Ousmane Dembele received special tactical treatment from Xavi – report

Xavi’s treatment of winger Ousmane Dembele is extremely admirable, especially after what panned out during the January transfer window. After the Frenchman was ordered to leave, the manager took him under his wings and churned out the best possible outcome.

Hence, the exit-bound winger is extremely grateful for how Xavi handled the delicate situation both on and off the field. After all, the manager, too, deserves a special mention for the turnaround in his fortune.

Dembele may be on his way out, but not only the management, but even the fans know it was Xavi who got the best out of him. It was not Ernesto Valverde, not Ronald Koeman and certainly not Quique Setien. In fact, Dembele never got to play under the latter.

In any way, Dembele’s return from injury incidentally coincided with Xavi’s arrival and it seems the manager had everything planned out well before. 

For instance, Xavi right away knew how he could exploit Dembele’s strength. First, he has the speed, second, he can shoot with either foot and third, he has the stamina to last for the entirety of the match.

But since the lack of goals was evident, Xavi and his staff decided to dig up old footage in order to make his ability to take quick decisions better. In that regard, Dembele received special treatment.

According to what Xavier Bosch of Mundo Deportivo writes, if Xavi’s staff prepared 10 videos in the span of five months for one player, the count went to 25 videos for a certain Ousmane Dembele. 

The Frenchman analysed the footage with Xavi in order to understand the next best course of action. And the results were visibly brilliant, to say the least, which left Dembele delighted with the care he received Xavi.

Unfortunately for the team though, this just wasn’t enough for them to tie Dembele down as all his agent, Moussa Sissoko, is affected by are the zeros in the contract and not the viable improvement on the field.