The last couple of matches, Moussa Dembele has looked ready. He has been hungry. He has worked hard. He has scored goals. He might not be playing to his potential at the moment, but he is playing again and he looks like a player enjoying his football.
That is crucial going into this game.
With Leigh Griffiths out, the only option would have been to play our other young French striker, Odsonne Edouard. This would not have been a deal-breaker. Moussa Dembele came in to the Sevco game and to say he was a success would be an understatement of epic proportions. Edouard is a player; that’s clear to anyone who’s watched him … but Moussa is well ahead in terms of his development.
That’s why Moussa is so important for us. His success in these fixtures last season set us up for the campaign as a whole. If he is in form we’ll win, it’s as simple as that.
Most players play on confidence. Strikers most of all. Moussa has dealt with a lot in the last twelve months, including almost endless transfer speculation. He has also suffered with injuries. 12 months ago, he got one at Hampden which haunted him from that moment to the midway point of this campaign. It was as if he never came all the way back from it.
His lengthy lay-off and the time it took him to get back up to speed very obviously affected his confidence. He and Brendan had an important heart to heart during the window, and that clearly made a difference to him. I watched him in the last two games and he covered every blade of grass, even popping up several times on his own goal-line.
“What the Hell is he doing there?” my old man asked at one point in the Aberdeen game, when Moussa had helped clear the defensive lines.
The answer was obvious; Moussa was playing his part in the team, even filling in at the back where need be. I like that attitude. The manager clearly does. This is what he wanted all of our players to do.
Moussa is showing his quality.
Not only was he back defending but most importantly he’s been creating and scoring goals. His confidence is back. His head is up. His work ethic is unquestioned. I would dearly love to see him play alongside Edouard on Sunday; that combination would be more than this rocky Sevco defence could handle.
This is the moment for the big man to grab this season by the scruff of the neck. The pretenders up front for Sevco will have to deal with our defenders; this is a chance for Moussa to dismantle theirs and show the watching world who the superior footballer is.
I’ve enjoyed watching him in the last few matches. He’s ready. He’s hungry. He wants to win and to score and be part of another treble winning side.
This game is his stage on which to shine. It’s nothing he hasn’t done brilliantly before.
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