Different team, zero effectiveness, same Dembélé

Much ado about nothing.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
11 October 2023 Wednesday 11:29
8 Reads
Different team, zero effectiveness, same Dembélé

Much ado about nothing. This song is the one that has accompanied Ousmane Dembélé in most of his career. Especially since Barcelona paid 105 million to Borussia Dortmund for him in August 2017. He never got rid of that label at the Camp Nou, a period marked by his making wrong decisions on the field. One of the great criticisms of the fans is that it started many promising attacks but ended few of them. It seems he took that flaw with him in his suitcase to Paris.

New life, Dembélé himself. Changing shirts has not meant an improvement in the final meters. Either he has one dribble left, or he rushes into the shot or passes it when he has a good position. The song of the angry with the French striker.

The 26-year-old winger has played 9 games in his new colors (8 as a starter) between Ligue 1 and the Champions League and has yet to celebrate his first goal in a PSG shirt.

It didn't go any better with the French team in the previous FIFA date. He played a qualifying match against Ireland and a friendly against Germany and did not score either. Tomorrow, in Amsterdam, against the Netherlands, he will have another chance. Although his time with them does not stand out precisely for the big numbers and he has not scored for more than two years, since June 2021.

While he arrives, his last target remains Barça. It was in July at the Tour Classic in Dallas. Dembélé received a free-kick from Pedri and crossed with the right to Courtois to open the scoring.

Then, despite the rumor that his future would be at the Parc des Princes, Dembélé, who had always been an enigma, celebrated it like another culer. In the end, that was the last time he defended the Barça shield. The player exercised the escape clause contained in his last renewal. Barça paid 35 million and the striker pocketed 15 of PSG's 50 million. "I'm disappointed with him", lamented Xavi Hernández, who got wet from the first day. "Well trained, he can be the best in the world in his position", he assured.

In Paris he was presented with the number 23 on his back but he never played with that number. With the departure of Neymar (118 goals and 77 assists), he changed it to 10, the number of the crack. However, what PSG least thought was that he would be blocked next to his colleague Mbappé.

Dembélé is very confused in front of the goal. He has not yet scored in 675 minutes and has only distributed two assists: one to Gonçalo Ramos and another to Vitinha. Of his 18 shots, only five have gone on target and one hit the post. In France, it even seems to have lost its cool imbalance. In barely half of the dribbles attempted (40) he leaves his marker. The only one who is not anxious is Luis Enrique, his coach. "Ousmane is really top in everything he does. I am very satisfied with its performance. His statistics will improve", predicts his coach. Although in Barcelona this patience is almost running out.