POCHIS GUARANTEED GLORY IN PARIS . . . BUT WHAT WILL IT PROVE?
PARIS ST-GERMAIN have won seven of the last eight French league titles. The winning margins have been 12, 16, 13, 31, eight, nine and 12 points.
Unusually, PSG are not top of the league right now — they trail Lyon and Lille by a point — and they have just sacked manager Thomas Tuchel.
It is against this background that Mauricio Pochettino is favourite to take the job. Given how long we have waited for the former Spurs manager to assume a new post, i t already feels underwhelming.
During his time at Tottenham and Southampton, Pochettino was driven by the challenge of punching upwards, of upsetting the established order. With that in mind, taking the PSG job looks like a free hit.
The French league is not competitive. PSG’s wealth pretty much sees to that. Smaller clubs sometimes rest players against them because they know they cannot win. As such, titles for the biggest club in the country tend to run like oil.
To Pochettino, the attraction is obvious. He has been a manager for more than a decade and has not won anything. This move would change that. He would win in France and would eventually l eave with an enhanced c.v.
So we know why he may want to go there. Paris in spring, personal wealth, trophies. Yes, we get all that.
It is just that during his time in the Premier League, his impact really was quite profound. It seems a shame he has not only gone now, but he will not be back for a while.
It is already a year since he left Tottenham and the Premier League is poorer for his absence.
Manchester United felt like the natural fit; a big club in need of modernising on and off the field; a club whose players would have benefited f rom the micromanagement that shaped so many at his two English postings. It is no coincidence many players f rom Southampton and Spurs remain in touch with him.
But — for all their recent steps forward under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer — United’s loss may now be PSG’s gain. The only question is whether Pochettino can t i ck t he one box l eft unchecked at the French club and win the Champions League.
From a broader perspective, that is the only significant thing he could do there, the only achievement that would set him apart f rom those who have passed before him — Tuchel, Unai Emery, Laurent Blanc and Carlo Ancelotti.
It would not be easy. At PSG, Pochettino would have some input in recruitment but his r elationship with sporting director Leonardo would be crucial in that regard and may not be straightforward. Despite his reputation for easy charm, there are those at Tottenham who will tell you of an altogether different and darker side when Pochettino doesn’t get what he wants. Last season’s appearance in the Champions League final — where PSG lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich — was the club’s first. They topped their group this season and will play Barcelona next. Pochettino woul d wor k with some rare players in Paris. Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are generational t alents and it would be fascinating to observe his handling of both. But there are holes in the squad, while the challenge of competing in big European ties remains considerable for a squad who are rarely asked any proper questions — or asked to play under real pressure — in their domestic league. The Pochettino we know likes to build a squad, a team, a style and a club in his own image. That may not be possible in Paris, where the outlook always feels short-term. So, if he does go there, he had better make sure he wins. And wins big.
MARCELO BIELSA said he worries that what the media said and wrote after his Leeds side’s 6-2 defeat at Manchester United would ‘influence the public’. No mate, the result did that.