Youri Djorkaeff, former Paris Saint-Germain player, spoke to Le Parisien about 27-year-old Ousmane Dembélé, who is in great form and has taken on a dimension that nobody thought possible. He assures us that all the decisions he makes are linked to the needs of the team.
Djorkaeff “Dembélé, like all his team-mates, plays in a very free spirit”
“What I like is that all his information and decisions are taken in osmosis with the group and the coach. Dembélé, like all his team-mates, plays with great freedom. If he has to try something, he tries it. If he has to shoot, he shoots. If he has to pass, he passes.
You can feel the coach’s confidence behind him. What really pleases me about Dembélé, Barcola, Doué and the others is that they all want to take the ball. Even in difficult moments. When Paris was 2-0 down to City at the Parc, we saw players coming to take the ball.”
This year’s PSG has certainly taken things in a different direction. There’s no longer this desire to perform for oneself, but a shared desire to perform for the needs of the team. This means we can pass the ball to the best-placed players, try without being reprimanded, and move forward together.
Our confidence is total, but we’ll need to keep it that way until the end of the season. Dembélé, the most experienced attacker, has become a guide for the youngsters, who are also performing well. There’s plenty of scope for a great end to the season to make history and not leave this great start to the season, so far, unfinished.
