The Paris Saint-Germain locker room seems to be a close one where all the players are united and appears to be no rift despite the many languages spoken.
However, for RMC Sport and former PSG midfielder Jérôme Rothen, the locker room issue continues to be an issue considering the culture inside hasn’t changed.
Rothen states during an episode of After Foot RMC that the return of Leonardo as the sporting director should’ve caused a change. As a result, the French football pundit sees the club chief’s return as a failure.
“It worked well at the start. The president said to himself that Leonardo would take it all in charge and that he was going to take a step back from what he did. Even in the interviews, he was no longer heard from Nasser. Leonardo had missions. On arrival, for me, his return is a failure,” Rothen said.
“Especially on an essential point: it has not changed the atmosphere of the locker room. [Leonardo] left the power to some like Neymar, a great player, and to others who are not great communicators and who, above all, do not have a great professional conscience concerning the invisible recovery. For me, it is problematic.”
🗣💬 "Le retour de Leonardo est un échec, notamment sur la mentalité du vestiaire où rien n'a changé. Mbappé est allé au front car Leonardo n'est pas capable de le faire."@RothenJerome pointe le manque de poids, d'impact et de pouvoir décisionnaire de Leonardo au PSG. pic.twitter.com/wckuJlPfkq
— After Foot RMC (@AfterRMC) June 30, 2021
The RMC pundit went on to say that being a French club, the language spoken in the locker room is Spanish. Rothen adds that the French players such as Kylian Mbappé might want that to change if he extends his contract.
“When you’re in France and the locker room is South American, Spanish, or even Italian and you speak Spanish in the morning, that’s a problem. Even for French players, and it’s not just Kylian Mbappé. There is Presnel Kimpembe who represents us in the France team. Perhaps all of this should shock them,” Rothen said.
“Maybe they want that to change! If Leonardo cannot do it, Mbappé, because of his status, can say: “You want me to stay? OK, so change something!” It does not mean that he is imposing players but that he wants to change the mentality.”
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