Since the summer, the capital’s club has been doing everything it can to mark a break with the previous era and, in turn, with its succession of European failures since its passage under the Qatari flag in 2011.
A summer that looks like an extreme makeover. Tired of disappointing themselves, Paris Saint-Germain changed almost everything in the space of a few months. There is no question of taking half measures. Less than a year after his induction, Christophe Galtier was dismissed from his position as coach even though he had been identified as the face “a new project”. A coach with diametrically opposed ideas replaced him. With Luis Enrique, twelve recruits have joined the Parisian squad. Ousmane Dembélé, Randal Kolo Muani, Lucas Hernandez… The headliners of the transfer window are French, like Kylian Mbappé, last head of the hydra, after the flight of Lionel Messi and the (forced) departure of Neymar.
Neither patience nor clemency, even for a darling of the Parc des Princes. While he had everything to finish his career in Paris, after having already spent 11 seasons there, Marco Verratti was also shown the exit door. So many strong decisions came to serve the same message: PSG will no longer be the same in 2023-2024. On the eve of the capital club’s return to the Champions League, against Borussia Dortmund, this disruptive strategy was still felt, on Monday, in communication.
“The path is long”
Asked about the importance of the competition in the eyes of the club, Luis Enrique made a change during a press conference. According to the Spanish technician, making it an obsession is counterproductive: “When a club or someone is obsessed with something, it’s never a good sign. You have to have hopes, ambition, but obsession never works. In any area of life”. These words sound obvious, but this speech had not yet been clearly heard in Paris, a club which “gave himself five years to win the Champions League” following its acquisition by QSI in 2011.
No frying on the airwaves. The message was received five out of five by captain Marquinhos, repeating more or less the same thing as his coach: “The club wants to win all the titles and the Champions League is one of them, yes. But it’s not just that, it’s not an obsession. We want to get to the top but the road is long “. After two consecutive eliminations from the round of 16, PSG fell back to earth, to the point that their last two squares in a row (final in 2020 and semi-finals in 2021) seem very distant.
The luck for the capital club is that everyone agrees, players and observers, on the importance of the road ahead and its primacy over these high objectives which have never been achieved. Despite the defeat at home against Nice (2-3) on Friday, there is not the usual heavy atmosphere as each European evening approaches. A year ago the sand yachting controversy already broke out, triggered by an unfortunate outing by Christophe Galtier at a press conference. This time, we will remember the optimism of Luis Enrique.
“I believe that the attitude and behavior of my players deserves a 10 out of 10”supported the Spaniard, saying moreover “extremely satisfied” of the summer transfer window, despite the loss of Marco Verratti. Thanks to this measured communication, when it comes time to play its first match in the toughest group of this Champions League, Paris is taking precautions. The transformation to the new PSG has been announced, but the reality on the ground still remains to validate it.