Ousmane Dembélé, enigmatic executive by default in the French team

The most capped player of this gathering (52 caps), the 27-year-old winger has never managed to establish himself as an indisputable starter with the Blues, who face Belgium on Monday.

“It made me really funny”. No Kylian Mbappé, nor Antoine Griezmann or N’Golo Kanté… Despite his 27 years, Ousmane Dembélé found himself in the shoes of the most experienced player in the France team at the start of this gathering in the month of ‘october. At the microphone of TF1 on the eve of Belgium-France, Monday October 14 (at 8:45 p.m.), the latter remained true to himself, giving way to this characteristic lightness, until now communicative and perhaps soon tense.

Starting against Israel on Friday, it is not guaranteed that he will still be against Belgium on Monday for the 4th day of the League of Nations. The Parisian symbolically recovered the number 7 of the newly retired Antoine Griezmann, his “favorite number”, but does not claim the responsibilities of the ex-vice-captain. “There are a lot of leaders in this locker room, everyone knows what it is to be a leader”evacuated Ousmane Dembélé in Téléfoot, when he was asked if he intended to gain greater weight in the group.

The winger that his coach at PSG, Luis Enrique, considers to be “the most unbalanced player in the world”is no longer a young leader. In the selection since 2016, “Dembouz” has benefited from considerable playing time, but he is still struggling to establish himself sustainably as an essential figure in Didier Deschamps’ starting lineup. Last summer, the coach, for example, demoted him to the bench in the middle of the Euro during the round of 16 (then the quarter-final).

The French team is in a “transition phase” recognized Didier Deschamps after the success against Israel (4-1). Who says “transition”, says tests and potential adjustments in the starting lineup. In attack, the options are numerous. Captain, Kylian Mbappé is the only one who is sure to see his name on the match sheet. Randal Kolo Muani is rather satisfactory at the forefront of the attack. So for the moment only one place remains in the attacking trio, on the right, and several applicants: Dembélé, Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola, Christopher Nkunku and to a lesser extent Kingsley Coman or even Marcus Thuram.

If we look at pure statistics, Ousmane Dembélé clearly has something to worry about. In 52 caps, he has only scored six goals (as many as the much-maligned Kolo Muani in 24 appearances) and only two in his last 28 international matches. In major competition (World Cup + Euro), it’s even worse, with zero goals in 18 matches. Since 2000, no offensive player has done worse in the French team. Since the start of the Deschamps era in 2012, only two players (all positions combined) have played more matches in these tournaments without ever scoring: a goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris (28), and a defensive midfielder, N’Golo Kanté ( 21).

Beyond the goals, his creativity is also at half mast. The one who has four assists in his first seven Ligue 1 matches with PSG this season, remains on a drought of 20 matches in the selection, having not delivered any since the 2022 World Cup. Ousmane Dembélé does not owe his remaining in the selection almost only because of his performances at club, where Luis Enrique has just sanctioned him by leaving him out of the group against Arsenal in the Champions League.

The person concerned does not show the slightest sign of concern. “Ousmane, there is nothing that affects him, everything is fine for him. He is an exceptional player and very important in our system. He initiates a lot of actions. This type of player will achieve a lot of things and maybe miss others but that’s normal, that’s the game.”defended Aurélien Tchouameni in the middle of the Euro. At a time when criticism of the quality of the Blues’ game is increasing, the urgency is nevertheless very present.