Jeanuël Belocian (20-year-old French central defender), Désiré Doué’s former team-mate at Rennes, spoke to L’Equipe about the young French star. Now with Leverkusen, he explained what made the difference for the now French international.
Jeanuël Belocian: “He’s someone who likes to hurt himself to get what he wants”
“In duels, in addition to his great creativity and speed on the first touch, it’s difficult to take the ball from him because he’s powerful in both upper and lower body. He has quite a lot of body mass, which makes him explosive.
Over the last few years, he’s been very professional in the way he’s developed – in the gym, in his diet, in his rest. This explains the physical qualities he has and makes him very strong today. He’s a person who likes to hurt himself to get what he wants.”
Indeed, that’s what’s coming across more and more with this player: hard work, rigour and team spirit. Barely snatched from Bayern Munich, he has gradually built up his game since the start of the season. Some have been easy to criticize in the midst of his adaptation period, but he has worked hard to become a key player for PSG.
Talent has helped, of course, but we must never forget the importance of hard work and seriousness on a daily basis. That’s the only way a player can make a difference at the highest level. Let’s hope Doué can continue in this vein. Even if there are bound to be more complicated periods. That’s normal, and we need to keep calm and think about what’s next.
