Ousmane Dembele criticised as Jerome Rothen rejects PSG and France manager’s defence

Former Paris Saint-Germain player Jerome Rothen has criticised the club and France manager Zinedine Zidane for defending Ousmane Dembele after a disappointing start to the season.

Dembele has faced criticism following his performances for Paris Saint-Germain and France. Rothen rejected comments from PSG manager Luis Enrique, who described the forward as “brilliant”, saying managers were going too far in protecting their players.

After France’s 1-1 draw with Italy, Zidane defended both Dembele and his own decisions. He said: “I found him good in the two matches he started. I am satisfied with what he is doing on the pitch.

“Ousmane does what Ousmane does. He moves around a lot and often leaves his position, and that is what matters to us. We often look at the goals, but I see things differently. I do not have much to blame him for.”

Luis Enrique adopted a similar position during his news conference on Friday, saying: “For me, he was brilliant as usual. He is a different player. You can pay the price of your ticket with complete peace of mind to watch him play.

“He is always willing to show himself, shoot and link up with his team-mates. He was very good.”

Rothen strongly disagreed with that assessment during an appearance on French radio station RMC.

“We are talking about Zidane making statements saying everything is fine,” he said. “There was no problem, even the two full-backs were good. No, it was not that good. Some things worked and some things did not.

“From there to treating us like idiots, we simply have to be fair. He is pushing himself to say positive things like that, and there is no problem with that.”

Rothen added: “When you are a player like Ousmane Dembele, do you really think he needs to hear that his national-team manager is satisfied and that Luis Enrique thinks he is brilliant?

“Clearly, Ousmane is dealing with many difficulties at the moment. We have to acknowledge that his start to the season with Paris Saint-Germain has been unsuccessful and below the level of his talent.

“The four matches with France have absolutely not been at the level of what he is capable of. He is, nevertheless, the Ballon d’Or holder.”

Rothen also questioned the need for what he called protective messaging around the player.

“If Luis Enrique or Zinedine Zidane said: ‘He played, there were positive things and things that did not work, but we will correct them at the next international camp’, would that be dangerous?” he said.

“Stop sending messages that protect players. What are you protecting?”

Different views on Dembele’s treatment

Former France international Emmanuel Petit said he completely understood Luis Enrique’s approach.

“This is one of the responsibilities of managers at the very highest level,” he said. “At no point should a manager attack a player in public, because that gives the whole press ammunition, unless the player repeatedly produces poor performances or behaves badly in the dressing room.”

Former goalkeeper Benoit Costil also said Luis Enrique could not “tear Dembele apart” after his displays for France.

“We are in October, all the important fixtures are approaching, and with the current discussion around the Ballon d’Or, Luis Enrique is taking that into account,” he added.