Two of France’s principal sport papers in L’Equipe and Le Parisien report this morning that turmoil is slowly enveloping Paris Saint Germain.
According to the Parisian paper, the gap between Laurent Blanc & his staff and the players is growing and the atmosphere in the dressing room is not what it once was. Several players are unhappy for various reasons: they’re confused and upset with the absence of captain Thiago Silva and don’t understand why Laurent Blanc decided to play him against Reims and Napoli so early on in the season when he had had a late return from the World Cup. Certain players are reportedly unhappy about that lack of communication from Blanc.
Get French Football News exclusively revealed Ezequiel Lavezzi’s unhappiness and desire to leave last night, but there are certainly others who are unhappy. Blaise Matuidi was set to make his disappointment known had he not been picked to start against Ajax in midweek, with Blanc having recently preferred Pastore to the French international.
Edinson Cavani feels cheated as PSG manager Laurent Blanc has failed to act on promises he made regarding a change in formation from the 4-3-3 he deployed last season to a system which sees him playing through the middle. The Uruguayan international wanted to leave this summer and remains in a weak mental state following a harsh and emotionally draining divorce battle which is widely believed to be the principal cause for his downturn in form in 2014. Manchester United were the most interested side and are said to have made several approaches, but a move to the Red Devils in January is of course rendered unlikely after their acquisition of Falcao paralleled with the fact that PSG President Nasser Al Khelaifi has no intention of letting a player who he views as a cornerstone of the project to go.
Yohan Cabaye is another unhappy camper, with game-time being minimal since the start of the season. Since his arrival from Newcastle in January, Cabaye has rarely started for PSG in Ligue 1, let alone in European competitions. There simply isn’t space in that midfield trio for the former Dogue and he has so far been unable to reach his aim of beating off the competition to earn a starting spot.
According to L’Equipe, certain French players are beginning to develop a hypothesis as to why they might be being “discriminated” against. They are unhappy with the perceived preferential treatment of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s “friends” in the squad (van der Wiel, Maxwell, Thiago Motta and Verratti). The departure of Claude Makelele has apparently been key in Laurent Blanc’s attitude change. The now SC Bastia coach was better at facing up to the club’s big personalities, something today’s paper claims Blanc is unable to do.
Nasser Al Khelaifi is backing the manager for now, but has always dreamed of bringing in somebody like Arsene Wenger or Jose Mourinho into the club, although, considering PSG’s current form and image, one would likely be hard pressed to find a world renowned manager willing to take the job up with Les Parisiens.
Either way, we have reached undoubtedly the lowest point of Laurent Blanc’s reign as PSG manager to date.
