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Just a year after being shown the door at Tottenham Hotspur, Mauricio Pochettino is back in the mix after Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain announced his appointment as the club’s head coach on Saturday.
By joining his old club where he spent two and a half seasons as a player between 2001 and 2003, the Argentine will no doubt be tasked with what his predecessor, Thomas Tuchel, failed to accomplish: bringing the elusive UEFA Champions League trophy to Parc. des Princes for the first time in the club’s 50 years of existence. With that in mind, Pochettino immediately vowed to “win in style.”
“PSG are one of the biggest clubs in the world so it is important not only to win, but to win in style,” the 48-year-old told the club’s website after filling the void left by the abrupt Tuchel’s dismissal on December 24. . “I return to the club with a lot of ambition and humility … and I will do my best to give our team the identity of combative and offensive play that Parisian fans have always loved.”
So what is the exact position Pochettino is in?
Due to a lackluster start to the season, PSG are currently in an unprecedented third place in Ligue 1 with 35 points from 17 games. The Parisians are still one point away from first place, but it is their worst comeback at this stage since the 2013/14 season. Having lost four times in the league this season, they have already lost more games than in all of last season.
In Europe, Pochettino will be tasked with planning Barcelona’s downfall in a UEFA Champions League knockout knockout at the Camp Nou on February 16, and the return leg on March 6. Considering their feat of leading Tottenham Hotspur into their first game With their appearance in the final of the competition, it can be said that PSG is in the hands of confidence.
Mauricio Pochettino played as a defender for PSG during his playing career. (Twitter / @ PSG_English)
Before spending the last year avoiding management hearsay, pandering to the experts and holding Zoom conferences with Argentine coaches, Pochettino kept busy with the job of transforming Tottenham Hotspur into a force to be reckoned with. During his five-and-a-half-year stay in London, he led the club to two runs for the Premier League title and made it a regular in the UEFA Champions League.
Before all the recognition, Pochettino’s story of ascent began in 2009 when he was appointed coach of Espanyol de La Liga, where he used to play as a hard tackle defender under the leadership of Marcelo Bielsa.
Over the years, he has honed his Bielsa-inspired principles: wear a diamond in the defensive third while in possession and instruct his four forwards to stay tight during off-ball pressure. He also effectively uses his wings to switch games quite frequently to create more angles to advance the ball further up the field. With the talent available to him at PSG, he will surely make the most of it in his preferred 4-2-3-1 system.
In addition to having world-class forwards in Neymar and Kylian Mbappé and an efficient midfielder in Marco Verratti, he will have several compatriots to count on as Mauro Icardi, Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes. In addition, the presence of defenders who play with the ball like Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe will help Pochettino maintain his usual preparation process.
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With the transfer window open, he will also be interested in bringing in fresh faces like Inter Milan midfielder Christian Eriksen or even Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli. Whether or not Pochettino will use his ties to Argentina to bring six-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi to the end of the current season remains to be seen.
The son of a farmer from the rural village of Murphy, Pochettino is a stickler for detail, which along with his tactical acumen, his devotion to handsome style, his man-management skills, and his popularity with Parisians of his days as gamer, make him a gamer. Potentially ideal fit as the new occupant of the PSG dugout.
Now, Pochettino will meet his team at PSG’s first post-Christmas training on Sunday before his trip to Saint-Etienne on Wednesday. Then PSG host Brest next Saturday before the Trophee des Champions against Marseille on January 13. Can you settle in before the onslaught of matches? Only time will tell.
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