POCH STILL GREAT
Parisian adventure may have ended badly, but Mauricio remains highly regarded across Europe and will be welcomed back here with open arms
MAURICIO POCHETTINO is ready to return to English football and could be in line for the next big job in the Premier League.
The former Tottenham boss’s stock remains high after his 18-month spell at Paris Saint-Germain.
Pochettino has been left in limbo for weeks while PSG sorted out the terms of his exit, which held up the appointment of successor Christophe Galtier, who has been named as their next boss more than a week after leaving Nice.
That rather sums up the problems behind the scenes, which have made it difficult for any manager to succeed.
Luis Campos has arrived at PSG as a ‘football advisor’ – having worked with Kylian Mbappe at Monaco – to replace sacked sporting director, Leonardo.
France superstar Mbappe appears to hold the keys to the kingdom at a club where big names rule and it has become increasingly difficult for managers to work with authority.
PSG have yet to make any superstar signings this summer. Neymar’s future looks uncertain despite a contract extension kicking in and the Brazil star could yet be sold.
They are the best and richest team in France, but the Champions League is their Holy Grail, as PSG are determined to be regarded among Europe’s elite.
Pochettino’s time in Paris has been painted as a failure but he won the French title by 15 points last season.
And in his first term in charge, he led them to the Champions League semi-finals where they lost to
Manchester City and that was further than a host of other top managers, like Carlo Ancelotti and Unai Emery, managed.
The only other boss to get as far as that – and indeed into the final – was Thomas Tuchel, who has gone on to excel at Chelsea.
Several top bosses have struggled to live up to expectations and, rather than blame Pochettino, the club needs to look at whether or not those managers were given the right platform to succeed.
There are so many egos in the dressing room, agents and players complaining to the club’s president, rather than the manager, when they are dropped, and an outdated training facility out of step with everything else at the club. They are rebuilding the training ground but, until then, PSG have the three bestpaid players in the world with Lionel Messi, Mbappe and Neymar (the three, left) all using facilities from the 90s. It is a contradiction for a mega-rich club trying to grow up fast. But any boss will struggle to manage a dressing room which has often seemed out of control, run by the players, with no one allowed to challenge their egos. It was PSG’s exit from the Champions League which was the fatal blow for Pochettino – knocked out by Real Madrid after losing a two-goal lead. But Real beat Chelsea and City on the way to final glory against Liverpool. So maybe they weren’t so bad after all.