Team Above Stars
“No player is as good as all of us together” — Don Alfredo Di Stéfano.
There are countless quotes throughout history that define our sport. Phrases that link the success of football teams to the collective rather than the individual. This Champions League final reinforces the idea that, in football, individual talent must serve the team, not the other way around.
This isn’t about comparing teams, because I understand that the rivals PSG defeated in recent weeks are great examples of collectives. Inter, Arsenal and Aston Villa are proof of well-built groups where the collective comes first.
What I’m referring to is the same team over two consecutive years, and how one of the best players in the world was not able, by his presence alone, to transform the team’s play into success.
PSG changed thanks to a coach many criticize, and will continue to criticize, because that’s what football is: a sport where no player is above the team, but the team stands above them all. Luis Enrique said a few days ago that the adaptation process wasn’t easy and that there were “painful situations”, his exact words to explain the path taken.
If we look back just a bit, PSG wasn’t even ranked among the top 24 teams in this competition with only two games left in the group stage. They had to beat Manchester City and Stuttgart to advance to the round of 16 and stay alive on the road to the final.
At that point, news outlets were publishing articles about a possible resignation due to poor results, and Dembélé was facing “discipline” over behaviors that didn’t fit with the identity of a champion team, according to Luis Enrique and his staff.
Nothing pointed to what would happen in May.
But everything continued on that natural path of learning, a kind of learning that requires painful or uncomfortable actions for both player and coaching staff, and the result was the brilliant final they gave us.
Learning in favor of the team that ends up improving the individual. Let’s take the most obvious example: Dembélé is a better player today than he was in January. Thanks to putting his talent, and a bit more effort than we were used to seeing, at the service of the group, he’s now a serious Ballon d’Or candidate. That’s a win for everyone, where the individual is rewarded.
We’ve seen it happen before. A team becomes a champion when talented players commit to the group and a coach shows them the way.
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