by It is no lie to say that the French league is popularly considered the weakest of the five major domestic competitions in Europe. In fact, some followers specifically call her ‘farmers league‘, ensuring that it is dominated by a single team, the PSGand that their footballers do not really have an elite level.
Luis Enriquecoach of PSGHe made his opinion on the French tournament very clear in the press conference prior to the duel for the leadership against the Monaco. “Ligue 1 is not boring. I see teams that create many chances and can win every game. It is a much better League than I thought. It has good players who are then exported to other championships, to England in particular.“he explained.
FLIGHT OF TALENT
Without knowing it, the Asturian, who is quite right in what he pointed out, pointed out one of the big problems of the competition, the ability to retain talent. but your Paris Saint Germain It has a lot to do with this condition that leaves the league ‘shivering’ every summer.
Jérémy Doku, a blessing for Guardiola / @jeremydoku
The vast majority of footballers see the League 1 as a springboard to the other major leagues, whether the first division, The leaguethe A series wave Bundesliga. The hegemony of PSG It makes it very difficult for other teams to offer long-term projects that can be winners and the protagonists know it. They seek to take advantage of the showcase and leave France.
THE LAST ‘SURVIVORS’
In the last eleven years the Parisian team has missed two titles. In 2016/17 the incredible Monaco Delaware Fabinho, Bernard Silva, Lemar, falcaoor a young man Mbappe who was beginning to introduce himself to everyone, took the title from them by scoring 95 points. And in 2020/21, when the Lille He spoiled their party by a single point (83).
Monaco, celebrating the 2016/17 Ligue 1 champion title / League 1
Taking this into account, as a general rule, The other clubs in the French league can aspire, at most, to second place. A sporting project more than insufficient to retain the big stars who are emerging in the competition.
SOME NAMES
And we must refer to the facts. There are several stars who left the tournament in search of greater sporting incentives a few seasons ago. James Rodriguez (Real Madrid, 2014/15), Thomas Lemar (Atletico de Madrid, 2018/19), Nicolas Pepe (Arsenal, 2018/19), Victor Osimhen (Naples, 2019/20) or Aurélien Tchouameni (Real Madrid, 2022/23) may be some examples of a list that is too long.
Although it is not necessary to look at profiles of such status. Players with a great future like Jeremy Doku (City of Manchester), Lois Openda (RB Leizpig), Lukeba Castle (RB Leipzig) or Romain Faivre (Bournemouth) decided to leave the league this summer.
