Lionel Messi speaks little. His teachers and coaches were also worried about this silence during his years of training at FC Barcelona. But the star rookie of Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG) knows how to make himself understood on a pitch. Replaced at 75e minute against Lyon (2-1), September 19, during 6e Ligue 1 day, all he needed was a shoulder movement and a deep pout to express his disagreement with the choice of his coach, Mauricio Pochettino.
Since then, the Argentinian has never ceased to justify himself on his decision and swears that there is no water in the gas with his compatriot. Maybe, but there is a better approach before they host Manchester City on Tuesday, September 28, for a level-check-like second Champions League game for his side. “Leo is a champion, a winner, a competitor. It is clear that a player does not like to go out, he reminded the microphone of France Bleu Paris, two days after the start of this media tornado. But it is the coach’s responsibility, with the information at his disposal, to make the best decisions for the team and its players. “
In fact, the former defender took out as a precaution his attacker, victim of a “crutch” in the thigh. Nothing abnormal. Except when we talk about a six-fold Golden Ball (package in Metz and against Montpellier in stride). In Barcelona, any coach knew that showing him the direction of the bench was the shortest route to dismissal.
Mauricio Pochettino is not there. But for having passed in silence the blow received by Messi in press conference the same evening, he left the play for another interpretation; that of an act of authority for his locker room, starting with Messi, therefore, but also Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. According to several sources, the native of Murphy would not have sought to demonstrate that he was the only sheriff in town. However disproportionate it is, the episode recalls that, since the arrival of Qatar, in 2011, to train this PSG is also a political affair. Some of Mauricio Pochettino’s predecessors have experienced it enough to theorize it.
PSG and the Republic of players
Starting with the last one, Thomas Tuchel. This December 20, 2020, he may be guessing that his future at the club is threatened, when he talks to a journalist from the German channel Sport1. “Am I still a coach or am I a sports politician, a sports minister? “, he wonders, three days before his dismissal. Further on, he develops his thought: “I just love football. And, at a club like this, it’s not always just football. “
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