Courbis proud of Dembélé as Tuchel and Luis Enrique give their approval

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·24 de septiembre de 2025

Courbis proud of Dembélé as Tuchel and Luis Enrique give their approval

Rolland Courbis, who was his coach at Rennes when he was only 18 years old, has been invited to reflect on this period with Ousmane Dembélé, a forward who is now 28 years old and has just won the 2025 Ballon d'Or with Paris Saint-Germain and the French National Team. He then highlighted his "vision", later confirmed by coaches Thomas Tuchel and Luis Enrique.

Courbis "I take pride in being the first to think he could play in the center"

"Was it obvious to start him at 18 years old?

I can't imagine for a moment depriving myself of Ousmane. He was already playing regularly before I took over the team. He had so many qualities that there was no reason to do without him.

In the same match, he was capable, in a 4-2-3-1, of switching, playing a bit on the right, a bit on the left and in the center. Each coach with his own vision regarding his use of Ousmane. I had mine, and I was not completely wrong in installing him in the center.

To what extent have you changed his career and what have you brought him?

I take pride in being the first to think he could play in the center, in attack. I had given him this responsibility because when he was on one side and he came into the heart of the game, there were too many players to dribble. It was a geographical question, not an arithmetic one.

When he went to Borussia Dortmund, which was coached by Tuchel, I told him 'Think about having a head-to-head discussion with him and make him understand that you can play in the center'. I had seen Ousmane some time later, and he told me that Tuchel agreed. This gave me great pleasure."

One can understand this pride for Courbis, who saw his idea largely validated by two particularly recognized coaches. Two who have also won the Champions League during their career, which is not over. It's always nice to see such a decision established at the highest level. It's even in being mainly in this role that Dembélé, often a winger in his career, won the Champions League.

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We should not exaggerate, however, the French international is also an excellent winger. He primarily has great versatility thanks to his technical, physical and tactical qualities. Dembélé is a very great football player, who knows how to think about the collective. The challenge remains to best integrate him into the available team.

In his breakthrough last season, there is also the fact of finally having escaped from injuries, having gained confidence thanks to the management of coach Luis Enrique, the team around him and an energy that has set in. He finally managed to score important goals and everything followed after that. But we can't pretend as if everything is suddenly perfect in the center and he hasn't been very good on the side. In fact, he often occupies the wings at PSG. He especially fully enjoys his freedom.

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