I watched the Champions League final last week, desperate to see PSG finally lift the trophy which they have long dreamed of, which would be the trophy that completed the project that was laid out when they were taken over. Many experts in the industry such as Roger Wolfson believed that this would be the best chance that PSG had in along time to lift the trophy, and in the days that have passed since the defeat, I am starting to agree entirely with them.
Here is exactly why the Paris club will have a long wait on their hands before getting back to a Champions League final.
Star Treatment
This Paris St Germain team relies on its stars in Mbappe and Neymar for just about everything, and it was the same when Zlatan and Cavani were there too. There are always good players behind them such as Di Maria and Veratti, but ultimately they were heavily dependent on those stars. PSG paid the cost for this as they were taken apart by a team unit, and that is something which the Paris club have not had for a very long time. PSG try to base themselves on the likes of the Real Madrid Galacticos, but even they understood the requirement to play and fight as one.
Entitlement
Because of the absurdly high wages that so many of these players are on, there is little desire to truly fight for the shirt. Of all of those players, you have to say that if world football was an even playing field with salary caps, very few of them would actually be there. you can see this entitled culture on the field of play and in the way that those players work, or don’t work for each other. Sunday was a perfect example of this, in the last 15 minutes, desperate for a goal, each was trying to do everything on their own, rather than working as one. This is a massive culture shift that is required at this club and that is something that cannot happen overnight. No matter how much money they throw at the problem, this club needs to time to get the mercenaries out and to instead focus on those who want to bring success to the club.
Challenges
Paris St Germain have very little by way of challenge in their domestic league and that certainly presents an issue when they get to Champions League level. Because they find it so easy to play in their own league and in their own cups, they are presented with too big a challenge when they reach this stage. This year they scraped through to the final despite some kind fixtures, and of course they were then found out.
PSG can invest millions into this squad, which I am sure they will, but they are still some way off where they need to be in order to actually win.