The beginning of a new story. Saturday evening, on the occasion of the draw conceded (1-1) by Paris Saint-Germain on the lawn of the Municipal Stadium in Toulouse, Ousmane Dembélé performed his first minutes in his new colors. Arrived from FC Barcelona during the summer, the French international (37 caps, 4 goals) unfortunately did not allow his team to win but his technical prowess has already delighted the Parisian supporters.
A remarkable entrance!
Substitute at kick-off, the 26-year-old Frenchman was finally launched by his coach a few minutes after returning from the locker room. Succeeding Fabian Ruiz and entering the game alongside an already decisive Kylian Mbappé, the native of Vernon was quick to stand out. Technically precise (6 dribbles out of 7 successful), Dembélé thus made the Toulouse defenders dizzy, distilling a few caviars in passing to his partners and coming very close to scoring his first goal with PSG.
Author of a new festival within the Toulouse rearguard, the former crack of Stade Rennais eliminated two direct opponents but completely missed his strike (76th). Despite these flashes and an ability to take the best in the duels (6/8), Dembélé could not prevent the equalizer of the Violets at the very end of the match. Frustrated at the final whistle, the one who also lost a few balls (11) thus evoked this great first with a bitter taste.
A lack of offensive realism…
“I think we had control of the game. We lost silly balls, which we shouldn’t have lost at 1-0 and the penalty comes from there. It’s still on the small details… I can score the second goal and at 2-0, the game is over. The referee was a little nice over the last ten minutes but it’s not his, it’s mostly us. It’s frustrating, we had control at 1-0, we took the ball quite easily into the box, coming back with a point is infuriating.thus regretted the interested party at the microphone of Canal +.
And for good reason. If his entry, combined with that of Kylian Mbappé, brought a certain breath of fresh air to the front of the attack of the Rouge et Bleu, the lack of efficiency in the opposing area, also present during the draw conceded against Lorient last weekend, remains one of the main areas for improvement. Present at the press conference, Luis Enrique preferred, for his part, to insist on the loss of control of his team, which was much more unbalanced in the second half. “In the second period, apart from the goal, we lost control, we didn’t play the ball well enough”declared in particular the former coach of La Roja before clarifying his point.
A balance to be found…
“We started to be less good on transitions (…) Yes, we lacked control, especially at 1-0. The goal is not to go from one goal to another, that’s not what I’m asking. The two or three chances we had, we were unlucky and we conceded a penalty. The team is still far from what I want, especially offensively. We will continue (…) If we want a competitive team in the league and in the Champions League, we cannot do that”. A strong message sent by the new architect of PSG, always looking for the right formula, especially in the offensive sector.
It therefore remains to be seen whether Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé will continue to be associated in the coming weeks. Asked about this, Luis Enrique also gave a first clue. “They are two world-class players, out of balance. They generated chances. It is a joy to have them. The rest I reserve for my players. Knowing if I put them in or not, if I put one and not the other, what I tell them… that’s my business”. Facing RC Lens, next Saturday, the two French stars will apply, anyway, for a starting place. The opportunity for them to improve their understanding, to create the necessary automatisms with the rest of the workforce and thus definitely delight Luis Enrique and the Parisian supporters…