Click, maturity, regularity... A look back at Ousmane Dembélé's metamorphosis

• Author of an almost perfect start to the World Cup, Ousmane Dembélé has become an essential part of Didier Deschamps' team in Qatar.

• His story in Blue has not always been idyllic, however, like what he has experienced since his arrival at Barça, due to a sometimes questionable lifestyle.

• Spared by injuries and more professional on a daily basis, the player seems to have resumed the thread of a career that had been predicted to be brilliant for him for years.

From our Special Envoy in Doha,

That's it, the day of glory has (finally) arrived.

Not the one where we lift the World Cup, no, that will require a little more patience, but the one where we put the inimitable Ousmane Dembélé in the spotlight.

To tell you the truth, it has been tickling us for a while.

And if some in the sports department of

were able to doubt him - let us quote for example, without naming its author, this blasphemy launched after the first victory of the Blues against Australia, "Yeah, be careful, I regularly watch the Barça and one out of two matches he misses” – we dare to believe that today he is sitting alongside us on the Dembouz Mania train.

His former coach at Stade Rennais Philippe Montanier is part of it: "He started this World Cup extremely well in the qualities that are his: percussion, combined play, on the right, on the left, as he is also on the comfortable with one foot than the other.

He participated in energizing the attack of the France team.

We really feel that he is in good spirits.

Starting out against these same Socceroos four years ago in Russia, the young Ousmane had missed his match and Deschamps had never put him back in his starting lineup.

Asked about this at a press conference, a week after the arrival of the Blues in Doha, the player has not forgotten.

“In 2018, I missed my first game and it cost me my place.

I am ambitious today, I want to start games, score, score.

I want to be a protagonist of this World Cup.

“We know that the environment of a World Cup is impacting from an emotional point of view, and the first match is all the more so, we saw it again with the novices against Tunisia, analyzes the TFC coach.

You have to tame that and I think that this experience of 2018 was enriching from this point of view for Ousmane, it served him.

»

At Barça, ups and many downs

From there to say that it was a trigger, no.

Because between the summer of 2018 and this one, it's nothing to say that Dembouz's career looked more like a roller coaster than a zipline in the Just Price (old people will understand, young people will google).

Steeped in talent from a very young age, like Kylian Mbappé, he did not experience the upward and straight trajectory that his two crazy seasons in Dortmund foreshadowed.

His arrival at Barça, accompanied by its share of pressure after the departure of a Neymar whom he was supposed to replace at short notice, coincided with the start of the trouble. 

Cascading delays, misconduct, questionable lifestyle, Dembélé failed to avoid the pitfalls of stardom.

“I didn't have hygiene in the sense that we understand it either, he tempered the other day with a smile.

It was not the party, what!

".

Two years ago, Laurent Huard, his former coach with the Stade Rennais CFA2, nevertheless compared Ousmane's life with that of “a young student who leaves the family home and who does his first bullshit.

“The party, what!

Philippe Montanier makes the comparison with Mbappé, microphone in hand, Tonton David style: “To each his own, he explains.

Like Kylian, he was a very early talent, but perhaps the stages came too quickly for him, from Rennes to Dortmund, from Dortmund to Barça.

I am part of the older generation that saw Zidane hatch in Cannes, grow up in Bordeaux, reveal himself at Juventus and dominate at Real.

Now, the youngsters are so precocious that they sometimes skip the stages, which can sometimes slow them down in their progress, and that is perhaps what could have happened to Ousmane.

“Not to mention his entourage, not always good advice in recent years.

“The footballers' environment is decisive,” continues the Toulouse coach.

These are kids who quickly become multimillionaires, it is not always easy not to freak out, theorizes his former coach in Brittany.

The environment is important for having a certain emotional stability.

We know that invisible preparation, food, sleep, recovery, is essential in the performance of players if we want to succeed at a very, very high level.

“And avoiding injuries, which has been the red thread of Dembélé’s career since his arrival at Barça.

Conscious that he spins a bad sheep and that he can definitively switch to the dark side of the force, the guy takes himself in hand.

According to

, it was in November 2019, during a stay at the Apsetar Clinic in Doha, that something clicked.

Better athletic prep work

His body is a machine of precision and high-level football a sport that requires a bit of effort.

This is the famous invisible preparation mentioned by Philippe Montanier.

Accompanied for two and a half years by a physical trainer and a physiotherapist in permanent contact with the Barça staff, Dembélé is now doing what is necessary to prevent the slightest injury.

Stupid things but which make the difference, such as the establishment of a very precise protocol before and after the match and followed to the letter by the player.

Since November 2021, he has not experienced the slightest physical glitch when, until then, he had 698 days of absence (!) since his transfer to Barça in 2017. What to feel free in his head and in His legs.

“When he is in full possession of his physical means, he is an exceptional player, supports Montanier.

Today it is an essential part of the eleven of Didier Deschamps.

What I always liked about him was that he was a player who was able to achieve individual feats but who was also very altruistic.

His great strength is to feel when it is necessary to make the difference on his own and when it is better to serve a partner.

He feels that perfectly and it is not given to everyone.

»

Launched on the subject at the start of the World Cup, Jérôme Rothen is a gambler's baba.

“When he plays like that, he is just magnificent.

For me, we can speak of a footballing genius, he knows how to do everything.

We can put him on the same level as Kylian Mbappé in terms of pure talent.

»

🇬🇧 ☄ Even if he still doesn't know what his strong foot is, Ousmane Dembélé's left leg is doing very well.

Thank you for her.

pic.twitter.com/jtxAzkT7jb

– RMC Sport (@RMCsport) December 2, 2022

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“I watch him as a spectator”, admits Fofana

In training as in matches, Dembouz also amazes the newcomers to the France group.

"I knew his qualities, I saw him on TV, but I didn't know him personally.

From the first training, I can tell you that his hooks, well… It's true!

“Laughed the Monegasque in conf a few days ago.

Same impression on the side of Youssouf Fofana: “On the ground, it is really very impressive: you never know if he will go right or left, you never know where to take him or what to do.

We just know not to let it pick up speed otherwise it's too late.

I watch him as a spectator.

A few weeks ago, Xavi said of him that he was "perhaps the best player in the world in his position".

Just that.

Not to mention that since the start of the World Cup, Dembélé has not been reluctant to defensive efforts, a necessary condition to be part of Deschamps' team.

Tchouaméni after the victory against Denmark: “There were times when he recovered the ball, when he tackled, I said to myself ''ha yeah!''.

I watch Barça matches, frankly he doesn't defend as much (laughs)!

Today, with the volume of play he has, he impresses us”.

Gallbladder breaker, generous in effort, good comrade and group atmosphere, Dembouz no longer seems to have the slightest fault today.

Ha yes, he is afraid of cats, Randal Kolo Muani taught us.

A defect which should not have an impact on his performance on Sunday, Polish mirror cabinets not being a priori known for their feline side.

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• World Cup 2022

• Soccer

• Sport

• France football team

• Ousmane Dembele