When Mauricio Pochettino was chosen to become the next PSG coach, the Argentinian ticked a lot of boxes. He played for the Parisians during his career as a player so he knew the club already, but he was also on the rise as a coach, since he improved all the club he coached, from Espanyol and Southampton to Tottenham. He even led the Spurs to their only Champions League final, where he lost to Liverpool. But, after just one and a half seasons, he was sacked by PSG president as he failed to win the ultimate prize – the European trophy.🗣Mauricio Pochettino on if Mbappe can replace Messi or Cristiano: “For me, Leo Messi is the best in the world. No doubt about it. After that, it’s clear that Mbappe is a candidate to for that crown. There is Neymar, who for me is also one of the best in the world.” Via @infobae. pic.twitter.com/iqKGRfyUzu— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) August 1, 2022 After a month, the Argentinian gave his first interview since sacking in which he gave his thoughts on the matter and although he criticized his former club in some parts, he generally made his point – for a proper success, you need a stability, which PSG obviously doesn’t have, at least at the manager position. In general, Pochettino was satisficed with what he achieved in his year and a half. “I think it was very positive. Experiences must always be capitalized on to learn from them. On the sporting level, we won the Coupe de France, the Champions Trophy and Ligue 1 in a year and a half. But PSG’s project is to win the Champions League. Everything else can be seen as a failure. As the PSG project progresses, patience is less and less important. Expectations are higher, but there are circumstances to take into account. We won the club’s tenth league title, which equaled the historic record of Saint Etienne. There are ten titles, we are not talking about about 50. So I think it’s very underrated” he said in an interview for the Argentinian media Infobae. The missing link: PSG hire a psychologist because of the Champions LeagueOf course, he said nothing new. For PSG, the French league title goes without saying, but the Champions League remains an ultimate goal. And the lack of that trophy was the one thing which ultimately led to Pochettino’s sacking. And the Argentinian points out that there are other clubs out there who still haven’t won the trophy but are not sacking coaches after one or two years. „There are teams, like Liverpool or Manchester City, with long-term projects, which offer confidence. We won the championship with PSG with a 15-point lead. We lost against Madrid and we know there are going to be problems. City are eliminated against Madrid, with three goals in five minutes, but the following week they buy Haaland and give the coach the opportunity to reinvent himself again, to seek solutions and to win the English championship. The projects are different. There is a Manchester City which trusts a manager in place for seven years and a PSG in which it is necessary to arrive and win. But winning the Champions League, not Ligue 1. It’s different and I accept that. This is not a criticism. When we arrived at PSG, we knew we had to try to win the Champions League if we wanted to pursue this project” said the Argentinian.Mbappe who? Neymar, Messi and Ramos score in a 4-0 win over Nantes in the French Super CupLosing a basically finished game against Real will haunt PSG supporters and president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, but Pochettino still insists that Benzema committed a fault on Donnarumma, which completely changed the course of the match. The Argentinian continued to compare PSG with other big clubs who also suffered devastating defeats in the Champions League, amid their recent decision to hire a psychologist. „In this case, it would be necessary to put a psychologist in Chelsea, one in Manchester City and one in Liverpool. If we look at the last cups of Europe, you should put one in all the teams that have faced Real Madrid. I believe that there are circumstances in football that happen that cannot be controlled. I think that Benzema’s foul on Donnarumma existed and if the action had been reviewed by the VAR, we would be talking about something else today. This trigger gave a lot of confidence to Real Madrid, who played with a different energy. That’s football and it should not go beyond a footballing analysis“ said Pochettino. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6534032##But in the end, former Tottenham coach believes that his former club will eventually win in the Champions League final.”PSG aims to win the Champions League and I think it will achieve it because the means are there. Sometimes in football, there are factors that cannot be controlled. But by insisting year after year, PSG will surely be able to fulfill their dream of winning a Champions League” said Pochettino.
