Jules Koundé is going through one of his best moments since his arrival at FC Barcelona. The defender has established himself as one of the best right-backs in the world, thus 'settling' the external debate (and also the internal, personal one) about his position, fully assuming his new role on the right side of the defence where he has earned a starting place both in the Blaugrana squad and in the French national team.
Speaking to the media at the press conference held in Clairefontaine, the footballer, an undisputed starter for both Didier Deschamps at Euro 2024 and for Xavi Hernández and Hansi Flick in the Catalan team, left his past as a centre-back behind and spoke as a pure full-back, explaining his improvement in this area of the pitch.
"I think there was also a misunderstanding on the part of people outside of what the coach could ask of me and also of the player that I was," he justified regarding the criticism he received at the beginning of his transformation, even from Deschamps, who at the time declared that Jules preferred to play as a centre-back. In fact, in the continental tournament, Koundé was ahead of natural full-backs such as Jonathan Clauss and Benjamin Pavard, world champion with France in 2018.
"I am not a right-back by training. Sometimes we can put up barriers. It is no secret, it is a position that took me a while to get used to, but I always had confidence that with work I would do it. It was not a natural position for me and, although I worked hard, it was something that was going to take time," he said.
His priority as a right-back
The player is increasingly playing a leading role at right-back, and in Barça's last game against Valladolid, where the pucelanos were thrashed 7-0, the defender scored one of the goals celebrated by the culés at Montjuïc. However, and although he is increasingly playing a more important role in the offensive, Jules was emphatic in clarifying that "the priority, and what Deschamps always asked of me, is the defensive part." In this way, the player makes it clear that he has already assumed his new role and puts an end to a debate that has been going on for a long time.