Ousmane Dembele already generating doubts in Paris

No one doubts the technical quality of Ousmane Dembélé, but his performances in his first few games for PSG are starting to make some people in France impatient. The 26-year-old winger, who has already shown at Barça that he is capable of the best but also the worst, was one of those singled out by the French press in Luis Enrique’s side’s 3-2 defeat to Nice.

He has had minutes in the four matches that the Parisian side have played in Ligue 1, playing a total of 259 minutes on the pitch, but has not managed to participate in any action that ends in a goal. Neither assisting nor scoring. In the last match, against Nice, he once again showed one of his weaknesses: his decision making.

With the score at 0-1 down he wasted a one-on-one against the goalkeeper, resolving the play in the worst possible way. He opted to finish, ignoring the team-mate who was with him in transition, but the ball went completely over his head.

In addition, he completed only two of the seven dribbles he attempted, lost the ball 18 times, the most on the pitch, and had no shots on target at any time. He was replaced in the 67th minute by Bradley Barcola.

Ousmane Dembélé was not the only one criticised by the French press. Milan Skriniar and Gonçalo Ramos, other summer signings, were also singled out after a match in which the collective impression was very negative.

The under-performance he is putting in four days before hosting Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League is worrying PSG fans, who fear that the same thing will happen to him as at Barça and he will never fulfil his potential.

Capable of everything on the ball, unstoppable when inspired and lethal in one-on-ones, Dembélé also generates some doubts when all these elite player qualities go up in smoke when he does not have his day. For the moment, France are not ringing any alarm bells and are confident that it is just a case of a one-off lack of success.

The relationship he can build with Achraf Hakimi on the right flank is a great reason to be excited at the Parc des Princes. If he maintains his top level, PSG’s right flank will be one of the great arguments of the team coached by Luis Enrique. On the other hand, if they do not take a step forward, their attacking weapons will be very limited to the talent of Kylian Mbappé.