There is a rift in the Paris Saint-Germain dressing room according to French newspapers, L’equipe and Le Parisian.
According to sources, there is a divide between coach Laurent Blanc and his staff with several players, causing a bad atmosphere in the team.
It has been alleged that the French players are angry that Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his “friends” are being favored over others. Those friends being Maxwell, Gregory Van der Wiel, Thiago Motta and Marco Veratti.
Players are having issues with the current formation and promises that Laurent Blanc has made have not been kept. Edison Cavani is reportedly upset about Blanc not changed the 4-3-3 formation from last year like he promised, giving Cavani more space to create chances.
It appears to be an issue with Ibrahimovic getting preferential treatment in terms of formations and playing time. Something that the Swedish striker himself complained about during his time at Barcelona with Pep Gaurdiola and Lionel Messi.
L’equipe is alleging that Blanc can not handle the large personalities of the club after the departure of former assistant Claude Makelele, who was good at handling players such as Ibrahimovic.
According to journalist, Jonathon Johnson, Laurent Blanc has been described as weak communicator, tactically inflexible and lacks the respect of many key players.
He is completely incapable of handling tensions going around the team and the situation will only get worse. Although PSG have yet to lose a match this season they have drawn a total of five times in the seven games that they have played this season.
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To make matters worse, the Parisians have a busy schedule coming up with a match on Wednesday against Caen followed by Toulouse on Saturday. Then the big one against Barcelona next Tuesday in the second match of the Champions League group stage.
With the performances that PSG have given this season so far, there is a lot to worry about. Despite claims that Laurent Blanch is on his way out, club President Nasser Al-Khelaifi has insisted that the French coach is here to stay.
However, all the problems can not be blamed on Blanc. It is painfully obvious that Ibrahimovic has the biggest ego on the field. He always has and it is nothing new but as a result it can definitely affect the outcome of the team.
Ibrahimovic is without a doubt, PSG’s best player and it can be said that Nasser Al-Khelaifi favors Ibrahimovic over the other players. And some managers just can’t handle players who had such large reign like that.
Blanc has not denied reports of a locker room rift, going as far to say it’s just a problem that the club is going through at the moment. “We know the rules. When you are in a club like PSG, you must get results.”
Blaise Matuidi made it obvious to reports that there was an issue going on in the club but refused to go into details, “We want to find a solution, it’s hard to understand.”
Ibrahimovic walked away from an interview with L’equipe after a reporter asked him about the current situation, “I said it was the problem in the field, and you talk about problems outside the field,” Ibrahimovic said as he walked away, “So either you talk about what I’m saying, or not.”
These next two weeks will be PSG’s biggest test of the season so far and if they don’t receive a good enough result something needs to change and fast.