some diamonds who, in terms of ability, could stand toe-to-toe with those we remember best.
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:10 - Childhood, Germinal Beerschot & Willem II
0:51 - Changing His Role at AZ
2:02 - A Standout Year
3:21 - Fulham
5:37 - Moving to North London
6:50 - The Pochettino Era
10:19 - His Best Season & 2018 World Cup
12:04 - Leaving a Legend
12:57 - "Who's The Best Player You've Played With?"
13:34 - An Underrated Genius
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#premierleague #football #belgium #spurs #dembele - Sport
Oh my days I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am that he’s getting his flowers
Where has this trend of getting his flowers come from. Wish people can be more original and come up with their own sayings. Fun to hear different things
@@Creees It's an Americanism. Like 'cap/no cap', 'cooking', 'nice', 'clutch' etc. It's easier for people to just copy others these days, than to think for themselves.
@@mobya80also easier for us to understand when everyone uses the same terminology than if everyone said different things
@@mobya80 is that really an American idiom? I was confused why he was asking "where it came from" as it is neither new nor is it a trend, but an old, common saying to us Americans. It is nothing like "cap" or "cooking" as this is something that's been said at least all my life.
Also language is inherently about copying others lol you can't use language that other people don't use because language derives its meaning from collective usage.
@@mobya80it defo isn’t an Americanism imo it’s just risen to popularity much more cause of social media and other platforms the saying has been around for years and has British origins
As a devoted watcher of premier league football for decades I think he is one of the most underrated players. An absolute machine of a midfielder.
criminally underrated
True, as a city fan i always adore him. And wonder why no big club go for him (no offence for spurs)
Name a more underrated player honestly
I genuinely believe he was the best player in the prem in his last 2 seasons at spurs
@@thecitizens4573he was hugely injury prone
As a Spurs fan I love Dembele. He was one of a kind.
As an Arsenal fan , I thought he was quality and wished we had signed him when he was at Fulham
My fav player when he was at Spurs, and never understood why it took so long for Spurs to sign him.
Absolute class!
One of a kind is right. What a player. If he could finish consistently, he'd have won the ballon dor multiple times.
You can tell how important he was by how all the new signings are measured up against him.
Arsenal fan here. I absolutely loved watching him. His partnership with Wanyama was unreal
His 2016/17 season is hands down the best central midfield season performance I've ever seen! Phenomenal player.
Yeah yes he was 8 out of 10 in every match he played...Unreal
Lots of insane performances that season - Danny Rose seemed unbeatable for half that season as well until he got injured - refuse to believe there has been a better pair of Premier League fullbacks than Rose + Walker during that season, and what's craziest was that Rose was a decent amount better than Walker at that time as well. You just knew every game the opposing winger would be outplayed and he'd bomb up and down the wing the entire game. Think people underestimate how wearing Poch's style is on players and how much Spurs truly lost out on it as well - Spurs best XI was clearly better than Chelsea's but Chelsea had fewer injuries/no Europe so ended up winning the league. That entire XI was filled with good to great players - real shame there were always financial cheats to ruin it (*cough* Chelsea *cough*).
Better than 2013/14 Yaya's season??
@@saranshsharma4005 might as well just go for Leicester Kante at that point
@@saranshsharma4005nope
the only player I've witnessed to go shoulder against shoulder with Yaya Toure and actually managing to shrug him off the ball, he was an absolute monster with impeccable technique, thank you Mousa for everything you've done for Spurs, it was a joy to watch you play the wonderful game.
I thought i was the only one on earth who saw this… ur a legend mate 🎉
@@adamothman693 lmao same here, cheers mate 😁
Yaya Toure, Moussa Dembele and Nemaja Matic.
At that same time, i experienced my beloved Liverpool put fucking Joe Allen on Yaya...
@@rasmusjrgensen1566Lmao hahahaha
Honestly this guy was key in Pochettino's Tottenham. Although he left Spurs when he was injury-prone I think Spurs should have kept him a bit longer as he was really key. I like how he knew how to shield the ball, break-up opponents play and at times literally glide past oppoents.
Loosing him was the reason why spurs started to suck after the 2019 season…even reaching the ucl finals was sort of a last ditch hurray by the team and im sure if he was there in the match spurs would have tested liverpool more in that final
@@drdp420 for sure, that final was really among the most boring UCL final I can think of.
That was because after the early goal, Liverpool just parked the bus. Poor Final ruined by the ref with a poor penalty decision, imo.
Sissoko was literally the replacement for Dembele too so it's always felt warranted to say that game would have played out significantly differently
@@themangeary it was also because the final was played nearly a month after the end of the league season and none of them were totally match fit. People seem to forget that bit but neither team was fully firing (even though the early pen killed the game off also)
Players like Dembele are why I love football aside from trophies, goals and assist. Football is more art than sport to me anyways.
The type of player you'd pay over the odds for to watch.
Belgian fan here, I'd like to add to your brilliant video by mentioning his career with the national team. He was part of the squad that reached 4th place at the 2008 Olympics, playing up front with Mirallas next to him, along with players like Vertonghen, Fellaini, Kompany, Vermaelen, who ended up being the spine of the "golden generation". In spite of that, he was never an established starter with the senior squad, having to compete with the likes of Fellaini, Witsel, De Bruyne, Tielemans and Nainggolan through the years, in systems that didn't really fit his style of play. He did get 82 caps, which is not insignificant, but his impact was never what we expected it to be. But still, just like you mentioned, if you ask all the players of the golden generation who was the best or most technically gifted out of all of them, most would say Dembele. In a team led by Hazard and De Bruyne, that's not bad...
Think you're confused. He was a starter nearly all the way through his whole Belgian career.
@@jimmyf1446He did play a lot. 82 caps is only 5 fewer than Fellaini. But he was never a certified starter. He was very often subbed in to keep possession and hold a result. He was tremendous at that. But if you look at the big tournaments, he didn't start many games. Wilmots liked having Witsel and Fellaini in his team and brought Nainggolan later on, but Dembele managed to get in there once in a while. With Martinez, who only had two men in midfield, he had even fewer possibilities with De Bruyne being lower on the pitch. Don't get me wrong, I thought he was fab, and he did play for the national team all the way through his career, but not in a pivotal role is what I'm saying.
@@soft_core_punk As a fellow Belgian I can confirm this
@@soft_core_punk kan jij nederlands ik ben van Belgie
LOL, belgian fan ? what the f is that ? better version of chinese fan ?
I've always believed that with the right manager like Pep overseeing his career from the very beginning, recognizing his potential and positioning him as a CM or DM, he would have easily been part of the GOAT discussions. What a magical player, there's no comparison.
tbh he can play every position except off field.
Except for he fact he could have even been a no 10...!
Mousa is a legend at spurs. Every fan will have him at number 6 in the best ever team. A master at winning the ball and starting attacks. He did the job of 2 players and it took 2 or 3 to mark him
👏🏼
1 of those the streets will never forget players. What a joy to watch him at Spurs
Him and Lamela
Moussa was criminally underrated, Dembele was a key player for Spurs.
True very underrated
We have been missing him ever since he left. The fluid ball control he had was crazy, able to skip past players and put a great defensive shift as well. Bissmousa + Maddison we have going on now, used to be Dembele's role to an extent, getting the ball back and able to dribble out of sticky situations with the ball forward.
bissouma kinda reminds me of him this season
good shout - he was like a couple of players in one - like he could do the job of two people in one player
Ndombele is a like for like in many ways except mentality unfortunately.
He was so unique. You just couldn’t get the all off him and he was very physical and well built but also had ballerina twinkle toes skills as well. Loved watching him at Tottenham.
I am an Arsenal fan and he was sensational, reminded me of vieira. I always prayed he was injured when he played us, I never even felt that way when Modric played for spurs.
He was a beast again everytime we played spurs
praying for injury, most empathetic arsenal supporter
@@foreverslightedthis is the arsenal fan base summed up in a comment 😂 classless shameless scum
@@foreverslightedhe don’t represent all of us just the dumb few, like that topspur supporter who kicked ramsdale don’t represent all of you spuds
@@foreverslighted Only when he played us. Just a one weeker. Something insignificant.
Cannot overstate just how unbelievably good this guy was. Proper Rolls Royce.
Never improved his weaknesses and awful stats, even for his position
@koch1467 yeah his stats were weirdly poor, but he did the intangibles so, so well. Literally every one of his former teammates used to say he was the best player in the squad!
@@DdotRay86 Yes his dribbling was incredible, the way he glides past players. And his strenght as well, although he doesnt even look that strong.
I’m so happy you did a piece on Dembele. I’ve always considered him as one of the best and underrated midfielders in the world. I’ve always admired how it seemed like he skated with the ball at his feet. I nearly forgot how much of a field genius he was. Thank you thank you.
15m what a steal. This man went underneath the radar in England when I started watching it. Every time we played against him simply masterclass. Didn’t know a lot about him until last year. Truly amazing player.
Cheers bro, I'm crying. Great video. What a player.
As an Arsenal fan, this man had my utmost respect. Absolute baller.
One of the greatest technicians the premiership has ever seen
My fave player ever. I was privileged enough to watch him for Spurs week in week out - the guy was colossal with the ball. The most press resistant player ive seen for us and just loved him so much.
I loved Dembele at Spurs. One of the absolute best players I have ever seen,. I was in Turin when we were down and out after ten minutes, only for Moussa to run the show and show the wordls how exceptional he was.
He was the most interesting player to watch in a team that had gareth bale in it. His dribbling and movement was so smooth and yet defenders would bounce off him when they tackled. He’ll always be a legend
I’m a Man Utd fan and I was desperate for us to sign him. He was and still is one of my favourite players to watch ever. So strong yet so skilful. An unbelievably gifted player.
He took us apart at Old Trafford playing for Fulham before he even got to Spurs. We should have made a move then.
@@bobm2368 yes, when he was at Fulham was when I wanted us to get him. Always stood out when we played them. Brilliant player.
@@codamh4862 Think we bought Smalling based on the same game. 🙄..... Sounds like something we'd do.
@@bobm2368 yeah that rings a bell actually 🤦🏻😅
Wym so "strong yet so skillful" ur making it sound like most strong players aren't skillful and vice versa😭😭
Incredible player with a unique ability, brilliantly presented
my favourite baller. unique talent who Spurs have never been able to replace
Thank you for the documentary.
He was a joy to watch. He had some crazy dribbling stats, at one point he had more dribble per 90 than some proper wingers... the street won't forget him.
As a Spurs fan, I have only praise for Dembele. One of my absolute favourites and, I've always believed a few more goal involvements would have put him more in the spot light for top clubs and top awards
yeah. he was such a dedicated box to box midfielder, he didn't get the chances bc he could often be found deep lying. really got us out of more trouble than he gets credit for. I remember him skipping past defenders and midfielders alike 3 or 4 each dribble sometimes and delivering a beautifully weighted ball.
@thoyo that game against Arsenal at Wembley, when he was just toying with their so called golden boy Wilshire....sublime
@@matthewnicholas6365 😂😎
I'm a Arsenal fan but even i knew if spurs had dembele in their starting line up we was in for a long day 😅😅 but i will say what a player he was 🔥🔥
One of the most underrated midfielders of my generation. The guy was immense
Spurs fan..the best player spurs had,didn't score many goals for spurs but was key to any match.never lost the ball even with 5 players trying to get the ball he would keep the ball and make a pass forward.ridiculous skill,very underrated.was gutted to see him leave spurs
I’m an Arsenal fan and Dembele is as my biggest football inspiration growing up. He was simply incredible to watch, you can see a lot of similarities in Bellinghams style. Never understood why nobody took notice of him at an Elite level
At one point at spurs he didn't want to leave could've easily went to chelsea or manchester city or bayern
his flair is much much more than Bellingham.
@AMIRULASYRAF-gm4vo true but they're very similar
Although I don’t like Tottenham (arsenal fan) I always loved watching dembele he was a class player and I’d always be nervous when he had the ball
EA FC R1 dribbling in reality. But seriously as a Spurs supporter for many years he is one of my favourite players to have played for us. His power carrying the ball accompanied with his strength to hold opponents off meant that few could take the ball from him. I’m only gutted that he didn’t win the success that he deserved to have won whilst playing for us. He deserved to be recognised so much more than he was by neutrals. Incredible player and one that was oft singled out by team mates as being the best footballer at the club or someone they would choose for the perfect five a side team and yes he would have been the perfect player for that. Oooohhh moouuusaaa dembele
Great video! We miss him every day in our midfield. Best player I've ever seen play live by a mile
Wow thank you for this video, my all time favorite player !!!! ❤
Manutd fan here yes moussa was pure class!
Great video, he was unstoppable for a few seasons, he was magnificent. Honoured that he blessed us with his majesty.
One of my favorites
Happy for all his praise 👏🏻
phenomenal video🔥🔥
Man I'm so happy to see this video dedicated to this man. He really deserves it
One of the best players I've ever had the privilege to watch live. ⭐
fantastic vid, you got my sub. he is one of my fav players of all time and iv been watching footy since the early 80s. he was just so unique i simply cant compare him to anyone else, the closes i can think of is Brazilian Ronaldo if he was a mid, physique and ball carry wise, super strong and calm on the balls. just a joy to watch.
I don’t like or comment on many videos, but for a spurs club legend ❤ he deserves more people to recognise how special he was. Thank you for a wonderful video showcasing his career
Always loved Dembele. Such a criminally underrated player. I used to watch spurs just to watch him play, unreal.
Newcastle fan here - Dembele's peak was not a great time for my club - but watching him was always a pleasure, he was honestly a midfielder like very few others - a really very well balanced mix of fine technique, soft feet, strength and athleticism. He could break up play, break the lines and keep the ball. He won MANY midfield battles against players with bigger reputations. It's a great video about a great player TheRetroRoute - though I am not having the analogy about the vacuum cleaner/hoover near the end..... no domestic cleaning product had distribution like Dembele lol.
This channel is really one the best of the best
Always a pleasure to watch. Silk mixed with steel. Style and guile. Incredible player!!
Quality doc. Befitting tribute of Dembélé’s talent.
Thank you for recognizing this unique talent with such a fantastic personality. Moussa was the purest artistry of football you can ever watch.
Absoytop class player, loved watching him glide gracefully with the ball through midfield, opponents unable to get near him. Thank you Moussa 💙
Wonderful video and great background music.
Love this! Thank you
My friends use to say I played similar to Dembele. At the time I felt offended cause he was a spurs player lol, but now it is honestly one of the best compliments I have received in my life.
He was one of my favorite player and I wished Liverpool had signed him. Absolute beast of a player! He could have walked into any top club first eleven and be the best player on the team.
Im an arsenal fan but I always rated dembele, easily one of the most underated players in premier league history
An absolute gem of a player. Pure joy to watch.
Him running with the ball, using body feints, dummies and the technique of his feet to drop opponents is still jaw dropping to see.
Such an incredible player and he was so important to what Spurs did with Pochettino. Perhaps we could have gone on to win the CL or Premier League, or at least a cup if he had less injuries. So pleased you made this video as it is very well deserved.
Thanks a lot for this vid. I'm 54 and Mousa is my all-time favourite Spurs player 💙💙💙
Football is my passion since I'm a kid and Mousa will ALWAYS be the one. He was dancing on the pitch and he was such a joy to watch.
Ohhhh Mousa Dembélé 💙💙💙
Great video! I loved him as a spurs fan. It went down hill for us after he left, I was Absolutely gutted.
I'm a spurs fan and watched them week in week out. I can tell you for a fact, once he left our team that's when the problem started. Anyone understands that to be a top team you need a player like this. Hopefully bissouma can eventually fill his boots.
I am an Arsenal fan. I remember him playing against Arsenal whilst he was at Tottenham and every time he got hold of the ball, my heart would sink.
Spurs fan checking in, my favorite mid-fielder of the last 10 years. Amazing, no one could take the ball from him, so smooth, so much strength and determination.
"Unloading the ball at the perfect time, like a vacuum cleaner"
I constantly go checking for his highlights. His game had everything, an absolute baller. Injuries capped his high, but the streets will always remember!
Rn, Bellingham reminds me of him, but I don't think he has reached his level of using his body to block people out.
A really good Doc, shed a tear on his last injury man
We love you Moussa! Thank you for your commitment and magical presence! Happy retirement King ❤
I had the pleasure of seeing just one high level professional game in person in my life so far. It was Tottenham vs PSG in the pre season tour of the US back in 2017. One could just about imagine the star studded lineups both these teams had at the time. One guy really stood out for me amongst all the others on that day though. Dembele! He was just moving through midfield so effortlessly and some of the spins he pulled off to avoid tackles and maintain possession were simply spectacular. I recall Eriksen and Alderweireld scored some beauties that night, but for overall play I will always remember Dembele the most.
i'm so glad you're giving him his flowers man, the streets certainly won't forget
"relaxes everyone when in possession", that line sums up this brilliant Technician. Speaking as an Arsenal fan he's the only spurs player alone with Van der Vaart i enjoyed watching.
One of the most underrated player in that spurs peak era. And you know better what you have lost after years of failure of finding his replacement. The perfect match with technical and physical attributes as well as his professionalism and passion.
Hope there will be a better farewell for him. Such a pity he is not in the European championship final.
One of the most underrated player till yet ... Love u moussa
This guy deserved this video. Hopefully more people see now what a worldclass player he was. Still say with him we would have won the cl titel... unfortunately we had another guy with his talent and nearly the same name. Ndombele. But his mindset yeah....
Still and will ever miss you Moussa. It was a pleasure for me to watch you live in the stadium when I had the chance to fly from Switzerland to England (11 times exactly). Also it was always great how you bossed and had your greatest games against gooners 😁
One of the best dribblers I have seen in my life. Considering he was a mildfielder, that made him unique. So special and spectacular player.
Good video bro he's one of my fave YIDO
Look everyone TheRetroRoute is back!!!
Dembele is my favourite spurs player !! What a player !!! Simply amazing !! Dominant in midfield, press resistant, dribbles like a Brazilian mixed with the heart of a champion. Beast !!
In Many Football fan's eyes, he was not anything special, especially who Never played the game seriously. But for me & ones who play regularly week in week out realize how Vital footballer he was. It is Rare to have a guy with his Abilities, he Ticks Every Box for the role.
Block the pass, challenge the ball, bully the midfield battle, resist the pressure, get the ball back, drive the ball forward, set up the attack & long range thumping, He was Second to None at his Peak.
Imagine if he was playing for Barca or Madrid, He would've won Countless Trophies. The Lad was literally the World Best CM for Years but not many people felt that way.
He Really was the Teammates & Manager Dream. Thank you Moussa for Everything u've done on the pitch, It was a Super Joy to watch, indeed.
I remember this player he was very good , underrated, slipped under the radar at times, just by looking at his quality in belgium and the dutch league , in this video i could tell he was very complete, because he had recovery of the ball, he had positional awareness, he had build up , and a monster in dribbling too, which makes him almost never loose the ball, and come out nicely. The best players for me are always very technical, and have good handling. Technique always beats muscle, and brute force, in futbol and in general. And he had this. Its always nice to express the beautiful game with a lot of quality. Feel for the ball. Dribbling skills going forward that translate in spaces created , and danger for the rival, and have that technique and quality, be translated , to an authentic expression of my game, and also in goal scoring chances, and assits, thats what makes a person, the difference between a showboater, and some one that has mastery of the ball, and can translate that into being unstopabble, efficient, deadly, effective. Playing well is not bad, in the grassroots level youll have clueless managers telling you to just pass it , but the player who can dribble , and has polished technical ability, and can transform that in to goal scoring chances, spaces, and builld up and intentionality of play for your team, like the best in the world, should be allowed to express there game, and shine who they are, their game , and their technical ability because its what proves the hardest to defend for the rival teams. Technique always win, over brute force when theres work ethich that goes along with it, and theres nothing preventing a good technical player from working hard too, although if your good on the ball you need to run less because your so good no one can take it from you, and you can open up spaces and be direct and win games and be unstopabble. Technique , really does win in football, and its how the game is really played, in the parks, and everywhere, its an authentic expression of the game. Cheers , lads, its good to watch quality players, and keep that inner child inside, safe and playing and having fun, were worth it. :)
Even as a gooner I must bow to this midfield maestro. One of the most underrated ever.
bro goons 💀😭
I was just a Nigerian teenager so i was surrounded with people my age who only saw the strikers and dribblers in big teams. But not me. I really loved football that i was ready to sit and watch any team in any country or division or gender play, and every part of the game caught my eye, even defense, even goal keeping. And more significantly, I behaved like a scout and a coach and a true football fanatic because I had a habit of looking out for exceptional players in small teams and who weren't popular and i admired them and would watch them closely and tell my friends about them. But of course, my friends were only interested in Messi and Ronaldo and Neymar.
Well, that's actually how I discovered Mousa Dembele. I noticed him and got enough glimpse of his talent to be convinced he was a real talent, but I never was able to convince my friends to look his way . Now after about 6 years since I last heard of him, I finally came across this video today which further proves my claim that Dembele was an impressive and underrated talent!! Im happy
For sure one of the best I ever seen.
One of my favourite player of all time. Moussa was a beast; a treat to watch
One of the best in his position. Amazing at AZ where I noticed him since Ive followed the Eredivisie for multiple decades. One of the few guys who made the move from there to the Prem and managed to adjust. Like Suarez, Eriksen, Vertonghen. Always found it weird how un-hyped he was compared to some of the others.
What an absolute machine of a player!
Great vid. He was a CDM Maradona in terms of balance and body movement. One of those insane talents that is 100% natural and Spurs were lucky to have him.
I absolutely fell in love with his style of play just watching him play. It was really sad that he didn't have a long career at the top flight.
It really was a pleasure seeing Dembele play for us. Absolute baller! #coys
Dembele was on another level and only injuries stopped him from collecting more trophies that his career deserved. We sorely missed him due to injury in our Champions League final. Mousa is in the top 5 players of all time for me to have put on the spurs shirt. Legend.
dembele was a real hero for us at az and also for the spurs he was so good to watch even as a kid in the stadium i was amazed
he was always my fav Spurs player ...so safe in DM it was a dream! thnx Moussa
*Underrated CZcamsr*
thank you for giving him his MUCH DESERVED credit
Wow happy to see this atlast ...He was one of my favorites
among all of the good Dembeles. He's the first elite. Him and Lamela were very underrated
Incredible player😊 i always watch Tottenham matches because of this man , a magician in midfield . You will stay in my mind for your Magic football ✨
Jeez thank you, you reminded me of a fantastic footballer
Absolute magic. Sublime. No body did it better.
I feel sad for Belgium 2018 WC run. It really was a dream team! The likes of Hazard, KDB, Dembele, Courtois, Carrasco, Lukaku, Witsel and many more. They were pure ballers.