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Talking cure gives PSG hope

Paris Saint-Germain FC were forced to face some home truths after losing to Chelsea FC.

By David Minton

Paris Saint-Germain FC's underperforming players held crisis talks after last week's 3-0 UEFA Champions League Group H defeat by Chelsea FC which PSG coach Vahid Halilhodzic described as "shameful".

Glaring errors
Captain José Pierre-Fanfan and the rest of the players met in private to dissect the lessons of the defeat against the Didier Drogba-inspired Blues. Pierre-Fanfan said: "We needed to wash our dirty linen in private. We watched the video of the Chelsea game and the errors were glaring."

Goalkeeping blunder
"I misjudged the trajectory of the ball," was Lionel Letizi's honest take on John Terry's opener, a free header at the back post after the goalkeeper had failed to claim Frank Lampard's corner. Drogba added two goals to take his tally in European competition to a formidable 13 goals in 18 games.

Shocking form
The loss left PSG still chasing their first win and first clean sheet of the season - and the pressure has mounted since. On Sunday the Parisians were beaten 1-0 at home by AS Monaco FC, then on Wednesday they squandered a 2-0 lead away to RC Lens, conceding two late goals to draw 2-2.

'Lacking calmness'
With that draw PSG slipped into the relegation zone in Ligue 1, with just four points from seven matches, and Albanian midfield player Lorik Cana admitted to uefa.com: "We've been lacking calmness in our play all season and we wanted to kick-start things with a good result against Chelsea. Unfortunately we were well beaten."

Unsettled squad
Part of PSG's problem is a high turnover of players. Of the eleven that started against Chelsea only four - Bernard Mendy, Pauleta, Modeste M'Bami and Pierre-Fanfan - were first-team regulars last season. PSG were hit by the summer transfers of key defenders Frédéric Dehu, to Olympique de Marseille, and Gabriel Heinze, to Manchester United FC. The acrimonious departure of Fabrice Fiorèse, also to arch-rivals Marseille, just before the transfer window closed also did nothing for morale within the camp.

Clearing the air
Pierre-Fanfan said: "We know we're in deep trouble. There was unease between the players and we needed this meeting in private, without the coaching staff, to clear the air. There were cliques in the squad and we'd reached the stage where certain players were taking pleasure in the discomfort of others. That's all done with now and it had to stop."

'I am ashamed'
Though few teams could have lived with what Chelsea coach José Mourinho called a "perfect performance", Halilhodzic was left dissatisfied with the effort of his players. "I'm ashamed for the fans who were fantastic," he said. "When you lose you have to at least go down fighting and display pride in wearing the shirt."

Certain exceptions
Exempt from the Bosnian coach's criticisms were Pierre-Fanfan, who played a full 90 minutes despite a head wound that required nine stitches, sustained in an early clash with Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, and the Portuguese striker Pauleta. "Pauleta ran around like a lion and Pierre-Fanfan was brave," said Halilhodzic. "When I look at those two I know I have players of character. It's now up to the others to follow their example."

Miraculous recovery
Perhaps PSG can take heart from last season when they recovered from a poor start in some style. Seventeenth in Ligue 1 after five matches, PSG went 17 matches unbeaten later in the season to finish second, and also won the French Cup. With the players now united following the Chelsea debacle, Halilhodzic will hope for a similar turnaround in fortunes when his side play PFC CSKA Moskva in Russia on Wednesday.

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