One of the biggest fascinations of the media is what language Paris Saint-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel speaks when instructing his players and what language the players speak when communicating with each other.
As with most things involving Neymar Jr., the fact that the Brazilian reportedly doesn’t speak French upset many and led to some pretty harsh commentary.
In an article from ESPN, Julien Laurens reported that cliques had formed in the PSG dressing room based on the country of origin and presumably, language.
Ahead of PSG’s match against FC Nantes on Wednesday, Tuchel was asked about his diverse dressing room and whether or not he felt it was important to settle on one language to use with all of the players.
“We speak French. I speak French. I would say 90 percent of the time. If I’m missing a sentence or a word, I say it in English. But if I speak in English, I know everybody can understand it because it is an easy sentence, or I can explain it with a video.”
“Yes, it is important [to speak one language]. For the players who are still struggling with French because they just arrived here, we can switch into English, but I really think that 90 percent of the time it is French. I have the impression that everybody understands it.”
“Obviously in the dressing room there are a lot of Spanish speakers, so they like to speak in Spanish because it is easier for them, but I don’t think it is really important. There are no groups based on their language.”
Ahead of the season, sporting director Leonardo announced that he would speak to the squad in French and somewhat abrasively told the team if they didn’t understand him that they needed to take lessons as reported by The Guardian.
The fact that Tuchel speaks French 90 percent of the time is in line with what Leonardo likely told him he wanted. It’s known that Neymar understands French but does not speak it, so perhaps he speaks in English or simply allows his performance in training and in the games to do his talking.
PSG is often portrayed in the media as a club with no morals with players who are only there for the money and not for the love of the crest or city/country. The fact that the majority of them have made an effort to learn French enough so that they can at least understand the native language dispells that thought.
I also appreciate Tuchel stating that there are no cliques in the dressing room that have formed based on language. Of course, you’re going to gravitate towards a player on the team that you may also play with on your national team, but the idea that the dressing room consists of pockets of players based on language alone is ludicrous beyond belief. Look at any behind-the-scenes photos and you will see that this group of players get along quite well and have no trouble communicating.
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