Mousa Dembele needs to remain a substitute at Tottenham

Mauricio Pochettino made several questionable tactical decisions at Watford, but starting Mousa Dembele was the worst of the bunch.

There was a time when Mousa Dembele deserved to start every match at Tottenham. Unfortunately, those days are gone. Mauricio Pochettino should use the Belgian midfielder almost exclusively as a substitute for the rest of the player’s time at Spurs.

In fairness to Pochettino, Dembele put in an excellent shift when he was handed a start against Manchester United. His performance at Old Trafford tempted the Argentine manager into handing him another start at Watford. That proved to be a fatal mistake for Spurs.

Dembele was almost the worst player on the pitch for his team against the Hornets. He can thank Ben Davies for narrowly outpacing him for the least valuable player in the match. Dembele’s inability to give Spurs a hold in the midfield likely cost them the match.

The poor performance wasn’t completely Dembele’s fault though. At his age, his body simply won’t allow him to play 180 plus minutes of football in one week. Pochettino should have known better than to hand him a second consecutive start. The decision was particularly strange given the options available on the bench.

Spurs could have easily gone with Eric Dier instead. Theoretically, Pochettino wanted to give him some rest after his World Cup work for England, but this wasn’t the right time. The way Dier’s played this season made it rather obvious he was the right choice to start in the match.

Harry Winks and Victor Wanyama were both available. Both midfielders are recovering from injury, but the fact that they were in the squad means they were fit enough to play. At the very least, they could have been used as early substitutes in the second half.

The important thing for Tottenham now is to make sure they don’t rely on Dembele too much moving forward. He should only be used as a second half substitute who can help Spurs see off matches. Barring significant injury, he shouldn’t be expected to start very many matches moving forward. Pochettino might hand him a start here or there to fit his tactics against a specific opponent, but he can’t be counted on as a regular member of the starting XI.

Fortunately, when Dier and Wanyama are both fit that shouldn’t be a temptation for Pochettino. Each player is capable of excelling in the double-pivot or a more conventional midfield. Dier, in particular, can go box-to-box when called upon.

Expect Pochettino to have learned his lesson about Dembele. The talented Belgian is a useful squad player, but he’s not a starter any longer.