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Mauricio Pochettino is back in the game. The former Tottenham boss, sacked by Spurs in November 2019, replaced Thomas Tuchel at Paris Saint-Germain.
Here are the five most pressing issues Pochettino must address …
Win hearts and minds
Pochettino’s priorities at the beginning of his new project contrast sharply with his previous one. At Spurs, it was all focused on ending their trophy drought, after the coach laid the groundwork to put the club on the same stage as the biggest names in Europe. Now, at PSG, the trophies are almost guaranteed. But to truly satisfy his new bosses, Pochettino has to achieve success in a way that captures the imagination of everyone within the club and, ideally, those ambivalent to his cause beyond the Parc des Princes.
For that, PSG has the best man for the position. Pochettino has left an indelible mark on many of his former positions and on the fans who watched those players grow, and in some cases surpass, under his influence. He prides himself on creating the best possible environment in which to work and, for fans, his style of high intensity football is an exhilarating watch.
In his previous positions, however, Pochettino has taken over groups of players accustomed to punching, while at PSG, his star-studded locker room is too comfortable swinging in the opposite direction. Selling your vision to Saints and Spurs players has likely been a lot easier than the task ahead: uniting an often fractured team riddled with influencers unaccustomed to sidelining rather than itself.
– Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) January 2, 2021
Win the Champions League
Goodwill is important, but Pochettino knows that he is, now more than ever, in the business of winning. He can win his first silver medal as PSG boss, in fact his first trophy as a coach anywhere, in his third game in charge. On January 13, the Parisians head to Lens to face Andre Villas-Boas’s Marseille at the Trophee des Champions. That, or any other national trophy, is considered the essential minimum requirement. Laurent Blanc was fired after consecutive domestic Trebles. The Champions League is what determines the success of any PSG coach today in the mind of President Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
Tuchel brought PSG closer than ever. In August, they fell victim to Bayern Munich’s relentlessness in Lisbon. Close, but not close enough.
Pochettino’s predecessor dragged PSG through a complicated group, at the expense of Manchester United, and the main task of the new coach is to prepare his players to face Barcelona in the round of 16 next month.
Given the rebuilding required at PSG, this could be your best chance of achieving the most sought after success, especially within the term of Pochettino’s initial contract. If he can rally the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Angel Di María for one last push, the new manager could achieve immortal status within six months of his appointment.
Advantage to Bayern! 🔴
Paris-born Kingsley Coman scores a goal against his former club …
A BIG call for Hansi Flick to take him to the starting eleven #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/r3xMX3t3hr
– Football at BT Sport (@btsportfootball) 23 Aug 2020
Change the mindset inside the dressing room
“Nothing but birthday parties, incredible,” said Thomas Meunier of life at PSG when he left in the summer. “When I was in Bruges, we would celebrate birthdays by playing darts or billiards in a bar, but here it’s just outrageous. But that only reflects the club: renting a palace, renting a building, parties with hundreds of people.
“That’s when you see that they are more than footballers; they are stars. I always had a good time, but it was all a bit quirky and ‘did you see me?’ But that’s part of it, part of the game. “
Pochettino is unlikely to accept that situation willingly. PSG may have been seen as a playing field by players in the past, but this team is about to meet the most determined coach that many of the players will have worked with.
That is not to say that Pochettino will enter brandishing his big stick, demanding that players throw their medals in the trash. to Brian Clough in Leeds. But the new manager will assert the kind of authority that many of the star names are no longer used to responding to. Pochettino has six months to assess which players he can trust in that regard. Starting with the big hitters …
It went off at Cavani, Icardi and Di Maria’s joint birthday party last night 💥 pic.twitter.com/avhV15gBrh
– ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) February 21, 2020
Tackle the future of your biggest names
A change is looming at PSG, regardless of Pochettino’s appointment. Their biggest names Mbappé and Neymar are approaching the last year of their contracts, and each supposedly sees a different path ahead.
It is said that Mbappé wants to leave for a new challenge, while it is now understood that Neymar is happy to stay. Both could be bad news for Pochettino.
The manager must understand what the Brazilian’s motivation is for staying in Paris, having spent most of his time since arriving as the world’s most expensive player in 2017 trying to leave and return to Spain. The suspicion has to be that your change of mind has come having realized that no other club will pay you what you earn at PSG, and you certainly won’t find one that offers you the same remuneration while catering to your many whims. .
Angel Di María is even closer to the end of his contract: the Argentine star will be a free agent this summer. One of Tuchel’s last acts as PSG boss was to put Di Maria on the bench against Lorient. “I feel like Angel has lost some things that were easy for him before,” said Tuchel, who had previously trusted Di Maria more than many of his teammates.
Juan Bernat is said to be close to agreeing on new terms before it expires this summer, while Julian Draxler is set to be released. Although Pochettino’s fresh eyes could give new impetus to those stars who currently do not justify their huge salaries.
Pochettino has never worked with such a brilliant variety of stars before, but he has shown that he can be ruthless when necessary. Shortly after taking over at the Spurs, he froze “the bomb squad.” Of course, Emmanuel Adebayor, Etienne Capoue, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Aaron Lennon and Younes Kaboul did not have the kind of influence that PSG heavy hitters clearly have, but it is unlikely that Pochettino would have taken the job had he not been assured. team support. dash when it comes to reshaping your squad.
Early loser: PSG, Mbappé and lack of fierce desire
Keep the board by your side
Tuchel seemed demob-happy by the time he was finally relieved of his duties. Apparently the decision had already been made to dispense with the coach but Tuchel drove the last nail into his own coffin with an interview he conducted with German media.
“Am I still a coach or am I a sports politician, a sports minister?” he pondered. “Deep down, I love the game and I can get this satisfaction in many ways as a coach. I just love soccer. And in a club like this, it’s not always just football. “
Those appointments reportedly went down as well as you’d expect with a board as thin as PSG’s. But they highlight the biggest problem for any coach at Parc des Princes: keeping the hierarchy and the players happy at the same time.
Tuchel struggled to get along with Leonardo and his predecessor as sporting director, Antero Henrique, while Al-Khelaifi’s relationship with big-name players would be unsettling even for the most self-confident coaches. Tuchel, however, has a history of pestering his bosses in the wrong way. Pochettino managed to keep Daniel Levy happy – at least until I was.
But Pochettino already has friends in high places. Just before his dismissal from Spurs, he gave a speech in Qatar and spoke of the “vision, planning and passion that the emirate shows for sports development.” The parisian He reports that Pochettino returned to Doha last fall to meet with the Emir of Qatar, who personally requested his appointment. It already seems clear that Pochettino plays politics better than his predecessor.
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