Pochettino lasted 17 months at PSG but is the new Chelsea coach (Photo: Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images) It’s a complicated challenge, but I fully accept it.” We want to get the best version of the team. “The Champions League is almost unfair, it only takes one bad game to be out,” Luis Enrique said. But overseeing these years of European failure has rarely derailed top-level coaching careers: Carlo Ancelotti is back at Real Madrid, Thomas Tuchel is now in charge of Bayern Munich, Mauricio Pochettino leads Chelsea and Unai Emery is transforming Aston Villa. Their main aim has been to win the Champions League, where PSG have consistently come up short, reaching just one final, in 2020 - the season the pandemic turned the final two knockout rounds into single-leg ties played on neutral turf in Portugal. PSG are a cut above in France, and are comfortable favourites for another league title a year from now. In another sense, this is a job where you cannot lose as a coach. The new training ground must have been a part of the appeal for Luis Enrique. After the struggles of his predecessors, and the cacophony of noise that can be generated in Paris, it could seem questionable why any manager would want to step into this maelstrom. There is a swimming pool, a school for the academy youngsters, sleeping quarters for first-team players before games, a restaurant and even a vegetable patch, so they can become more self-sufficient. It covers 74 hectares (183 acres), will have 17 pitches and will house all of PSG’s sports, including judo and handball as well as men’s and women’s football. The imagery was all there for a fresh start.
Specifically, it was on Wednesday morning, when the club confirmed the departure of the beleaguered Galtier, and invited the world’s media to attend the unveiling of Luis Enrique, as well as explore their new €300million (£256.3m, $329.1m) training centre.Ī new beginning? Those are words that have been spoken at PSG before, but there is a material difference this time. This week was the moment where the line in the sand was drawn. But on the field, they have been derided for failing to achieve what their investments should live up to. Yes, the club have enjoyed success, whether that be their dominance of French football (they have now won more titles than any other French club after their ninth in 11 seasons) or their club rebranding, which has seen PSG rapidly achieve international recognition. It is no wonder the back-to-back French champions wish to draw a line under all that has gone before and move into a new era - or a “new cycle” as Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the club’s president, described it on Wednesday afternoon.Īt times this year, PSG’s sporting project has faded into the background behind an off-field circus, one that is adorned with talent but distracted by drama. Luis Enrique and Nasser Al-Khelaifi (Photo: Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP via Getty Images)
#INDEED HEAD SOCCER COACH NY TRIAL#
A head coach, Christophe Galtier, newly sacked while facing allegations of discrimination at a previous club - which he denies - with a trial looming and a possible three-year prison term if found guilty. A letter from Kylian Mbappe stating he does not want to trigger a contract extension. Messi missing the Ligue 1 player of the year awards to go to a Coldplay gig in Barcelona. A goalkeeper, Sergio Rico, seriously injured (but thankfully now out of ICU) when he was trampled by a horse.
An absent Neymar pictured on social media playing poker in Monaco while his team-mates secured the title. A protest by ultras outside the club headquarters, then another outside Neymar’s house. A two-week suspension for Lionel Messi after skipping training for an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia. A Champions League last-16 exit which exposed their lack of squad depth. A row between Neymar, Marquinhos and sporting director Luis Campos in the dressing room. Here is a brief summary of the past six months at Paris Saint-Germain.Ī record 11th league title, but 10 defeats in 50 games overall.
0 kommentar(er)
