A great storm is brewing in Paris. Paris Saint-Germain supporters witnessed the team's rout in the Champions League round of 16 against Real Madrid, and five days later they made it clear they had finally had enough. On Sunday, they beat Bordeaux 3-0, taking another step on the journey to the Ligue 1 title, but the Parc des Princes was not only imbued with a joyful atmosphere. Only Mbappe survived. The players waited on the pitch for a kick-off, and when the squad was read out, Neymar and Messi were ridiculed by the crowd. Perhaps most embarrassingly, Neymar was booed while celebrating his second goal. It would be a mistake to interpret this taunt as angered by spoiled supporters for their team's defeat in the Champions League. No, what they scoff at is the way they fail and, more broadly, the culture that the club has nurtured over the years.
Neymar inevitably stood on the cusp of this time, and he experienced a disastrous downturn season. The French media said: "We not only let this player rot, we also turned him into a monster. Neymar has turned into a monster, and he's not even a footballer anymore. Do you know what he stands for? The highest salary in the club's history, a man who was supposed to lead Paris Saint-Germain to the top... Today, this player is hated everywhere. His attitude, his emotions, everything he does, you can't be a player, you can't be hated so much. Never has a player been hated as much as he has. Paris Saint-Germain is now willing to sell him less than a year after Neymar signed a new four-year contract, but given his astronomical salary, the acquirers will certainly feel overwhelmed.
At the same time, there is messi's problem. The Argentine has performed better than people think at Paris Saint-Germain, especially in 2022, but his sense of belonging is poor. His attitude towards defense has not helped his bland performances, and now that he and two equally reluctant attackers have formed the team's trident, that attitude has been amplified. "For me, it's Neymar and Messi who are responsible for this failure," former Paris Saint-Germain and France national team star Roten said after the team was eliminated by Real Madrid, "when Leonardo signed them, he put them on a pedestal: they are legends, they have their status, they are paid well for it." I'm not attacking Verati, Danilo, Paredes or Mbappe. I'm talking about two other mercenaries. I wouldn't dare say Messi was a liar, but it's true. Yesterday, he walked around the pitch. Modric put him in his pocket. ”
But the problems PSG faces are not just on the field, which is perhaps why the weekend protests were so powerful and meaningful. The whole structure of the club has been attacked – it is long overdue. Sporting director Leonardo has not been criticised for a long time, although his transfer policy has been inconsistent. At the end of the day, the responsibility for the team being so clumsy, yet so unbalanced, falls on the Brazilian. Last summer's transfer seemed to be more about signing big-name players than solving the team's problems. Messi, Wijnaldum and Ramos are all losers. Head coach Pochettino has been given a tactically unmatched team, and while he will certainly find some more effective solutions, he has less responsibility for the mess than those above him.
Even President Nasser-Alefi, who has usually lived a quiet decade at the helm of the club, is now met with fierce protests against him. After all, it was Nasser who made Leonardo's laissez-faire fashion in dealing with the capriciousness of Neymar and the rest of the club's stars. In 2020, Belgian national team right-back Ménier said in an interview: "When I was at Club Bruges, we would play darts or pool in the bar to celebrate our birthday, but within Paris Saint-Germain it was simply outrageous. But this reflects exactly what the club really is: rent a palace, rent a building, throw a party for hundreds of people. That's when you'll see them not just footballers, but stars. I always have a lot of fun, but it's all a bit of a luxury, 'Do you see me?' But that's part of it, and it's part of the game. ”
Things haven't changed. In fact, it only seems that the situation is getting worse. Behind the scenes, the foundations of these clubs have never been so faltering since QSI took over in 2011. Nasser Alafee could face two years in prison as a result of the World Cup televised rights deal, and even the qatari owners of PSG have questions about their football interests. With the World Cup set to take place in this small country in November and later in December this year, the demand for flagship clubs will be greatly reduced. They have already begun to cut back on projects such as the Aspire Sports Elite Academy, with speculation that investments in Paris Saint-Germain may be reduced or even terminated. So Paris Saint-Germain fans have a lot to worry about, and in many ways, losing to Real Madrid is the last thing they're worried about. Don't they know.