At Paris Saint-Germain, the slightest spark can sometimes ignite a firestorm… especially when narrative gets involved. The “shh” celebrations of Désiré Doué (20-year-old midfielder/forward) and Achraf Hakimi (27-year-old right-back) against AS Monaco on Tuesday (a 3-2 victory) have sparked discussion. Especially the former, with the idea of growing tension with Ousmane Dembélé (28-year-old forward) and his dig at the team last Friday. RMC Sport took a closer look at the situation.
“If they need to say something to each other, it will happen in the privacy of the locker room.”
“If they need to say something to each other, it will happen in the privacy of the locker room, and not in the media. But Désiré Doué still wanted to send a message on Tuesday when he celebrated his goals by putting his hands over his ears, just as Achraf Hakimi gestured for silence.”
A response to all those who criticize the team. The PSG players felt that some observers were trying to pit them against each other, even though Ousmane Dembélé’s comments weren’t aimed at any player in particular.
The underlying issue, however, is simple: a locker room lives, breathes, sometimes has disagreements… and generally resolves its problems internally. But at PSG, the “football” aspect is often the first to be sacrificed: a gesture becomes proof, a sentence an attack, a feeling a crisis.
RMC Sport reports this feeling among the players: some observers are trying to set them against each other, even though Ousmane Dembélé’s (28 years old) comments weren’t directed at anyone. This is where the drama becomes tiresome: the focus is on the “hot topic” rather than the sporting aspect, on supposed tension rather than analyzing what’s happening on the pitch. It’s a shame, because it’s often on the pitch that PSG responds best.
The most ironic thing? By constantly looking for the crack, we end up forgetting the essential: a solid group is not a group without tension, it is a group that knows how to manage them without turning every micro-sign into an episode “to be continued”.
