Lack of leadership and two sides in the locker room: PSG's internal problems revealed

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) is going through the worst moment of the season. After the Champions League knockout in the round of 16 against Real Madrid, having been 2-0 up in the series, and after the 3-0 fall to Monaco this weekend, Mauricio Pochettino's team seems to have hit rock bottom. But the most serious thing is not only the sports results, but also this Monday, details of a hot intern within the squad have been published.

After the match against Monaco, which Lionel Messi was not part of due to a flu, was over, the Argentine coach was upset at a press conference, called the team's attitude “unacceptable” and talked about maintaining “respect” for the club and the fans. Kylian Mbappé commented something similar: “If we have a minimum of respect for what we do, for what we want to be and for what we aspire to be, we have to be professionals.” Clear signs that something had broken.

This Monday, the French site RMC Sports published a series of situations that occurred in the squad that expose a rift between players that, obviously, has had football consequences. The article emphasizes that conflicts have existed for a long time but that they have come to light due to constant frustrations on the playing field: “When a group finds itself in difficulty, everything that was hidden comes to the surface. This is a bit of what is happening at Paris Saint-Germain.”

According to the information published, there was absolute silence in the locker room after 0-3 against Monaco for Ligue 1. No footballer took the lead voice in the locker room or on the return bus, so a climate of tension was sniffed and the lack of leadership in the group was exposed. An internal source whose identity was not revealed told the Gallic site: “It is a bit what some point out. The lack of character in the club... and the fact that no one had the will or the possibility to speak after such a game is also indicative of what is happening in the group.”

In this regard, an old crack in the PSG locker room seems to have been revived. At some point, Edinson Cavani was a victim of this phenomenon because he could not get along with Neymar, leader of one of the sides. The Uruguayan ended up leaving the club.

The division would be marked between the South Americans of the squad and the rest of the players. Something that could be understood in a certain way due to the language, but that has an impact on the court, as the same source told RMC Sports, which highlighted the “lack of severity of the club towards certain players”, either due to undisciplinary acts or performances on the field, and the “passes” on the ground, implying that there are players who give the ball more to some teammates than to others, just because they have a greater affinity.

“When a player like Neymar is caught on the pitch, there are automatically four or five players on the squad who surround the referee or opponents. They are not the same scenes when a big foul is committed on a player like Achraf Hakimi,” says the portal, which anticipates that the Moroccan full-back could leave at the end of the season if Mabppé also does so.

Another of those who gave his opinion this week was French football legend Thierry Herny, who remarked in dialogue with Amazon Prime Video that PSG's problem is institutional: “What is the club's policy? I played for Barcelona, and when you didn't do what you had to do, it didn't matter what your name was or who you were, if you didn't respect what needed to be done, you would leave.” At Barça, you're leaving. At Bayern, you're leaving. In Madrid, you're leaving. In the big clubs, you leave. But what about here?” , referring to Neymar's latest performances.

In addition, the former Arsenal gunner defended Lionel Messi for the whistles he received in the Parc des Princes after the Champions League elimination: “Last week, PSG fans booed Messi. How can you boo the greatest of all time? The guy who scored the most goals in Ligue 1? Without Messi, the team didn't create anything.”

PSG will play again on April 2, after the FIFA break, when they host Lorient for Matchday 30 of Ligue 1, a competition that they lead with 12 points ahead of Olympique Marseille, their immediate pursuer. Eliminated from the Champions League and the French Cup, the Pochettino team can only hope to win that title for the season.

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