Following two excellent performances against Arsenal and Juventus in the space of three days last week, Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele has received plenty of deserved praise.The 30-year-old, who signed for Spurs from Fulham back in 2012 in a deal worth £15 million, bossed Arsenal in the north London derby and then starred in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw against Juve in the Champions League last Tuesday.Mauricio Pochettino’s men found themselves 2-0 down inside 10 minutes thanks to a Gonzalo Higuain brace but battled back to record a memorable draw, with Dembele producing a Man of the Match performance in central midfield.These superb displays caught the attention of some football fans who’d perhaps never previously regarded Dembele as one of the Premier League’s most gifted midfielders.Suddenly he was receiving the recognition that he deserves after years of going under the radar.
Barton embarrasses himself while talking about Dembele
Joey Barton also praised Dembele on talkSPORT this morning - but ended up making himself look very silly in the process.
The former Manchester City and Newcastle United midfielder, who is currently serving a ban from football for breaching betting rules, wondered how Paul Pogba was getting into the French team ahead of Dembele.
“He’s top drawer,” Barton said of Dembele. “A lot of things are levelled at him, like he doesn’t score enough goals - which I don’t think he does - but on the flip side of that is role in the team is the first receiver. I think he’s shown incredible composure.
“Not an international? Not capped by France?”
“Nope,” came the reply from talkSPORT presenter Alan Brazil, who was also clearly unaware that Dembele has 70 international caps for Belgium to his name.
Barton then asked: “Can he get in the French World Cup squad?”
“I don’t see why not,” Brazil added.
Barton continued: “He’s better than Pogba and Pogba’s probably going to get in!”
Barton then realised his epic gaffe
A few moments later, presumably once the show’s producer had a word in his ear, Barton said: “Oh, sorry, he’s Belgian, isn’t he? What am I on about?”
“Of course he is,” Brazil said. “There are so many Dembeles about now”.
Hmm.
“We’ll have all the Twitter space cadets on now, having a pop at us,” Barton said.
Only a few people heard it live
Well, Joey, you’ll be relieved to hear that only a few people picked up on your gaffe…
Listen: Barton on Dembele
Listen to the hilarious conversation between Barton and Brazil here…
Regardless of his mistake, Barton’s comment that Dembele is better than Pogba is sure to generate plenty of debate.
Is Barton right? Is Dembele better than Pogba? Have your say by leaving a comment below.