Fulham fans are renowned for their appreciation of a player blessed with superior technical ability. A talent that possesses the skill set to enrapture and enthral the Cottage faithful. One player who has shown glimpses of such rare qualities in recent times is Belgium international striker, Mousa Dembele.
Whilst his inaugural season in SW6 was blighted by injuries, Dembele produced several performances over the course of last season which earmarked him as a special talent. His Goal of the Season effort against Spurs in the FA Cup showcased his exceptional close control, speed, strength and ability to deliver a clinical finish.
Listening to Dembele speak about his passion for football, it is evident that the striker’s talent has been honed by an almost obsessive love for the game, which saw him spend every waking moment as a youngster living and breathing football.
“When I was young I played a lot of football inside my parents’ house,” Mousa explained. “Every minute of the day I was playing inside. My mum bought me a lot of different types of balls, even tennis balls and foam balls. So I learned to play with different kind of balls in a small area. A lot was broken in the house but my mother was not angry with me. She knew how much I liked football.
“When I reached the age of 12 I started playing on the street with my friends. We went to different areas with small basketball courts. We’d play small games of three versus three and it was good for my close control and skills.
“That helped me a lot and I was in love the ball. Every day I was playing football, anywhere I could. At six or seven years old I played mini-football competitions which improved my skills.
“Sometimes at the weekend, when all I wanted to do was play football, I would play all night. A lot of the time I’d wake up and play football straight away, before breakfast and before I went to school. Then at school I’d play football all day, every day.
“Sometimes I’d say to my mother, ‘Don’t pick me up early, leave me at school so I can play more football’. Then once my mother picked me up I’d go home and play football in the house.
“Even now, if I see a ball, I have to play with it! You can see the technical players on the pitch who love playing with the ball. You can see the difference.”
It is no surprise to hear Dembele’s favourite player is Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, but it is not just the Argentinean’s mesmerising skills he admires, but his pure love of the game that shines through in the manner in which he conducts himself, on and off the pitch.
“Everybody loves Messi and it’s easy to explain why,” said Dembele. “He’s still a kid who loves the game. I’m sure when he goes home, if he sees a football, he will play.
“You can have money and this and that, but he just loves the game. Messi is not playing football for the fame or to be in magazines. He just loves football and he’s always enjoying the game - I like that about him.”
Fulham will kick-off the 2011/12 season against Aston Villa at the Cottage on Saturday afternoon, in what will be Martin Jol’s first Barclays Premier League match at the helm. Dembele has clearly enjoying working with the Dutchman in training, revealing that the Manager has paid specific attention to adding more goals to his game this season.
“For me personally, Martin knows me already and he talks to me a lot,” said Dembele. “He will say, ‘Mousa, you’re a good player and I like you a lot, but goals, goals, goals.’ If I’m on the pitch he will say to me, ‘Mousa, you can shoot from here. Try to do this.’
“He [Jol] always gives me advice and I like that he talks to me a lot to help me improve. I want to score a lot more goals now but I’m not a player like Didier Drogba who will score 35 goals in a season.
“My aim is to score more and then I’ll be more important to the team. At the end of last season it [scoring] was at the forefront of my mind and I feel like I’m improving. I’m always thinking about scoring in training now.”
Just how high Fulham’s stock has risen in recent years is highlighted by the ambitions of those within the Club and the perception of those within the football industry. Dembele is confident Fulham’s settled squad can beat last season’s eighth place finish this year and secure their status amongst the higher echelons of the Barclays Premier League.
“We finished eighth last season and if we can win a few more I’m confident we can finish higher. We [the players] know each other very well and I think we can have a very good season this year. We had a lot of bad luck with injuries last season and so many draws.
“When other footballers talk about our Club they say we are a good team that plays good football. It’s important to make sure the defence remains strong but we’ve got a smart manager.
“I think we’re capable of top seven [this season]. We don’t have to adapt because the squad is the same and we can make a good start and do better than last season.”
Fulham fans will be hoping Dembele remains injury free this season for his undoubted talents to benefit the team on a more regular basis. Despite being on the receiving end of some heavy challenges last season, none more so than against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium, Dembele’s love of the English game has only grown stronger after living the Premier League experience with Fulham.
“I like the Premier League very much and I’m very happy here," Dembele explained. “You never have a game where you say, ‘I don’t want to play against them’. You don’t have that in England.
“Every team is a big team with great supporters, nice pitches and fantastic stadiums. Sometimes when you go to a lot of countries and you see the pitch, you can’t do anything. There’s a love for football in England.
“Of course I like to entertain, that’s my style of football. It’s not that I think, ‘today I’m going to entertain everyone’. It’s just the way I play football. It’s automatic that I entertain and I’m going in the same direction as the supporters because they, and I, love football.”
