At the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium,
Mauricio Pochettino completed his first game on Wednesday as coach of PSG , a disappointing draw (1-1) at Saint Etienne, with an embarrassed smile. The Argentinian had indeed steered a few seconds earlier by misinterpreting the question of a journalist, who wanted to know how much he had missed coaching a team. “It’s easy to point out mistakes once you don’t win, but it’s not fair to say that,” the former Tottenham manager snapped back, before his deputy Miguel D’Agostino did whispers to him that he was on the wrong track.
This funny and authentic sequence, followed by a frank mea culpa, almost symbolizes the inevitable groping accompanying the first steps of Mauricio Pochettino in his immense challenge. Namely that of convincing as quickly as possible a group with much stronger egos than at Spurs to adhere to its methods. We will not be surprised to find that three training sessions at Camp des Loges were not enough to really feel on his group the paw of an attacking and collective football dear to the Argentine coach.
The PSG “did not hurry much” after the break
“It’s hard for players to apply the concepts they discover, confides the former Parisian central defender . We have to adapt to the players, and they have to adapt to the new staff. But I am happy with the attitudes and the efforts made. “These clearly did not jump out in the Cauldron, as PSG was jostled, especially after the break, by a team from Saint-Etienne (14 e) without complex. Keylor Navas had to be decisive against Moukoudi (9th), Debuchy (21 e) and Bouanga (65 e), before being saved by his transverse on a head of the same Bouanga (65 e).
“I find that we took the ascendancy from the start of the second period ”, logically noted
Claude Puel
after this draw (1-1) allowing OL to take a three-point lead at the top of Ligue 1. “We saw a Paris team a little stretched, which did not hurry much, “adds Jessy Moulin, aware of having passed close to a big blow against a triple champion of France in title far from the account.
Mauricio Pochettin o ( @ PSG_inside ) at the microphone of @ OLIVETALLARON : “It’s very difficult for the players to adapt … The attitude , the state of mind were there. Now you have to prove … “ # ASSEPSG pic.twitter.com/SVG4nChHHh
– Football Club Channel (@CanalFootClub)
Claude Puel
Mauricio Pochettin o ( @ PSG_inside ) at the microphone of @ OLIVETALLARON : “It’s very difficult for the players to adapt … The attitude , the state of mind were there. Now you have to prove … “ # ASSEPSG pic.twitter.com/SVG4nChHHh
– Football Club Channel (@CanalFootClub)
Pochettino had to face a massacre of nine packages
Very active on the edge of the field, Mauricio Pochettino notably tried to revive his new formation by transforming his 4-3-3 into 4-4-2 with the Julian Draxler came into play. “I try to help the team from the sidelines, to give advice to the players and to transmit my energy to them,” said the Argentinian, who did not have to discover Wednesday that Kylian Mbappé or Angel Di Maria was not t not Heung-min Son in his dedication to dry cleaning. Unsurprisingly, Mauricio Pochettino prefers to retain “very positive things, especially given the circumstances, even if we are not going to complain”. Namely the nine absent in the evening, including
Neymar , Kimpembe or even Rafinha and Florenzi. After all, in his dream of coaching PSG he might not see himself betting on Dagba, Kehrer and Bakker for his debut, with the added bonus of a bench with four under 20 years.
1346949963897593859