Question time
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
WHAT IS MAURICIO POCHETTINO’S TOP PRIORITY?
Above all, the former Spurs boss will be looking to give the Parisians a durable, well-defined playing style, something which his predecessor generally failed to implement in his two and a half years in charge. For all PSG’s success last season – a domestic Treble plus a Champions League final – they tended to be football chameleons, changing shape, organisation and philosophy from week to week. More often than not, it seemed that the Tuchel project was a trial by error treadmill.
Pochettino, who played in central defence for PSG between 2001 and 2003, quickly needs to come up with a solid collective system that does not solely rely on the brilliance of attacking superstars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. In a mission statement on the club’s website, Pochettino promised to play “combative, attacking football”.
Secondly, Pochettino must assert his authority. Compared to a relatively serene dressing-room at Tottenham,
PSG are awash with big egos. The new coach will have to be on his toes to maintain order, unity and focus. One of Tuchel’s most significant mistakes was to cede too much latitude to the team’s senators, more or less allowing them to manage themselves. Pochettino is unlikely to be so laissez-faire. Tellingly, he laid down the law in his first PSG training session, informing his new charges that he wanted less noise and more application: “Stop talking guys. This is a training session.”
Ultimately, much will depend on the sort of relationship he builds with main man Neymar, who as well as being a match-winner par excellence, also has a flair for fomenting trouble with his capricious excesses.
Fitness and conditioning is another problem area. Towards the end of last year, the Parisians appeared out on their feet, while it is common knowledge that the doctors at PSG are more than a little worried about Mbappe’s current tendency for muscular ailments, so much so that they warned Tuchel against starting him too often. A remedy also needs to be found for the repeated
PSG are awash with big egos. The new coach will have to be on his toes to maintain order, unity and focus
injury absences of deep-lying Italian playmaker Marco Verratti, a long-time sufferer of groin inflammation. A fit and firing Verratti, both a visionary passer and dogged ball-winner, would certainly help enormously. Word has it that Pochettino believes the Italian is carrying too much timber and wants him to go on a diet.
It’s vital for Pochettino to have a squad capable of firing on all cylinders. His preferred style of play, one based on intensity and directness, is not possible without a full tank of gas.
Bayern roared back to achieve either a share of the spoils or a win, but sooner or later, such sloppiness will cost them dear. Their lethargy out of the traps is simply asking for trouble, and in a campaign with games coming thick and fast, it’s hardly the best way to conserve energy. Bayern have to learn to play more efficiently.
“At the moment we always seem to need a wake-up call before really getting down to business” says Bayern winger Leroy Sane. “We have to be on it from the first minute.”
“At the moment we always seem to need a wake-up call before really getting down to business”
Leroy Sane
Defensively, the Bavarians have hardly been watertight, conceding 25 goals in their first 17 league games - the worst record of any of the Bundesliga’s top four at the midway point. Without the outstanding Manuel Neuer, they would have let in considerably more. Of particular concern to coach Hansi Flick is the poor form of centre-back Jerome Boating and right-back Benjamin Pavard. In the 5-2 victory over Mainz, the pair were hauled off at the break. Boateng and Pavard may find it hard to get back in the good books of Flick.
Complacency?
Lack of motivation? Or just saving themselves for the big European nights?
Whatever the reasons, Flick was not a happy man: “In the first half against Mainz, our defensive display was not worthy of a top team. We were careless in duels and allowed the opposition too many scoring opportunities.”
After rubbing up Pep Guardiola the wrong way at Manchester City, new Bayern winger Leroy Sane sadly appears to be having the same effect on Flick. While a wonderful attacking talent, pacy, penetrative and full of craft, Sane can be terribly inconsistent and has not been starting regularly in Bavaria. Flick wants the German international to track back more, and made an example of him in the 2-1 win at Leverkusen just before Christmas, bringing him on as first-half substitute for the injured Kingsley Coman, then pulling him 30 minutes later.
Tough times for Sane. Either he works harder off the ball, or sits on bench. Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge laid it on the line: “God gave him unbelievable talent, but he has yet to show he has the Bayern DNA. He has to work on this. It’s his duty.”
accused Zidane of excessive line-up rotation. His response is that it’s the only way to avoid even more injuries.
Real’s packed treatment room has shone a particularly bright light on a squad that lacks strength in depth. Back in the summer, Zidane was reported to have identified four areas of the side that needed extra manpower: attacking reinforcements, a box-to-box midfielder, a full-back and a centre-back. Much to his frustration, none of his wishes were fulfilled. Indeed, not one new buy came through the door, let alone a big-money headliner.
The harsh truth is that Real, like the vast majority of clubs in these times of the pandemic, are feeling the pinch. They have had to take a substantial economic hit. Last season, income was
€715m. This term, that is expected to drop by €107m. For the current campaign, their budget has shrunk from €917m to €617m. Players, coaches and executives have suffered a salary cut of ten per cent. “This is a moment for austerity and solidarity,” declared club president Florentino Perez at a meeting of club members late last year.
Zidane, the architect of three straight Champions League triumphs with the Galacticos in 2016, 2017 and 2018, faces the most problematic of tasks: continuing to win with less resources.
Under the circumstances, adding a fourth would be his finest achievement.
Who would have imagined that one of the world’s biggest clubs would face such a personnel predicament?
fundamental to Juve.” They most certainly are. The numbers speak volumes. Ronaldo has provided 40 per cent of Juventus’ goals this term. Morata, for his part, has proved equally valuable, notching 11 goals and seven assists in all competitions by midJanuary. With the pair in tandem, Juventus normally prevail.
Crucially both men have an excellent
Champions League pedigree. Ronaldo, of course, is the all-time leading marksman in the Champions League (with 134 goals) and has won the competition on five occasions with Manchester United and Real Madrid. Morata has two winners’ medals (both with Real Madrid) and came very close to making it a hat-trick in a previous stint with Juventus in 2014-15,
contributing four strikes on the march to the final, then adding a fifth in the
3-1 defeat to Barcelona.
“Morata has turned out to be the ideal twin for Ronaldo. They are fundamental to Juve”
Journalist Antonio Barilla
Amazing to think that most pundits and fans could not see the point when Morata signed on for a second spell at Juve in September. Juventus had been linked with swoops for Roma’s Edin Dzeko and Uruguayan predator Luis Suarez and the arrival of Morata was very much regarded as a sub-standard alternative. Those critics have since had to eat much humble pie.