Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele is the engine that makes Mauricio Pochettino’s side tick and he rightly took the headlines after the club’s thrilling last-16 Champions League first-leg tie with Juventus on Tuesday.
The north London side made a disastrous start to the contest in Turin when they fell 2-0 down but responded magnificently and were driven forward through the pace, power and awareness of Dembele to head back to Wembley with the score level at 2-2.
Denmark international Christian Eriksen followed up Harry Kane’s first half strike but the Belgian midfielder showed he is producing his finest form in a Spurs shirt currently.
Speaking as a pundit on BT Sport after the 2-2 draw, Steven Gerrard could not hold back how impressive Dembele was in his eyes.
‘I thought (Mousa) Dembele’s performance was magnificent,’ he began. ‘I can’t remember him putting in a performance like that on that stage. I thought he was terrific all night.’
And for fellow pundit Rio Ferdinand, Dembele’s performance was evidence to critics that he is a better dictator of a game than any other player at the elite level.
‘Dembele was a player who people were looking at and saying he doesn’t create enough, he doesn’t do this, he doesn’t score,’ Ferdinand said.
‘He’s been withdrawn in that midfield to dictate the tempo of a game and he is doing that better than anyone at the moment.’
Dembele was Tottenham’s dictator; he touched it more than any other player in yellow and purple and was more accurate to further demonstrate his qualities.
A stand-out against Arsenal in the north London derby, Dembele has become indispensable in Tottenham’s midfield and will be crucial should they advance to the later rounds of this season’s competition.
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