PSG manager Luis Enrique says French league leaders are better without Kylian Mbappe | Football News
Paris St Germain manager Luis Enrique opined that the current French league leaders have been better in attack and defence since forward Kylian Mbappe left the club.
“I was very brave last season when I told you that we would have a better team in attack and defence. I still think that we are better (in both), the numbers are there to say it. The players took it as a challenge. Of course we would have liked to keep Kylian, because everyone loved him, but the team is responding … at a spectacular level,” Enrique said.
“I told you that rather than having a player who scores 40 goals, I wanted players who all score a lot. Faced with a situation that we did not want but which happened, the maturity of the team is very good,” he added.
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Mbappe left to join the Spanish giants in June after seven years in Paris, having scored more than 170 goals in Ligue 1 from more than 200 appearances for the club.
Reigning champions PSG are the only unbeaten team in Europe’s top five leagues after 20 games, sitting 10 points clear of Olympique de Marseille and 13 above Monaco.
They beat Monaco 4-2 in the reverse fixture in December before a last-gasp Ousmane Dembele goal helped them to a 1-0 win in the French Super Cup in January.
Luis Enrique said he wanted the 27-year-old Dembele, who also scored twice at Monaco, to become the team’s leader.Story continues below this ad
“Right now, he is in an absolutely spectacular series. His statics have exploded compared to the beginning of his career, that’s obvious,” Luis Enrique said.
“He has to be important for the team, not just scoring goals. To score a goal, someone has to give you an ass. What we are looking for with Ousmane is … for him to continue to be a determining player, with asss and defensive efforts.
“Becoming a leader of the team is not just about scoring goals. Being a leader is something different. I believe that Ousmane, very clearly, can become one of the leaders of the team.”
(With agency inputs)
