muttley
Alert Team
He may move it quicker than Dembele but to my eye it generally goes straight back to the defender. Dembele could shield the ball no matter how tightly marked and he had the ability to turn and beat his opponent and turn defence into attack. He always offered an out ball to our defenders when under pressure and they could pass to him without fear of it coming back.
Nonetheless a role slightly further forward seems to bring the best out of Winks. He's definitely not a defensive CM. It will be interesting to see how or if Poch can find a role that maximises his strengths.
I actually don't think Dembele would have succeeded in what Poch has asked Winks to do either in this early season setup. Guys like Dembele and Winks work best in pairs. The departure from the 4-2-3-1 hasn't been a good one for Winks. It's made him the sole DCM in our setup and others like Sissoko just won't cover in for him if he does drive forward.