Angry and exaggerated: Lionel Messi faced harsh criticism from the French press after PSG defeat

This Wednesday will be one month from the day he fulfilled his life’s dream. Did that unforgettable December 18 spread eternal joy? in Argentina and also in all that place on the planet where, with multiple arguments, he was canonized as San Fútbol. It looked like this Lionel Messi she would live immaculate until eternity after being world champion with the Argentina national team at Lusail Stadium after final thriller against France. It seemed. It seemed.

How come In the land of the runners-up in the world, the last victims of that dream called Qatar 2022 – which was a nightmare for them -, don’t let them pass a. He had already suffered excessive and harsh criticism in his first season at Paris Saint-Germain. He had already been incredibly segregated by journalists since French football from the list of the 30 best footballers in the world on the eve of the Ballon d’Or and, now, when it seemed impossible for anyone to dare criticize him after such a world-class performance, the tepid 90 minutes against Rennes, under sticky rain in French Brittany, was enough to some journalists to bring him back into the spotlight. At least exaggerated.

To begin with, because the whole team played badly. Indeed, Messi was the only one to move the shelf a bit in a team that looked much more like Mauricio Pochettino’s version of PSG than Christophe Galtier’s PSG. What would they have said or written if he had adjusted his sights a bit on one of the two shots on target he attempted? What would they have said if Mbappé, who remained on the bench until 10′ of the second half, had hit the shot after a prodigious assist from the Argentine? Certainly the opposite. How come Weather vanes, in addition to being an antique, exist everywhere.

A fact to understand that the criticism is, at least, excessive. Messi had played 29 games without losing for the French capital’s team -who without him and with Mbappé on the pitch had just fallen in the previous away match against Lens-. PSG’s last disappointment with Leo on the pitch dates back to March 2022. The disappointment was no less because against real Madrid, at the Santiago Bernabéu, for the round of 16 of the Champions League. The end of the European dream in that wandering season.

No one should doubt its positive influence. Always positive. But there are those who dare to do it: after the 0-1 defeat with Rennes, the major sports media once again showed its ability to get angry when it comes to Messi. Could he have something to do with what happened less than a month ago in the Middle East? Could be.

angry and exaggerated

L’Equipe, Le Parisien and RMC called Galtier’s entire team cruel. The latter two blamed Messi and Neymar. They gave Rosario 4 points. It’s true that it wasn’t his best night. But a four!

“We haven’t seen the extravagance of the ball and chain that we are used to seeing. The Argentinian tried to work for his team, especially recovering balls in his thirty meters before sinking in the second half”.said L’Equipe.

Le Parisien, meanwhile, turned on the fan and distributed darts everywhere. “This PSG no longer resembles the one before the World Cup for a fairly simple reason: its three stars no longer have the same level. They have played together again for the first time and it will take some time to orientate… if they do “started.

And he continued in a menacing tone: “For the French world champion there is little doubt, even if he ruined an entertaining face-off ten minutes after coming on by raising his shot too high for a goal that seemed easy given his talent. Leo Messi, led at least by his professionalism and the quest for an eighth Ballon d’Or, he should do the same as soon as his World Cup legs pick him up again.”. And analyzing the match of the Argentine captain he underlined: “Failed transmissions and limited influence. The recent world champion suffered like last year inside Roazhon Park”. blunt. All for one bad night.

RMC Sport was the toughest of all. Through a note bearing the signature of Daniel Rolo, he aimed without filters (and with tremendous impunity) at the leader of the staggered: “He had a good mid-season because he was preparing for the World Cup. I was training. Now it’s over. He is the starter because Galtier, the great revolutionary with (Luis) Campos, leaves him on the pitch ”.

Be careful, it didn’t just affect Messi. It also hit Neymar very hard, who on Sunday, unlike the Argentine, had very little production: “Do we realize that Neymar, in terms of salary and salary, is the biggest failure in the history of football? I can’t think of a bigger failure for what it cost. It’s terrible. Just because he’s been good in two knockout rounds in 2020 doesn’t mean he’s going to save your life.”. As we can see, at least in the case of Rolo, it’s not something personal with Messi.

Criticisms from within

It is true that PSG’s performance, as described above, was far from good. Galtier himself accepted it in the dressing rooms. “I’m particularly disappointed with our performance. We conceded many situations to the opponent and above all we didn’t create anything. We had very few favorable situations, except perhaps at the end, when we pushed in a disorganized way”He began his analysis.

It was then that he focused on the role of Messi. “If Leo goes down, we need to have a lot more reference points up high, which we didn’t have. Ney and Leo went out together for the ball in areas where there were people. There was possession, but very few offensive situations. There was no has never been any vertical game. We have “We have to find it again. Right now, we have an absence of verticality”underlined the visibly worried DT.

And he tried to find an explanation for the decline that led him to leave so many points along the way in Ligue 1 and to suddenly lower his level at the least suitable moment. The latter part of the season is coming with the round of 16 against Bayern Munich as the first hurdle and goal. The crossings will be on 14/2 and 8/3. “For eight weeks, the group was completely dispersed, with players from all over the world adopting different playing principles with their respective national teams. We had two training sessions to work collectively with everyone.”it was justified.

Though it also showed a sign that there is light at the end of the tunnel. “We will have time to work and find our principles of play with much more verticality and have a better attacking response, with supports and midfielders coming from the backline so that we have a connection with our three forwards. Am I worried about Bayern? The match is near and far, we will focus on the matches we have to play to find more verticality and continuity in our game”.

The future

Despite everything the journalists say and their ruthless and exaggerated criticisms, All roads lead to Messi staying at least one more season at Paris Saint-Germain. The Argentine captain has found a place in the French capital where he can feel at ease and so will his family. That is why when the excitement for the world title was still boiling, an agreement in principle was reached after a meeting between the president of the club, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and Jorge Messi, father and representative of Leo.

The meeting took place while the World Cup was being played and served to put the negotiations that had been going on for months on the table. When will it close? It was assumed that everything would be signed after the striker’s holidays, who spent his holidays and recharged his batteries in Rosario. Now it’s all in the hands of Campos and the PSG management, who don’t seem to care too much about what the media say.