Paris St Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino urged his team to show more cohesion and stop looking for excuses after the Ligue 1 leaders were humbled 3-0 at Monaco in another embarrassing display on Sunday.
PSG were never in the mix and were below-par in terms of stamina and inspiration, 11 days after being knocked out of the Champions League last 16 by Real Madrid.
“You have to be individually responsible and think about the collective. We have moved away from that. Behaviour should be more collective than individual,” Pochettino told a news conference.
PSG still enjoy a 12-point lead in Ligue 1 but they made a poor impression against Monaco, leading former France great Thierry Henry to say that the club was being ‘run more like a company than like a club’.
“I played at Barcelona and whenever you did not do what had to be done, whoever you were, whatever your name, you were out,” said Henry, a pundit for broadcaster Amazon Prime.
“At Bayern Munich, you’re out. At PSG, are you out?”
“We have to find solutions and stop looking for excuses,” Pochettino added.
“It is unacceptable. That first half is unacceptable. We didn’t have a fighting spirit. The way we played is not acceptable.”
France forward Kylian Mbappe, possibly the only irreproachable player at PSG recently, was also fuming.
“The goal is to get the 10th French title. We can win 8-0, 9-0, people will talk about the Champions League,” said Mbappe.
“Whatever happens we must respect ourselves, if we have a little bit of self-esteem. We also need to respect the fans.”
Asked if he feared the team would not fight back after Sunday’s embarrassment, Pochettino also asked the players to show the fans some respect.
“No, this cannot happen. It cannot happen. You can have (bad) performances but this kind of attitude is not possible,” he said.
“It’s unacceptable to start the game in this way. Respect for the club, for our supporters, is essential.”