Mousa steps up
Mousa Dembelé believes he will get better and better after completing his first 90 minutes of the season against Manchester United.
The Belgian international had featured off the bench in our wins over Newcastle United and Fulham before playing the entirety of Monday’s fine 3-0 win at Old Trafford.
It was Mousa’s first 90 minutes for us since our 2-1 win over Stoke City back in April so to play the whole game was massive for our number 19.
“I was okay,” Mousa reflected on his performance against Manchester United. “In the first half we didn’t keep the ball very well so I was doing a lot more work off the ball, a lot of running, so the first half was a bit difficult.
“In the second half I think we played much better as a team and I coped better.
“It’s no excuse, but it’s been a long time since I had 90 minutes, about three or four months. I've had two 90 minutes against England in the World Cup. I’m just happy to have 90 minutes and I know I’m going to get better and better, my fitness will come back.”
Video special! Watch Mousa Dembele doing what he does best - gliding through the midfield!
Following his exploits at the World Cup, Mousa was given time to recover ahead of the new season with eight team-mates who reached the semi-finals in Russia.
He feels the extended break has been a great benefit to the squad. “Last year was a big season for us, we played a lot of games, we worked hard and I’m very happy that the manager and the staff gave us three weeks – I’m very happy with that, I had enough time to come back motivated and I think maybe if we hadn’t had that much time I’d have struggled a bit more," he said.
“As a team you can see that everyone is happy, the technical staff gave us the confidence and a lot of us did a bit to keep fit, so it was a mutual benefit – they gave us the time off and we didn’t take advantage of it, we came back fit and with clear minds and so I’m very happy about this decision.”
The energy of the squad was clear to see in the second half against United as we took control of the game but Mousa believes that Mauricio Pochettino’s words at half-time were the key to giving us the edge.
“We spoke at half-time and said ‘this has to be our game’ because we knew we hadn’t played our best,” he added.
“The mentality was different and the gaffer always speaks very detailed on what we can improve. We’re going to keep discussing this as a team.”