It is not a surprise ! According to sources close to the club, Christophe Galtier is the new coach of Paris-Saint-Germain. After only a year spent at OGC Nice, the French technician signed a two-year contract with the French champions club with an optional additional year. “Galette” who trained Saint-Etienne, Lille and Nice now finds himself at the head of the biggest sports project of his career. To secure the services of the French technician, PSG had to pay the last two contracts that linked Christophe Galtier to OGC Nice.
A record built in the shadow of PSG
A fine tactician and good communicator, Christophe Galtier, who was crowned best league 1 coach in 2021, ticks all the boxes of the modern technician. Focus on the field and very attached to human relations with his group, the native of Marseille managed to make Saint-Etienne (2009-2017) or Lille (2017-2021) perform well with whom he won a French championship title (2021) and a league cup with the greens (2013). Trophies won under the nose and beard of the Parisian ogre for those who have a more contrasting record with Nice, their last club where they stayed for only a year (5th in L1 and finalist in the Coupe de France). In an interview with France Info five months ago, Christophe Galtier explained his method and above all the relationship he can have with his groups:
At the management level, I fight every day so that there is as little injustice as possible in a locker room and above all that the players feel that there is justice in the way I want to approach work, my relationship. with the players and bring them to very high goals, but through a justice that is valid for everyone.
56 years old, Christophe Galtier becomes only the third French coach to take the reins of PSG under the Qatari flag after Antoine Kombouaré (July – December 2011) and Laurent Blanc (2013-2016).
A real pair at PSG
Even if some of the PSG supporters remain skeptical about the appointment of Christophe Galtier who was not the most highly anticipated name to replace Mauricio Pochettino. One important thing should be emphasized in this arrival, finally the PSG will have at its head a pair who will and know how to work together. Since the Leonardo / Ancelotti duo in 2012, never has a sporting director really chosen the coach with whom he wants to work at Paris-Saint-Germain. There, the choice of “galette” as PSG coach is the strong choice of Luis Campos. The new PSG sports adviser worked with Christophe Galtier in Lille between 2017 and 2020. The two men knew how to tame each other and perform together. After maintaining LOSC, the two men saw Lille finish second in 2018-2019, fourth the following season before the crowning of French champions in 21 (even if that season Luis campos left before the coronation).
The two were in a hurry to meet again since they have been holding telephone meetings for almost two weeks to outline the new PSG staff but also the outlines of future departures and arrivals at PSG.
Will the players adhere to the method?
For the first time in his coaching career, Christophe Galtier finds himself at the head of an XXL team. And it is on this point that many observers and PSG fans are skeptical about the success of the former defender at the head of Paris-Saint-Germain. How will Messi, Neymar or even Kylian Mbappé accept the arrival of a coach who certainly has references in France but very few feats of arms in Europe? The first weeks of the Galtier era at PSG promise to be crucial.
First meeting between the French technician and his new group this Tuesday, July 5 for the resumption of training at the ooredoo center in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.