Frank Lampard has spoken the truth about Mousa Dembele’s career development

GiveMeSport

scores

By Rob Swan

Published Mar 7, 2018

Lampard has given his honest assessment about the Belgian midfielder…

Tottenham and Juventus go head-to-head again this evening, three weeks after their pulsating Champions League last 16 first leg in Turin.

Juve stormed into a 2-0 lead at their home stadium inside the opening 10 minutes thanks to a Gonzalo Higuain brace; however, Spurs pulled a goal back 10 minutes before half-time through Harry Kane, who steered the ball home after rounding Gianluigi Buffon.

Higuain then missed a penalty - and the chance to complete his hat-trick - on the stroke of half-time and was punished for his profligacy in the second half by Christian Eriksen, whose free-kick found a way past the 40-year-old Buffon, making it 2-2 on the night.

Spurs were deservedly praised for their impressive comeback but it was the performance of Mousa Dembele which really stood out.

The Belgian midfielder produced a magnificent individual performance alongside Eric Dier in central midfield, beating opponents with ease, instigating attacks and protecting his back four.

Lampard: Dembele used to lack end product

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard, writing in the London Evening Standard, can’t wait to see the fit-again Blaise Matuidi go up against Dembele at Wembley tonight.

The 39-year-old, who now works as a pundit for BT Sport, admits he wasn’t sure what sort of player Dembele was when he played against the Belgium international.

“It will be great to see him battle it out with Mousa Dembele in the middle of the pitch,” Lampard said. “I played against Dembele when he was at Fulham and in his early days at Tottenham. I wasn’t quite sure what kind of player he was back then.

“He was playing in a more advanced role. He could beat you left and right but there was no massive end product to justify being so far up the pitch.”

'But now he's the complete midfielder'

However, Lampard believes Dembele has improved significantly in recent years and is now worthy of being called ‘a complete central midfielder’.

“Now he has adapted his game to play deeper and still uses his ability to dribble past people. Not many midfielders can do that,” he added.

“I always thought it was risky in that position, I liked the ball to move, but he’s different. He can commit and beat somebody, which opens up the whole game.

“So he has something extra and he is also very strong in the tackle. He is a complete central midfielder.”