Mousa Dembele: "This is the best Tottenham team I've played in"

Mousa Dembele has experienced a footballing renaissance this season under Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham Hotspur. Since working his way back into the squad, he has consistently impressed for Spurs this season, and has been equally adept in the pivot alongside Eric Dier, in the hole as a defensive #10, and even on the right wing. And he says it's no accident that he, and the squad, are as good as they are, calling this season's Spurs "the best team I've played in at Tottenham Hotspur."

"We are very strong as a team and there is a good atmosphere in the group," he added. "We're playing very much as a team, something we haven't done much in the past.

It is not one or two players playing well, the team is playing well and that allows for someone if they have an off day - it's a good thing.

Dele [Alli] is a very good, young player with a good mentality, but everyone is playing well as well. That helped me when I came back from injury because I came back into a team that was playing well. Dele is one of the main guys though, he is playing with confidence on the pitch and it's amazing. He will continue to make more steps and become more important.

The same applies for [Eric] Dier. This year the manager has put him in a different position and he's doing very well. He has a key role in our style of play; he is very disciplined and he is playing well."

Let's put that into perspective a little: remember that Mousa joined Tottenham Hotspur from Fulham in August, 2012, part of Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas' first transfer window that included Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jan Vertonghen, Emmanuel Adebayor, Hugo Lloris, and Clint Dempsey. He played with Gareth Bale and, for a little while, Rafael van der Vaart.

Consider also that this year's Spurs team is still the youngest in the Premier League and relies heavily on emerging talents like Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, and Erik Lamela. It's quite a statement coming from Mousa. And he's absolutely, completely, 100% not wrong.