Paris ou la Capitale Maudite

Ibrahima Fode Ndiaye

Paris Saint Germain (PSG) are without a doubt the most successful young team in French football history if not in European football history. The reason I say young is because PSG were founded as recently as 1970! 25 years later they were playing the great AC Milan in the semi final of the Champions League after beating Bayern Munich and Barcelona amongst others along the way!

They finished as runners up to a Ronaldo inspired Barcelona in the Cup Winners Cup of 1997 after having won their first European trophy a year earlier in the same competition defeating Vienna 1-0 in the final.  In their first 25 years they grew so big domestically they emerged as Olympique de Marseille’s main rivals and the fixture has since developed into a top European Classico. In just 37 years of existence PSG have won 11 major trophies while making some memorable appearances in Europe from 1992 to 1997 when they reached the semi final of a European major competition every single year. For the records they have won two league titles, 6 French cups, 2 league cups and that single European Cup Winners Cup.

Such success so soon now seems to be coming back to haunt PSG and recently all they have known are struggles at the wrong end of the Ligue 1 table.  It is amazing to note that entering the short winter break we have here in France, PSG will enter the second half of the season having failed to record even a single victory at Parc des Princes so far! In fact PSG have found themselves in the relegation zone for a good part of the season for the last three years, always managing to escape in nailbiting circumstances.  There are many reasons for their current plight, so let us examine just a few of them.

 

The supporters

The kops (ultras) of PSG are known for their savagery and for turning against their players during matches when the team really needs their backing! You would not believe it until you witnessed the way the PSG fans turns against their star players during difficult games. The worst part of it is the fact that sections of the ultras as they are also known even manage to fight each other in a very disturbing way giving them the well deserved reputation of being the worst fan-base in France. Anti-Semitic chants, Nazi style racial abuse, thug like behaviour, all take place at the Parc des Princes and understandably affect what goes on on the pitch. The antics that often take place in the stands only serves to destroy the mental resilience of even the best professional footballers. One need only look at PSG’s home form to realise this.

The movement of players

At PSG you have a feeling that players just drop by to say hi and then depart. Every single transfer window  there are, like any other club, arrivals and departures. Not unusual, but look at the quality that has departed in recent years. PSG fans shudder to think of the team they could have assembled, the likes of Ronaldhino, Nicholas Anelka, Edmilson, Jay-Jay Okocha, Pauleta, Juan Sorin and the list goes on. PSG seem to have a knack of disturbing star players and never create the conditions in which they feel loved and flourish.

Coaching instability

PSG has had a total of 4 coaches since 2005. Paul Le Guen, the ex-Lyon and Rangers coach is a star of the golden team in the mid-nineties that featured the likes of likes of Bernard Lama, David Ginola, Brazilians Rai and Valdo. Le Guen has been in the hot seast since January 2007 and only took the job on the condition that he would have fill control of all football matters (at odds with the traditional sporting director system so favoured in Europe) , yet despite this, he has spectacularly failed to deliver so far.

PSG can only begin to move forward if all of the above is addressed and all involved accept their share of the blame and pledge to move forward. As long as the Parisians continue losing at home, they will certainly struggle for the remainder of the season and as another great French club Nantes proved last year, their name will not be enough to save them.  Paris used to be a fortress, now le Grande Capitale has become la Capitale Maudite for Le Guen’s men. He must find a solution, and soon.