Poch aware of PSG demands

Paris – Mauricio Pochettino (above) was given the luxury of time at Tottenham Hotspur to build a team that would go on to reach a Champions League final, but the Argentine knows the demands are different now he is in charge at Paris Saint-Germain.

“We got to the Champions League final after five years working towards it. We built a platform and a structure and our objective was to be able to compete for these things,” Pochettino said in an interview in Paris, where he arrived in January refreshed after more than a year out of the game following his departure from Tottenham.

He took the north London club to the 2019 final, cementing his reputation as one Europe’s most exciting coaches despite losing 2-0 to Liverpool in Madrid.

“We had gone almost two years at Tottenham without signing any players when we got to the final. We have only been here two months,” he points out.

“At Tottenham we had the necessary time to develop something and it bore fruit with a mix of young players and experienced players.

“The project at PSG has been a different one for a number of years. We will see how we can create a project that will be different to what we did at Tottenham but will have the same objective, to win.”

Nothing less will do for the Argentine, whose predecessor Thomas Tuchel was sacked in December, four months after taking PSG to the Champions League final, having secured a clean sweep of the domestic honours in France.

The Qatar-owned club lost to Bayern Munich in Lisbon, and Pochettino knows the aim now is to go one better and win the trophy.

“Obviously this club aspires to win the Champions League. Lots of other clubs are trying to win it too, and have invested lots of money but can’t win it because it is not so easy,” he says.

So far things are looking good in Europe, with Kylian Mbappe's hat-trick helping Pochettino’s side thrash Barcelona 4-1 away in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie last month.

The return is on 10 March, but a quarterfinal place seems secure, while PSG are currently second in Ligue 1, two points behind leaders Lille.

It has been a whirlwind start to life back in Paris for Pochettino, who played for PSG between 2001 and 2003, including catching the coronavirus. –