PASSENGERS
CARRA AND HENRY’S PARIS VERDICT: Teams can’t afford to carry stars but PSG are carrying three.. they’ve got no chance of winning Champions League
EUROPEAN success for the last two managers to leave PSG is a statement in itself.
Unai Emery went on to lift the Europa League with an inferior line-up of Villarreal players. Thomas Tuchel won the Champions League with a talented Chelsea team.
The common denominator? Both were prepared to put a shift in. Just like Manchester United in the win over Villarreal on Tuesday night.
Mauricio Pochettino has seen enough from his egotistical front three – Leo Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe – to know he needs to get shot of them before they do for him.
You can see why the former Spurs boss was willing to break the glass on the PSG exit door and go to Manchester United now, rather than wait until summer. That won’t happen with United appointing Ralf
Rangnick as interim boss on a six-month contract.
But anyone who saw the way Pochettino made Southampton and Spurs two of the toughest teams to beat in the EPL will see the Argentine knows how to organise a team that wants to work. He turned Tottenham’s defence into the best in England two seasons running then took them to the 2018 Champions League Final. With the talent available at United – Cristiano Ronaldo included – you could see him joining Emery and Tuchel in succeeding away from that toxic PSG dressing room.
Ex-Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said: “Pochettino has got to get out of that club. If he’s got the chance to go to Manchester United, I’d be gone tomorrow – and it’s because of those three stars.”
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry added: “If you want to win the Champions League you cannot defend with seven players.
“Teams that win titles and win the Champions League, you need to have your front three chasing the ball, do at least the bare minimum.
“Tuchel couldn’t make PSG defend. As soon as he arrived at Chelsea they listened. Everyone who left PSG went on to win in Europe – Emery and Tuchel.”
Carragher believes the way PSG were shown up by City’s industry underlines why Pochettino’s embarrassment of riches is actually fool’s gold.
He added: “The four teams I think will win the Champions League – Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea or Bayern Munich – do not carry one passenger. PSG are carrying three. They’ve got no chance.”