Ousmane Dembele: Flop or Future?
Part 1: The History
August 25th, 2017. When one of the most talented youngsters in football made his way onto the green grass of the Camp Nou at just the age of 20, aiming to replace the controversially departed Neymar. Dembele was what Barca needed, right? A quick player capable of holding his width and scoring goals. The boy could dribble with both feet, and past anyone on the green earth. But then the injuries came, keeping him out for 27 games that season. Why is this prodigy being put through hell? The Catalan newspapers responded quickly, and the other footballing publications caught on to the 20-year-old’s abhorrent punctuality, arriving up to hours late for training, his FIFA-filled lifestyle, his fast food and Coca-Cola consumption, and his bad family life. Hell, Ousmane Dembele was talking about his Football Manager save with his custom club Winchester FC while on a flight to Saint Petersburg for the World Cup semifinal against Belgium.
This clearly wasn’t the life of a professional footballer, but rather someone with little dedication to one of the biggest clubs in the world.
The 2018/2019 season was a weird one of sorts in Catalonia, with last season’s defeat to AS Roma causing particular uproar, with a 4:1 lead being discarded as you would discard a dirty towel after a workout. Messi’s promise to the Camp Nou faithful of “doing everything possible to bring this beautiful cup [the Champions League] home”, where he pledged to to the fans as the new captain of Barcelona, that every single player would give their 100% in the quest for the European Cup.
I’d argue that certain players broke that promise.
Ousmane Dembele was competing with another Brazilian who played on the left in Philippe Coutinho. The now world champion and 21-year-old Ousmane Dembele started making some changes to stay in Barcelona as rumors of an exit may have been starting to take shape. He started arriving very early at best, or on time at worst, to training. Trying to bulk up, and started looking like someone with motivation to play for this gargantuan footballing institution.
Dembele really started to take off, showcasing his talent and looked to form an attacking trident along with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. His time away from the surgeons and physical therapists helped him build an understanding within the team, allowing Dembele to fit into Valverde’s system. It looked as if Dembele was finally on his way to becoming Barcelona’s mainstay on the left.
Then, another injury, this time to his ankle. He missed 5 games, before going on to miss 4 games thanks to another injury, a torn muscle bundle. Did the hard work go to waste? Was there more that needed to be done? At this point, Coutinho got his chance to showcase why he was bought for upwards of 160 million euros. But this was an example of a flop. Messi and Suarez clearly trusted Coutinho, they both liked him, and Messi fed him a consistent supply of passes. But Coutinho just drifted aimlessly in the middle, making no use of a wide open left flank, just obstructing the spaces Messi operated in while Jordi Alba became the only man on the left. No overlap to be found there.
Barcelona, despite some of the problems, looked on course for a historic third continental treble. The semifinal was the last hurdle before Barcelona had to face either an injury ridden, lethargic, inconsistent Tottenham Hotspur side, or a young, inexperienced, Cinderella story Ajax side. The strongest two teams in the semifinals were facing each other as FC Barcelona and Liverpool FC, with the first leg at the Nou Camp. There, Barcelona paid for Liverpool’s abhorrent finishing and inability to keep their flanks defensively solid, with Jordi Alba especially connecting well with Lionel Messi, almost making us forget that there was a left winger on the team sheet in Coutinho, just drifting like a phantom and making no effort to effect the game. Luis Suarez, the former Liverpool man, drew first blood. Lionel Messi turned up with a performance of the highest quality, scoring Barcelona’s second goal and a free kick from 35 yards out to make it 3:0 to Barcelona. It looked as if Barcelona, who had already secured the La Liga title, would make the final past a Liverpool team still having to challenge for the Premier League title against an in reach and in form Manchester City, and a Liverpool team without right inside forward Mohamed Salah. Liverpool false nine Firmino would also be confirmed to miss the second leg at Anfield. Ousmane Dembele in added time had a one on one chance against Alisson to make Barcelona go 4:0 up into the second leg, but missed it. No matter, a 3 goal advantage should be sufficient. Ousmane Dembele, despite being able to connect well on the left flank and actually doing something in the game unlike Coutinho, was selected to start in the Celta Vigo game, a game with absolutely no meaning. This should be evident seeing as Kevin-Prince Boateng was starting against Celta Vigo. Ousmane Dembele got another injury that match, and was thus unavailable for selection for the second leg. Barcelona were now down to 10 men for the away leg.
We all know what happened then, and there’s no need to discuss it again.
Suarez and Coutinho missed one on one chances created by Messi that game, but the blame seemed to be more on Dembele for the chance in Barcelona for cules. Even though if Coutinho scored to outright level the game and to get an away goal for Barcelona, Liverpool’s momentum would’ve likely stopped and Barcelona might’ve achieved a treble. But no matter, it’s not suitable for the bias.
The summer was filled with rumors of Neymar returning to the Camp Nou, but those rumors ultimately didn’t come true. Coutinho, on the other hand, was dumped at Munich, likely to attract suitors this coming summer.
Dembele’s first injury of the season came after the first game of the season, a 1:0 loss against Athletic Bilbao at San Mames where Dembele was absolutely invisible. It was later revealed that Dembele hid information about some muscle discomfort he had.
This season, much like FC Barcelona’s season, has been lackluster for Dembele and has ended in, quite literally, more pain for him, and will be out till about August.
End of Part 1
