Three years passed since Ousmane Dembele signed for FC Barcelona. However, people who will look at Dembouz would still look at him as a young prospect who needs to improve himself. But one of the most expensive transfers in history is already 23 years old. So that means that he has to prove himself once and for all. However, 2 main problems are preventing him from succeeding: One is his tendency to injuries, that I covered in this article a while back. The other is the behavioral problems of Dembele, as the media reports.
There are two types of “Culers” right now. One type are those who still believe in the French forward. Those think that the Media are ganging up on Dembele, who is an easy target for them as he doesn’t speak Spanish well. Therefore, he won’t battle against them. But Dembele will answer the media on the field, and he’ll finally ‘explode’ this season. Needless to say that they won’t consider any transfer offer for him, like the Man Utd one.
The second type of FC Barcelona fans think that Dembele had enough time to prove himself, and he didn’t. Those fans see his injuries as lack of professionalism, and would be happy with cashing in on him. Moreover, they say that even when fit, Dembele was far from proving himself in Blaugrana.
Media is Anti Dembele ?
For two years now we hear about the lack of professionalism of Ousmane Dembele. Although no one questions his talent, we hear about him running late to trainings. Just few days ago we heared that he was 15 minutes late to trainings. However, afterwards we learned that he wasn’t really late. It seems like Koeman orders the players to arrive 1 hour before trainings. However, arriving in less than 20 minutes after the pre-training meeting starts doesn’t even considered as arriving late. So is Dembele the only one to arrive late to teh meeting, or the only one the media reports?
Let’s not be naive. Dembele did have a problem of waking up to trainings. However, we know that he changes his ways more than a year ago. Furthermore, last year he started arriving early to trainings. Moreover, Koeman is the first coach who made a specific work program for him. That means that we might finally enjoy an injury free season. Hopefully Dembele will answer the media agenda on the field.
Of course that won’t happen if the club will convince him to leave. They might force him to do so in order to balance the books. Just like in the Arthur deal, here Dembele is also an easy target. The French earns an enormous salary that the club would be happy to save.
Is Dembele really a ‘Bad Boy’?
Well, Dembele did have problems in waking up after having an addiction to video games. However, is this the worst that can happen with a young player arriving to Barcelona? A video games geek is the worst thing to handle for our managment and club?
I mean, we’re talking about a club that knew some of the biggest ‘bad boys’ in the history of football. Players like Maradona, Romario, Stoichkov and Ronaldinho all had bigger behavioral problems. But the club knew how to handle them, and they did very well.
So, even if there is a problem with Dembele, it’s something that the club should handle, and not the media. But I honestly don’t see this as the biggest problem that we have. However, the club might find it easier to just force him out and balance the books, as this board is reaching its end.
In my opinion, the club didn’t do the things that they needed to do in order to help Dembele succeed. I don’t know if he will leave now, but I believe that his talent will explode eventually. Either if it’s in Barcelona or somewhere else, Dembele has what it takes to succeed.
The ‘Valverde Luna Park’
The time of Valverde in Barcelona was a bad time for the club and the players as well. Although the older players enjoyed his easy methods, for the younger players it was very bad. We all know that the team was in a very bad shape last season. And his easy ways of coaching affected the club both physically, and mentally.
Dembele isn’t the first player to suffer injuries while in Barcelona. Players like De Jong and Griezmann, who wasn’t prone to injuries, left the club injured for a while. And players like Dembele, Arthur and others looked out of shape. Just look at Coutinho, and the change he made in Bayern.
Dembele, as a young player, is naturally to check the boundaries of the team. And as we know, while Valverde was there, there were no boundaries.
Koeman looks different, and the players talk about his tough methods. He demands constant pressing while at games, and his workouts are there to build the team so that they can press hard for a longer periods.
Dembele himself finally has a personal trainer, as the club sees him as an asset, while fit. I would be happy with him staying, as I think that a proper plan can help him finally achieve his enormous potential.
Will Dembele leave? It seems like it depends on how much he will stay firm with his current ‘No’. Dembele already turned down Juventus and Liverpool. Will he turn down Manchester United as well? The next days will tell.
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