Ousmane Dembélé: A Study in Positional, Tactical, and Technical Optimisation

The last 18 months of Ousmane Dembélé’s career have been genuinely remarkable.

His rise at PSG has been gradual rather than sudden. The 2023–24 season felt like a resurgence, a rebuilding of confidence, rhythm, and continuity. From the latter half of 2024–25 onward, that resurgence evolved into Ballon d’Or-winning form, a level that has continued well into the latter half of 2025–26.

At this point, the baseline expectation now often includes decisive output

A major part of that rise has been the positional change and tactical optimisation of his role, which in turn has led to a more efficient use and further refinement of his technical gifts.

That evolution was on display again against Liverpool in the 2026 Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg.

His first goal in particular stood out as a reflection of his wider transformation. What stood out was the efficiency of the sequence. The reception, body shift, technical adjustment, and shot all happened within one fluid action.

This moment reflects how positional clarity and tactical optimisation have sharpened the efficiency of his technical execution.

A similar pattern could be seen in the first leg against Chelsea in the Round of 16. While the sequence itself was different, both goals were built on the same combination of technique, position, and role.

What stands out is how his technical double edge is being neutralised. In earlier phases of his career, these actions could continue at full speed without that final moment of control. Now, there is often one extra second of composure.

That extra beat has made his ambidexterity far more effective in central zones than it often was from the wing.

The chaos is still there, particularly in the final ball, but it now feels more controlled, as if the game has slowed just enough for his technique to fully express itself.

Part of this also comes down to pitch geometry.

When operating from the wing, the touchline itself often functions as an additional defender, a boundary that cannot be beaten.

For an ambidextrous player, that naturally creates a binary choice. The action is more often framed around either inverting inside or staying traditional and attacking the outside lane.

Even when those choices are mixed, there is less default freedom.

By moving into more central zones, that geometric restriction is reduced. The field opens in multiple directions, allowing his ambidexterity to become a true advantage rather than a decision point.

Instead of choosing between two lanes, he can manipulate space across several angles within the same action.

The false 9 role also allows multiple aspects of his game to coexist within the same function.

From central zones, he is able to combine creativity, output, work rate, and presence across several areas of the pitch.

As a player with multiple elite strengths, the role functions as an all-in-one package. His movement and manipulation off the ball are intelligent, his work rate remains high, and his creative instincts are still fully present.

This stands in contrast to his earlier use as a winger, where the role was often more specialised and more heavily optimised for pace, crossing, and direct wide progression.

The central role does not reduce his skill set. Instead, it integrates it.

More broadly, this lens can apply well beyond Dembélé.

Player optimisation is not always about fixing a player within the role they have historically occupied. Sometimes the more effective approach is to move beyond positional orthodoxy and instead build roles around attributes.

A role may appear unorthodox relative to a player’s history, yet remain entirely orthodox to their strengths.

That is often where optimisation lives.

Rather than asking what position a player has always played, the more useful question may be what role best integrates their technical, tactical, physical, and cognitive attributes.

At the elite level, there are of course further layers to consider, but Dembélé’s evolution is a compelling example of how role design can transform output without changing the essence of the player.