The observation is implacable. PSG, so sovereign and conquering last season, has become a feverish team, which doubts and which no longer masters its subject. The defeat against Monaco acted as a revelation, confirming an impression that had been floating around for weeks. Luis Enrique, lucid, himself recognized that his team was “less confident than usual”. But behind this admission lies a much more complex reality, an internal management which questions and which could partly explain the current ills of the capital club.
Alerts ignored, voices silenced
Because this lack of confidence would not only be the result of a bad patch. On the Canal Football Club set, journalist Bertrand Latour threw a huge wrench into the pond, revealing dysfunctions within the staff itself. According to him, internal voices would have warned of the need to give certain players a break (including Ousmane Dembélé), to better manage rest times. Advice that would not have been listened to. “We asked these people to keep quiet. Well, now no one speaks anymore,” he said, pointing out a form of autocracy in Luis Enrique’s management.
These revelations are of capital importance. They suggest that the current crisis is not just a question of form or mentality, but also the result of contested management choices. The fact that the team benefits from “three days off per week when there is no match”, as the journalist points out, questions the nature of the work carried out and the capacity of the staff to maintain an optimal level of demand and intensity.
Luis Enrique facing his contradictions
This analysis is shared by former international Laure Boulleau, who sees a coach who “no longer has too many levers” and who is “mentally worried about his team”. For her, “intensity and hunger” which characterized PSG last season have disappeared. The Spanish coach, who has long played with communication by making speeches that are the opposite of what we saw on the pitch, is today caught up with reality. His speech, now more lucid, sounds like an admission of powerlessness.
