When Moussa Dembele first strode into London in August 2010, he came with a reputation of being a great dribbler. Six years later, that reputation has only been enhanced following his performances for two clubs in London – Fulham and then Tottenham.
A dribble in football is defined as an action where a player directly ‘takes on’ and ‘beats’ an opponent, without conceding possession to the opponent.
Dembele dribbles for fun and this was on show in his only appearance for Belgium in the European Championships this summer - a 3-0 victory against the Republic of Ireland –where he completed all four of his attempted take ons.
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In Tottenham’s 2-2 draw against Sunderland, Didier N’Dong did something that not a lot of players in the Premier League have done – he dispossessed Moussa Dembele.
Since March 2016, no opposition player has managed to dispossess and steal the ball away from Dembele when he has gone on his mazy dribbles, until N’Dong achieved this feat at the Stadium Of Light.
In fact, only eight Premier League players have managed to take the ball off the feet of Dembele since the start of 2015/16.
Those players being the aforementioned Didier Ndong, Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey, West Bromwich Albion defender Allan Nyom (back when he was at Watford), West Ham stalwart Mark Noble, Everton defender Bryan Oviedo, Leicester’s Marc Albrighton, and Jeff Schlupp, and Chelsea youngster Marco Van Ginkel (while at Stoke City).
This impressive feat of 31 consecutive successful dribbles began in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal last season.
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Tottenham boss Mauricio Pocchetino will surely be hoping that Dembele goes on another such run, aiding his team mates in their attempt to propel Spurs to heights even greater than what they achieved last season.
With the news that Harry Kane is out for the next two months with ankle ligament damage, there will be more onus on Dembele and his team-mates to take up the responsibility.
Spurs welcome Gillingham today to White Hart Lane in their EFL cup clash and face away trips to Middlesbrough and CSKA Moscow – in a short period of 3 days – in their next two games.
