After Wissam Ben Yedder recently, the Senegalese international Ismaïl Jakobs was also sanctioned by his club, and the Monegasque ultras denounced, Thursday, “the unacceptable attitude and the abusive lack of professionalism of a large part of the players” of Monaco. “AS Monaco has become a vacation club for players (…) who already have their minds set on their future clubs,” wrote the Monegasque ultras in a press release. While Monaco are currently not qualified for Europe (the Ligue 1 ranking here), they accused: “How can the players afford, every week, to drink excessive alcohol in the bars of the Principality until 5 a.m. when they have training at 10:30 a.m..”
This echoes videos and photos published on social networks following certain evenings in the Principality after the Formula 1 Grand Prix last Sunday evening. According to some sources close to the club, the sanction concerning Jakobs could have a connection. The club has not confirmed. “He was sanctioned, will not play against Toulouse, explained coach Philippe Clement, Thursday at a press conference. It was clearly not good. He understood it. But it will stay in-house.”
The ultras also targeted Paul Mitchell, the sporting director, as well as “the chief vacationers” of the team, “in particular the players with oversized egos who had organized a pressure group which had fired Kovac, the last bastion of seriousness and professionalism”. “When things are unprofessional and we know it, we always punish,” retorted Clement. “It’s normal that the fans are not happy with our results,” he continued. The beginning of the week was tense, with a lot of frustration and disappointment. But great players always react in difficult times.
Also present at the conference, Axel Disasi assured to have “heard the message of the supporters”, who are “tired of seeing their team lose every weekend”. “If you’re not European, it’s clearly a failure,” admitted the vice-captain who admits not having “knew how to keep everyone afloat to keep a certain level”. But for him, “the message is to believe in it until the end, with Clement. Until now, it remains the coach (…) We must not let think that the coach does not have any more power on the group because of our bad results . On Saturday, Monaco receives Toulouse on the 38th and final day.