The Parisian coach delivers his feelings after the card against Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday (7-2), at the Park, in C1.
The match, qualification and first place : «It’s a beautiful evening. The objective was to qualify, it was important to do so tonight, it’s done. Now there is one last game left and all four teams will have a stake, for first place or the Europa League. We will have to do a great performance in Turin to get this first place, which is very important to me. On the match, there are obviously a lot of satisfactions, but I am… not annoyed, but I would say that we lacked requirements at the start of the second period. As much as we were taken, and it was well played on the part of Haifa, on the first goal, as much we lacked requirements and rigor on the second, which revived Maccabi. Apart from that, I’m obviously satisfied with the game and the performance of the team as a whole. The team played fantastic football, there was a lot of bonding between the lines, between our defenders and our midfielders, between the midfielders and the forwards, and the three forwards were fantastic, with a very strong connection between them. From the moment everyone plays for each other and for the team, it sends back a very good image and it gives this kind of match.»
System change : «I realized that it was starting to get stuck in another system but also that some players were going up in training sessions, especially in the middle, Fabian or Carlos, not to mention little Warren, to whom I wink of an eye, it’s nice for a young person to live an evening like that and to be able to enter this kind of match. There was a lot of thinking about what we should produce in the game, how to do so that my three fantastic players in front can express themselves in the best possible way, each in their preferential zone. It turned out that this organization, with the quality of our players, our defenders, could be very interesting. It was against OM, Ajaccio and it worked very well tonight. It’s all good for the team and each other. It will make it possible to maintain competition in certain sectors, but also to be able to make greater rotations so that everyone can exist and recover in this sequence of matches.»
It would be pretentious to think that we have the best team in the world.
Christophe Galtier
The best team in the world with the “MNM” at this level : «It would be pretentious to think that we have the best team in the world. In this competition, there are very high quality opponents. We will see what will happen after our last match and during the draw (for the round of 16, November 7). But I have three extraordinary players up front. We had to find a system, an organization, but also complementarities in the midfield so that they could express themselves more freely. Everyone knows the technical quality of the three and the relationship they can have in small spaces. But we also realize that, in this organization, the fact of being able to defend a little more in density allows us to have transitions. And when there are transitions and one of the three goes with the ball, it comes alive quickly, it plays fair and for each other. It’s obviously very nice to see…»
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Allow the “MNM” to continue at this pace : «It is very pleasant to train them every day. When they express themselves like that, it’s the Holy Grail for a coach! With the sequence of matches, there is a management to be had, the choice of who to put behind them to be fair in the recovery and intense in the recovery to free them at best. They like to be and play together. They work very well together on a daily basis. For the record, yesterday’s session (Monday) was of an exceptional technical level, exceptional!»
I saw the players having a lot of fun and it’s very important, it has to continue.
Christophe Galtier
The concept of pleasure : «A coach takes very little pleasure, there are a lot of things to manage, the sequence of matches, the fact of paying attention to injuries, keeping fresh, there are four matches left in this series. But I saw the players take a lot of pleasure in the technical relations, by looking for each other on small connections, to find depth, especially on Hakimi’s side, to have a fairly good balance. I saw the players having a lot of fun and it’s very important, it has to continue.»
The entry of Warren Zaire-Emery : «Once the score had been acquired, I wanted to pay attention to the organisms before an important championship match (against Troyes, Saturday at 5 p.m.) and another C1 meeting. It seemed important to me to send a signal to Warren so that he shows me in training or in the Youth League, to him but also to other young people, that we can play at PSG.»
Statements taken at a press conference
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