“Prepared”. After a couple of sentences in very limited French, in a gesture to thank the club, that was Luis Enrique’s first word in Spanish as the new PSG coach. A declaration of intentions. Three hours later than expected, due to a delay in the president’s plane, Naser al Jelaifi, the Asturian inaugurated his stage with the Parisian club yesterday at the newly opened training center of the French entity in Poissy. “From the first meeting everything was very easy. In five minutes we were already talking about what we could do ”, the coach celebrated his arrival in Paris, something that had been taken for granted for a long time due to the settlement of his predecessor, Christophe Galtier, who also became official. yesterday.
The Spaniard, who signs until 2025, returns to training after finishing his stage with Spain, eliminated in the round of 16 of the last World Cup in Qatar against Morocco. “They have chosen the ideal coach,” he assured in his presentation on the choice of the club’s leaders, referring to Al Jelaifi and sports director Luis Campos, with whom he hopes to “go hand in hand” in this “new era.” . “Everything is agreed. It would be ridiculous for one to go it alone, ”he added.
With a smile from ear to ear and with the confidence that characterizes him, Luis Enrique made it clear that his “goal” is to “create a great team”. A leader arrives who is above any star and who always values ??the benefit of the group. Virtues that he will try to channel to bring the long-awaited first Champions League to the club’s showcases. The man from Gijón has already won the tournament with Barça (2015).
Since Qatar bought PSG in 2011, seven coaches have passed, most with more pain than glory for their performance in the Champions League, the title that the club is unsuccessfully pursuing. Only Tuchel, whose personality resembles that of the Spaniard, touched the champion’s trophy in the lost final of 2020 with his fingertips. Neither Ligue 1 nor any other national twist is enough. Only the apricot meets the expectations of the multimillion-dollar project supported by Qatari money. “I love that pressure. Blessed pressure. There are seven or eight teams with the same level. In this tournament you have a bad game and they kick you out, but it’s no excuse,” Luis Enrique said of the European competition, an “ambitious” as well as daring.
It remains to be seen if the coach will tackle the continental “challenge” with its main star, Kylian Mbappé, with a contract until 2024. “You are always open to countless things arising. I keep the planning private, ”he indicated cryptically about Bondy the Asturian, less clear than Al Jelaifi:“ If he wants to stay, we want him to stay. But he has to renew. We cannot let the best player in the world go for free. It is impossible”. The president even gave the player a “two-week” ultimatum, whose future has always been linked to Real Madrid.
Neither did Luis Enrique ensure the continuity of a Neymar who will meet again with the coach, both executioners for PSG in Barça’s epic comeback in the 2016-17 Champions League, the famous 6-1. The man from Gijón does not marry anyone, as he demonstrated in Rome, Barça and with Spain. His mission is always to “bring out the best in footballers”, whom he called “selfish and intelligent”. “If you are there to help them, they commit. They must be proud to play in this team, ”he warned his pupils. The Asturian will begin to put order on July 10, the day the preseason begins, in a disjointed and unbalanced team, with a large surplus of players, which last season was not competitive in Europe. “The squad is of the highest level. There will be changes, it is logical. But the offensive style is non-negotiable ”, concluded a Luis Enrique who also remembered his always tense relationship with journalists:“ It will be perfect because I don’t understand a damn. So you can say what you want, there will be good vibes”. Genius and figure.
