Ousmane Dembélé, Paris Saint-Germain’s 27-year-old striker, played just 20 minutes in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Nantes (Ligue 1, matchday 13). His lacklustre start prompted L’Equipe to suggest that the relationship between the French international and coach Luis Enrique had been severely weakened.
“Dembélé, who had intended to take up the role of number one attacking player this summer, did not understand his coach’s firm stance two days before the Arsenal match.
“Dembélé, who intended to take up the mantle of number 1 attacking element this summer, didn’t understand his coach’s firmness two days before the Arsenal match from which he had been deprived.
Why punish him when other players had been late this season? A treatment that the striker, well aware of the negative consequences of his expulsion on Tuesday, has not digested.
In private, over the past few months, the former Rennes player has not been able to hide his misunderstanding of Luis Enrique’s style of play. With a feeling of producing stereotyped, highly predictable soccer.
I think he lost him’.
The question of the relationship between the two men is being raised more than ever. ‘I think he’s lost it’, breathed a good connoisseur of the dressing room in recent hours.”
It’s a classic, and we’re pretty sure we said it the last time it happened this season: after a poor performance in the Champions League (1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich) and Ligue 1, nothing is going right. PSG is heading straight for the wall all season long. So you “have” to take a negative element and turn it into a catastrophe.
In Dembélé’s case, there’s no doubt that there’s discontent. Both from the player and the coach. The former can’t be happy about having been sanctioned during the season, or about not playing much yesterday (beware, it could also be fatigue). The latter doesn’t make his choices at random. He has punished bad behavior and must choose players according to what they bring to the team.
If a player isn’t satisfied, it’s up to him to fight for playing time. Dembélé needs to have the right reaction. But these are situations that happen at every club without any drama. It’s part of the life of the group. It’s a pity to want to make a business out of so little.
It’s a pity to try and make such a big deal out of such a little thing, and to take advantage of the opportunity to criticise Luis Enrique’s play, which is something the media are used to doing, given the lack of goals. Let’s leave aside the fact that the opportunities to score are there.
