Teamwork brings out the best in stars, Vieira’s lesson for Dembélé | OneFootball

On Téléfoot, Patrick Vieira (49 years old), former international and coach, linked the flourishing of Ousmane Dembélé (28 years old), Paris Saint-Germain forward, to the strength of the Parisian collective. The idea is crystal clear: when the team functions as a coherent unit, the individual gains space, time, and solutions.

Technically, Vieira’s statement describes a very concrete phenomenon: a “well-oiled” collective is, first and foremost, about shared reference points. Distances are better maintained, runs are coordinated, passing sequences are cleaner, and the player in possession has fewer “impossible” decisions to make.

Result: Dembélé receives the ball in more favorable areas, with options already “pre-approved” by the movements around him. This is where positivity breeds positivity: confidence grows because situations repeat themselves, connections become automatic, and the forward can play faster—not because he’s forcing it, but because the game is doing part of the work for him.

It’s also a disguised management lesson: in an aligned team, you don’t “free” a player by giving him carte blanche; you free him by giving him a framework that makes his best decisions… natural.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.