Month: January 2024

Speaking to the press after Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-1 win over Lille last night, director of sport Leonardo discussed his team’s performance as well as hitting back at what he sees as unncessary criticism.

His words transcribed in L’Équipe, Leonardo also reiterated his support for the under-fire Mauricio Pochettino, notably underlining the fact that PSG are top both in the league and in their Champions League group.

Why do PSG only play for 30 minutes a match?

The fact that we have things to improve is obvious, it’s normal even given the context. There are players who arrived at the end of pre-season, there were big changes. We are not where we want to be but the team is working hard. The only thing I don’t like is the way we are judged. There is a right way to speak.

Do you think that the press is too harsh?

You can say we’re not doing well but it’s starting to cross a line now. To say that the coach is clueless about football, that the big players we signed are rubbish – there are people who want to make themselves look smart by talking about PSG, it’s for personal promotion. Ok, we’re not playing as we want to. But we are on a path. You can’t talk about Messi, Mbappé, Verratti, Neymar, or the coach like that.

Ramos as well? We knew he had an issue [calf injury]. You are playing the Spanish press’ game. We know what is happening.

Can supporters be demanding given the recent recruitment?

We are demanding, but we are where we wanted to be, top of the league, top in our Champions League group. It’s true that we’re not playing well, but we are aware of it.

How do you judge the manager’s work?

[People are acting] as if the manager didn’t know about a style of play, that he understands nothing. He’s searching. Pochettino, before arriving, was a top 5 coach, now, apparently, he’s clueless. We changed some aspects. We’ll assess things at the end.

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In his recent interview with L’Équipe, Nice director of football Julien Fournier notably discussed the club’s summer signings, indicating that more was expected of some members of the cohort that arrived this year.

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First highlighting Dutch forwards Justin Kluivert and Calvin Stengs, Fournier also names other players who have been at the club for longer, such as striker Kasper Dolberg.

“I expect more of them. Even if injuries are a part of the life of a high-level player, it’s evident that I expect more of Justin and Calvin, that I expect more of Kasper, more of Alexis [Claude-Maurice]. They have to give more to the club. They know that.”

“They are fantastic in their commitment and in their mentality. But the reality is on the pitch, we’ve played nearly thirteen games without them. They’ll have to join us at one point. The team is doing well, we have a good manager, a style of play. They were chosen, we invested money on them, we gave them comfort, now they need to contribute. We need them. They are not ordinary players.”

“[On Andy Delort and Melvin Bard being successes] Yes, but Andy Delort has been scoring goals in the French league for ten years. It’s easy to have a good window if we’re only signing Andy Delorts. Melvin is a boy that we should have signed last year. We had no doubts on his quality.”

RMC Sport report that Marseille are set to press charges against a person unknown after Dimitri Payet was struck by a waterbottle during last night’s match against Lyon, leading to the fixture being called off.

The individual who had thrown the projectile was eventually apprehended by security and later placed in police custody. 

Dimitri Payet, described by his president Pablo Longoria as “psychologically affected”, did not attend OM training today. The midfielder will now see a specialist to evaluate the mental and physical effects of the incident.

The Bad Gones, the principal Lyon supporters’ group, have released a statement condemning the bottle-throwing, and indicated that the individual was not part of their ranks, nor was he a season ticket holder. They ended their statement by pointing out that they would continue to collaborate with Lyon to prevent such cases happening in the future.

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In an interview for Amazon Prime Video, Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé spoke to pundit Thierry Henry about his future but remained coy on his exact plans, insisting: “I’m happy here, I’ve always said it.” Mbappé said:

“One day there’s this [PSG], another day there’s something else. There’s so much going on, you have to take time. It’s a decision which is not easy. Whatever happens, I’m going to play for a big club. That’s why when people ask me: ‘Are you disappointed that you weren’t transferred?’ I respond: ‘Yes, a little at the beginning, but that’s normal when you want to leave.’ But I’m not playing for a third division club. I’m at a club that wants to win the Champions League. And besides, I’m a Parisian, I have all my family here. I’m very happy here, I’ve always said so. It’s just, that at that point, I wanted to discover something new.”

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