Paris Saint-Germain has a lot of money, can sign a lot of players, but almost only 11 people are available.
As the most authoritative sports media in France, the team newspaper has never confirmed the rumor that "Leonardo is about to leave class" made by a Lyon website. In the eyes of the team newspaper, Paris Saint-Germain's problem is comprehensive, and despite having the financial resources to top European football, the club's recruitment department is backward, and the work of the scientific research and medical department is not flattering.
The result was an absurd consequence: Paris Saint-Germain had a lot of money and could sign a lot of players, and Pochettino had used more than 35 players this season, and only Liverpool and Barcelona had reached this number in the five major leagues in Europe; but halfway through the season, Pochettino found that the entire team had almost 11 people available.
In fact, Paris is not comparable to Liverpool and Barcelona. Liverpool used second-team players in some unimportant matches, while Barca had to promote more second-team players due to serious injuries. The young generals such as Xavi Simmons and Ebinbe of Paris Saint-Germain belong to the first team formation, and promoting them is also a matter of the original plan. That said, Paris' first-team reserves are numerically superior to those of Liverpool and Barca.
So where does the fact that almost 11 people are available come from? Let's take a look at the situation in various locations.
Goalkeeper position, after sending Rico, Paris still has 4 goalkeepers over the age of 20 (under 20 is not included in the calculation here), and it is the only position where a better rotation can be achieved. Navas and Donnaruma took turns, but it was also the most controversial rotation, with both goals uncomfortable for themselves and Donnaruma agent Rayola running out to open fire in the media.
The centre-back position is Paris Saint-Germain's biggest defeat in the transfer market. Ramos joined Paris with a goal for the Champions League trophy, but he has not been able to play only 284 minutes so far this season. It was a huge financial and competitive loss, and even if Paris Saint-Germain didn't care about money, Ramos occupied a Place in the Champions League. Then only Marquinhos and Kimpembe can be trusted as a centre-back, with Claire the only commonly used substitute to top in less important games.
According to the plan at the end of last season, Paris need to improve in two positions on the left and right, which means having excellent main players and available substitutes. The current situation is that only two main forces are available, and any other alternatives are like a bunch. Ashraf is excellent on the right, but occasionally slips off the table like sleeping on the pitch, while Nuno Mendez on the left is in constant improvement.
Their replacements, Daba, Diallo, and Kurzawa rarely offer convincing performances, or have simply disappeared from public view. Bernat on the left was expected, and even most people would have regarded Nuno Mendes as a player bought to replace him, but Bernat was in a very average state after his return from injury, and Paris really had to be thankful that the "substitute" bought was a potential stock in the ascending period.
In midfield, Wijnaldum was originally seen as a key figure who would provide important improvements, but this "key man" only received a 2-point rating from the team newspaper in last weekend's 3-1 loss to Nantes. In fact, he has played as many as 1408 minutes this season, but most of the games have been super low scores. The Dutch not only did not improve the balance in the Paris midfield, but instead dragged down the balance.
Surprisingly, Verratti has played more time this season than he has been recuperating, which is the most stable and mature period for paris Saint-Germain. In terms of actual combat, Verratti's most suitable partner is argentine Paredes, in order to achieve midfield balance, Pochettino has arranged a special position for Danilo Pereira to drag on the right side, and it is clear that he is still actively adapting.
However, both Paredes and Ander Herrera, who had some important performances in the first half of the season, have been affected by injuries and played irregularly. Another midfielder, Geye, was absent for a long time due to the Africa Cup of Nations and seemed to have re-encountered integration difficulties after returning (against Nantes).
In the front line, Messi, Neymar and Mbappe are the three main strikers, and the first two have missed many games due to injuries. Unlike the common muscle injuries of Paris Saint-Germain, messi has suffered two physical problems since joining the team, but it has nothing to do with the medical department in Paris: one was almost scrapped by the opponent's vicious foul at the World Preliminary Round in South America, and the left knee joint was uncomfortable for several months; the other was a more obvious symptom after the infection with the new crown at the beginning of the year.
In theory, Di Maria, Draxler and Icardi are 3 substitutes, but this season Di Maria is in much less form than before, with inefficiency, missing the target, and even being beaten by Ben Alpha against Home in the match against Lille. Draxler was hard-working, but he lacked the sprint speed that Paris required in his position. As for Icardi, it seems that he has not been integrated into this team since joining Paris Saint-Germain...
Zizou + Wenger hold hands in Paris, really?
Recently, there is a piece of news that has spread widely on the Chinese Network: Paris Saint-Germain club is unhappy with sporting director Leonardo, which may make him leave the class with manager Pochettino at the end of the season, and the two of them will be replaced by Wenger and Zidane.
However, this news is hardly found in the mainstream sports media on the European continent. The source of the news is a website based in Lyon, a professional transfer market called Foot Mercato, similar to the famous Italian calciomercato.com, but not a family.
Foot Mercato did not disclose the source of the rumors of Wenger's replacement of Leonardo, saying only "according to what we know". This is also the reason why the mainstream Media in Europe cannot adopt their messages, because there is no source to verify. However, this website has attracted a lot of attention, before in addition to the French-speaking world, everyone paid attention to more southern European transfer market media concentrated in Italy, whether it is Di Marzio's self-media or calciomercato.com's old transfer website.
More interestingly, Foot Mercato wasn't sure if Wenger would be able to come to Paris, so he added a message that it could also be Tottenham's sports manager Palatici, because the former Yuvin currently has a bad relationship with Conte. This is actually a common method of fictional news, when a matter is not convinced, as far as possible to expand the area, so as to avoid the possibility of a single hypothesis being verified and punched in the face.
The news spread widely, not because Foot Mercato was authoritative or influential, but because Paris Saint-Germain fans were particularly dissatisfied with Leonardo. I have mentioned many times in my reports that fans believe that the club transfer market is a failure, such as signing a player like Ramos who has been injured for a long time, while not being able to retain Mbappe. The media has exposed many management problems, which are also believed to be related to Leonardo. In addition, the extremist fan organization that publicly protested against Paris Saint-Germain, the first enemy at the club, was also Leonardo, because Leonardo refused their request to meet the players.
In fact, if Paris Saint-Germain didn't like Leonardo, he wouldn't be back in 2019. Leonardo's advantage or background is precisely that he has a very close relationship with the Qataris, and is certainly closer to him than Foot Mercato's whistleblower. Leonardo was suspended for 14 months for physical assault on referees in 2013, and he resigned as sports director of Paris that summer, not to be expelled, and if there was no suspension, he would most likely stay.
Leonardo has a close relationship with qataris and is also well aware of what Qataris want. Paris Saint-Germain management has reached the level it is today, of course, not because Leonardo alone cannot manage, but because Qataris simply do not want a modern big club management system that can be compared with Clubs such as Bayern and Real Madrid. Like the recruitment department of Paris Saint-Germain, Leonardo and his assistant, and bayern and other clubs have a huge gap in the star scouting system, but this is not a problem for Qatar, as long as they provide money, and then go to the work of mediating with the stars, Leonardo alone can do it, anyway, it is to give money.
As for the team's mental outlook and style of play, it is precisely Leonardo who does not want to get involved too much. Qataris want to attract attention, spend money and sign stars the most, but if they want to run a great competitive image, they simply don't have the patience to leave everything to the manager. Both Tuchel and Pochettino are well aware that qataris want the Champions League, and as for the league, don't be too sloppy, you can't force players to sell their lives all the time.
So, when the Qataris are not satisfied with the team, Leonardo will play the role of the black-faced thug to inform the other side of the class. Tuchel's coaching staff has complained about leonardo's coldness when he announced his dismissal decision, and Ancelotti has spoken of the reasons for his break with Leonardo (similar), but Qataris would love to have such a desperate sports manager who knows too well what his boss wants and who values him more than himself. He doesn't always want to work on building a strong, mentally strong team, but he will definitely try to implement the boss's requirements.
Of course, it is possible for Paris Saint-Germain to break up with Leonardo in the future, and there is no unbroken feast in the world, but the reasons put forward by Foot Mercato are not yet very valid. This is because in the 2022 World Cup, Qataris care most about the Champions League, Paris just won the first battle of the Champions League knockout rounds real Madrid to gain a certain advantage, and even Pochettino, who has been criticized, has been affirmed in terms of tactics. Will the Qataris speak out and say let Leonardo go to Wenger?
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