Gilles Bourges, the former PSG goalkeeper coach, has shed light on the tolerance of cigarette smoking at the Ile-de-France club, a practice that has been allowed since the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti’s technical staff.
While acknowledging the changes implemented by Ancelotti’s staff, Bourges feels it’s excessive to categorize all French players together. He emphasizes that some French players initially took time to adapt to the changes but cannot be uniformly judged.
Regarding the players’ lifestyle, Bourges clarifies that the tolerance for smoking, including cigarettes, existed at the Loges camp and was accepted by the staff. There was even a designated room near the coffee machine for this purpose. Bourges dispels the notion that only French players engaged in this habit, stating that two or three foreign players also occasionally participated.
Carlo Ancelotti had recently criticized French players, suggesting they lack a winning mentality and often insist on giving 100% in training, contrasting it with English players who might not always aim for peak performance during practice.
