“When it comes to their behavior, they are the first to attack others. Starting with the star of this team, Leo Messi,” Rothen said. “Now that he is a world champion and has had a good rest ahead of the World Cup since two years ago at PSG. He used to have the image of a sweet guy, but now he has changed because his true personality is coming out and he got caught.“

In his “Rothen s’enflamme” show on RMC Sport, the 45-year-old criticized the Inter Miami star for his heated exchange with Brazilian winger Rodrygo, claiming he reflects a negative image of the Argentines.

“Today you can’t even touch him anymore. Only when he takes a hit does he make the same comment he made to Rodrygo last night when he said, ‘Hey, I’m a world champion.’ The team reflects an image of Argentines. Argentine nationality is like that and you feel superior because of someone else. They could have more class.“

But the former French midfielder also claimed La Albiceleste are not the best team on the planet, even if they won the last World Cup. “They are world champions. But one thing is for sure: they are not the best team in the world! There are players today who are world champions and I congratulate them for that. But they are far from being the best in their positions.”

Rothen said Messi didn’t deserve 2023 Ballon d’Or

Before his latest comments on Messi, Rothen had already launched a rant against the former Barcelona player after he won his eighth Ballon d’Or. In his opinion, Erling Haaland deserved to win it this year.

“It’s shameful! Of course, it’s shameful! For me, Haaland should have won it. Between August 2022 and June 2023, what criteria lead us to believe that Messi is better than the rest? There is basically no criterion where he is the number one,” he said. “If we speak about trophies, he is behind Haaland, even if he did win the World Cup. Haaland won everything with Manchester City and of course, you can’t compare based on the World Cup because Haaland is Norwegian.”

Rothen pointed out the number of records broken by Haaland in his first year in England in the 2022-23 campaign, in which he helped Manchester City win the treble (Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup).

“Haaland beat all of the records […] even at PSG, Messi wasn’t above the rest. He wasn’t even the best player at the club. It’s problematic that the guy who gets the Ballon d’Or, who is supposed to be the best player in the world, wasn’t even the best player at his club. For three or four years, Messi has not been the best player in the world. We need to stop this madness. And in these four years, he has won two Ballon d’Ors. So, for me, it’s shameful. I can’t believe my eyes.”

Messi emerged victorious in the 2023 Ballon d’Or vote with 462 points, 105 more than the Norwegian striker and 192 clear of Kylian Mbappe. While his performance at PSG wasn’t that impressive, he did shine in the World Cup, scoring seven goals in as many games to help Argentina win the trophy.

After June 30, when his PSG contract ends, the Argentine will be free to move to David Beckham’s MLS team. His last game for the Parisian outfit was on June 3 against Clermont Foot, marking the end of his stay in France.

Messi played for the Red-and-Blues for two seasons (75 games total) and contributed 32 goals and 35 assists. There is no doubt that his departure was handled poorly, and many at the French champions reportedly feel he owed it to his former colleagues to be more respectful.

What did Jerome Rothen say about Lionel Messi’s efforts at PSG?

PSG legend Jerome Rothen has been vocal on several occasions in his criticism of the Argentine superstar. Now, the former French midfielder has accused the 35-year-old forward of being a poor teammate by saying that he didn’t want to practice in the mornings while he was at the Parisian club.

One time, the Argentine also skipped out on training before it was through. The forward was having calf problems, as explained by coach Christophe Galtier. However, Rothen has argued that this was not the situation.

“We got wind of a lot of things. We mopped up all that because it wasn’t the time to talk about it. Remember the day he left training? The club had covered it all up, saying it was a small calf injury. It was all wrong, absolutely wrong. The reason? Monsieur was fed up with this that was offered to him in training,” he told RMC Sport.

“It was certainly a day when his children were suffering in my opinion… (ironic). He was not well in his head, so he left training. He went back to the locker room, he took a shower, he left. It shows how much he respected his coach and his teammates.

“He very often wanted to change the pace of training. He did not want to train in the morning. He told the staff on several occasions that training in the morning is not good. That you have to train in the afternoon. Fortunately, the staff did not give up. This shows that he wanted to change certain things and that he did not want to adapt.”