Dembele calls out selfish play after PSG's Rennes defeat, urging teammates to prioritize the club over individual ambitions to reclaim winning form.
After PSG's unexpected defeat at Rennes, Ousmane Dembele did not mince words in his interview with Ligue 1+, pointing to individualistic behaviors that hurt the collective.
Ousmane, not necessarily the return you expected here, the hometown kid, outplayed by this Rennes team today — how do you explain it?
"Yes, that's it. We started the match very poorly. After that, Rennes, I think, also played a very good match, and then, I think, we need to show more desire. Above all, we need to play for Paris Saint-Germain to win matches. Because if we each play for ourselves on the field, it's not going to work. We won't win the titles we want. Last season, we put the club Paris Saint-Germain first before thinking about ourselves. And I think we need to find that again, especially in these kinds of matches. We know we're in the second part of the season, and it's Paris Saint-Germain that must come first, not individuals."
Editor's note: Given his reactions during the match, Ousmane Dembele seems quite clearly to be targeting Desire Doue.
Could there have been a letdown effect after that very nice victory in the Classique last Sunday?
"No, no, no. As I said, we need to play for the club first instead of thinking about ourselves. And I also think Rennes played a very good match. They were out for revenge, and they deserve their victory."
Deployed as a striker and dropping deep far less than he did at certain periods of the season, he was inevitably more dependent on his teammates, and that was possibly unfortunate because it was as a passer that Dembele was most interesting — as seen in his setup for Doue or in several of his crosses that posed danger.
In front of the goal, he did find the net at the end, but also had plenty of waste. It should be noted that he was always quick to press, but rarely to counter-press, giving up too quickly whenever he lost the ball.
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