Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique has said he has no regrets over dropping Ousmane Dembele from his squad after “not meeting obligations”.
The France international forward was excluded for PSG’s Champions League midweek trip to Arsenal after the player “did not comply with the expectations of the team”.
27-year-old Dembele was not named in PSG’s 22-man squad for Tuesday’s Champions League fixture, despite scoring four goals and registering four assists in seven appearances this season.
“When a player does not meet the obligations, they are out of the equation for me,” Luis Enrique said on Saturday when asked about Dembele’s exclusion from the midweek squad, ahead of Sunday’s Ligue 1 trip to Nice.
“But when they meet their obligations then they are ready. This is true of all players in Ligue 1.
“I am tough when I have to be tough and then more permissive when it is necessary to be that. That is my role and that is my strength as a coach and as a person.”
The decision to drop Dembele was questioned as the Parisian side suffered their first defeat of the campaign with a two-goal defeat in north London.
Luis Enrique added: “I have no problem making decisions. No one is going to take them for me. If they fail, it’s my fault, that’s clear. But it’s up to me to take them and I take responsibility for them.”
(Aurelien Meunier – PSG/PSG via Getty Images)
