Carles Rexach, who in his day was the coach of Barcelona, has granted an interview to the Argentine program ‘Super Deportivo’, in which he has not left a puppet with a head. The coach has been very critical of the philosophy of Paris Saint Germain and, in fact, has given the keys why the French giant is not finding the expected results. In this way, he also explains why Messi has not achieved victory so far: “Looks like a mercenary team to me“.
“PSG seems to me to be a team of mercenaries, with big name players like Neymar or Mbappé, but as a group they don’t play pretty football. It wins because it has high-level players and solves the ballot, but they haven’t just been a defined team,” he reflects.
As far as Messi is concerned, Rexach does not see him satisfied in his first months in the French capital: “He has gone to a team that is formed based on checkbooks, based on well-known players. From my point of view, each one plays of them for themselves. Barça played for Messi and he was the icing on the cake. Yes I think he is suffering“.
The coach, who shared many moments with Messi in Barcelona, knows him perfectly and also accurately handles the impact on the club’s structures that the mythical ’10’ has left. Rexach considers that, sportingly, there was a turning point with his departure: “Barça generated a before and after. It will be unmatched, unrepeatable. Barcelona will not have a player like Messi.”
He continues: “He left a hole as a person and as a footballer that is impossible to fill. Finding a world-class phenomenon like him will be impossible. Barça and Messi were a spectacular combination. There is a Messi at Barça and another Messi afterwards. In France they don’t live football like they do in Barcelona. I think that the admiration that the Spaniards have had for Messi, they recognize him in France, but it doesn’t have the importance that he had here.”
He has doubts, then, that Messi can go back to being the same as he was for so many years at Can Barça. In fact, Rexach dares to varicinate, also as part of his wish, the last match in the Argentine’s career: “Messi should win the World Cup and retire. He deserves it. It’s finishing the job. He could say later that he doesn’t play anymore. Let him score the goal, win the World Cup and say that we have come this far.”