2023-07-07 20:44:24
The winds of change are blowing at PSG, as is usual at this time in a club that has been in a permanent revolution for a decade, lurching in its hiring policy, be it the sports director, the coach or the players. At length there has been talk about the paradigm shift in the transfer section, which began with the signings of Neymar and Mbappé in the summer of 2017. Al-Khelaïfi and his managers understood that the only way to achieve their long-awaited dream of winning the Champions was to bring together the best stars on the planet in their squad, a strategy that has been proven wrong.
The changes in the Parisian bench have produced less literature than the signings of the great cracks, but they are of greater interest because they explain well the emergencies and anxieties that have plagued the managers of PSG in this decade. Al-Khelaïfi and his team have been carried away by fashion, hiring and firing technicians without any defined path, sudden changes in criteria that have cost the French club more than 50 million euros in compensation. It all started in the summer of 2017. PSG had then enjoyed the stage with the fewest shocks since the purchase of Qatar. There were three complete seasons under the orders of Laurent Blanc. That team played well, signed with intelligence and dominated France with an iron fist, getting eleven of the twelve possible titles. The Champions League was yet to come, however, and Al-Khelaïfi decided to hire Unai Emery, who had just won three Europa Leagues in a row. The change was clear, a less showy football but one that was effective in knockout tournaments, in which the Hondarribia coach was an expert. Then Tuchel arrived, the only one who managed to reach a Champions League final, but was fired in an unusual way in the middle of the 20-21 season. In his place came Pochettino, another coach with a taste for the associated game, but after two disappointing seasons his position was taken by Galtier, in a new commitment to more defensive football, which would allow him to sustain the weight of his offensive trident, whose work without the ball it is practically nil.
The signing of Luis Enrique means a return to football for Blanc or Tuchel, a game of possession and dominance. With the everlasting doubts about the future of Mbappé hovering over, the Spaniard must make a squad to his liking. So far, the Parisians have closed three high-level signings. Asensio arrives for free from Real Madrid, the same as the Slovakian Skriniar from Inter, to replace Sergio Ramos. So far they have only paid for Manuel Ugarte, a promising Uruguayan midfielder for whom several of the big European clubs were fighting, and who comes from Sporting Lisbon in exchange for 60 million euros. Lee Kang-In, one of the revelations of the Spanish league last season, also seems close to signing for the Parisian club.
Neymar’s doubt
Luis Enrique must also decide what to do in the departures section, since up to eight players, some of a high level such as Wijnaldum, Icardi and Paredes, have completed their respective assignments to return to the discipline of the Parisian club. Neymar is the big question mark; The Brazilian shone like never before under the command of the Asturian, and after the departure of Messi and the possible departure of Mbappé he should be the leader of the project, although the club doubts his commitment. In his six seasons in Paris, he has never exceeded 22 league games, a figure that speaks of the Brazilian’s propensity for injuries and his excessive taste for extra-sports activities, although no one doubts that at his best level he continues to be one of the best soccer players on the planet.
The success of Luis Enrique’s project will depend to a large extent on the patience of Al-Khelaïfi and the emir of Qatar, a quality that they have not shown excessively in the twelve years of government at the French club. The example of Manchester City should be illustrative for them; Urgency is always a bad travel companion in football, what is needed is a coach who feels supported, signings that are consistent with the coach’s idea and understanding that the difference between success or failure in such capricious competition Since the Champions League is very thin, what is truly important is to be a candidate every year and fight one on one with the best. If they allow Luis Enrique to develop his idea, PSG can again be a formidable team and not a group that depends on the inspiration of its attackers, as it has been this season.
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