Eric Rabesandratana shared his analysis in Le Parisien after Paris Saint-Germain’s lackluster performance against Paris FC. Between a lack of summer preparation and a refusal to acknowledge fatigue, his comments illustrate a sometimes paradoxical interpretation of PSG’s difficulties this season.
Rabesandratana: “They have less margin for error because the competition is tougher.”
“They have less margin for error because the competition is tougher. That’s a good thing; it forces them to be more serious in the league. We can’t ignore what happened this summer with the limited preparation.
But against Paris FC, it wasn’t like that at all. Paris needs to be more efficient, more focused in the final third. They lost that today. There’s a problem with simplicity. At no point did I think they were tired.”
Rabesandratana: “When you’ve achieved all your goals, you have to get back to that level to maintain that level of performance.”
“It’s a question of mentality. When you’ve achieved all your goals, you have to get back to that level to maintain the level of performance that allowed you to win. I think it’s only temporary, but you have to react, change something, otherwise you’ll expose yourself to further setbacks.”
Eric Rabesandratana’s statement sums up a recurring problem surrounding PSG: a double standard that ultimately muddles the diagnosis. On the one hand, the former Parisian points to a truncated summer, a reduced preseason, and a need to rebuild their bearings. On the other, he dismisses any notion of fatigue, asserting that the problem is primarily mental. The two are not incompatible, yet the analysis becomes fragmented.
PSG is said to lack simplicity, efficiency, and concentration… without anyone really knowing what triggers this drop in performance. This ambiguity fuels a classic bias: Paris is judged not on the match itself, but on its status. When PSG wins, it’s considered normal. When it falters, it’s automatically labeled a mentality problem.
However, as Rabésandratana himself says, the post-title drive cannot be decreed. It must be rebuilt. And it is precisely here that the analysis should be more coherent, less instinctive, and more structured.
