The change is now ! After a catastrophic 2022-23 campaign at all levels, Paris Saint-Germain is entering “a new era”, according to Nasser Al-Khelaïfi. Finished that all-powerful superstars. The capital club intends to bet on young people, if possible French, the collective, and put “the institution above everything and everyone”. Which would indeed be quite a novelty on the banks of the Seine… Nasser Al-Khelaïfi no longer wants to joke or compromise. He is no longer interested “by the immediate results” but by a team that goes straight and plays “good football”, the notion of “pleasure” too. “We have ambition, that of the game, the way my team is going to play football. I want to take advantage of it, ”insists the Qatari leader, enthusiastic and sure of himself.
Bad tongues will say that it was the Qatari management that plunged the club into the situation it is in, and that “NAK” has often accustomed us to this kind of rowdy declarations… without them being followed by ‘effect. “New coach, new cycle, new way of playing”, explained the president of Paris-SG, who tries to combine actions with words. Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos left free, Neymar and Marco Verratti pushed towards the exit, intransigence against the placarded Kylian Mbappé… Perhaps it is never too late for a Paris Saint-Germain who has taken lunar decisions for too long , with Qatar visibly prioritizing image and the Doha World Cup over the results of the Rouge et Bleu.
While waiting to know the outcome of the soap operas Neymar and Verratti, but also and above all of that which concerns Kylian Mbappé, the latter having been dismissed since the Parisian pre-season tour in Asia, the PSG version 2023-24 attacks the season with nine new faces : Manuel Ugarte, Lucas Hernández, Kang-in Lee, Milan Skriniar, Marco Asensio, Arnau Tenas, Cher Ndour, Gonçalo Ramos and Ousmane Dembélé, whose formalization is still awaited. And it’s probably not over, neither in terms of arrivals nor in terms of departures, knowing that the loft is still overflowing with undesirables (Wijnaldum, Paredes, Diallo…). So far, only El Chadaille Bitshiabu, Mauro Icardi and Junior Dina Ebimbe have found takers.
Still, the Parc des Princes has been accustomed to caviar in recent years in terms of individuals. Heavy and more heavy. On paper, the account is not really there. Although, the Parisian supporters have especially had their share of disappointments, defeats, soporific evenings, in particular these last two seasons under Mauricio Pochettino and Christophe Galtier. Campaigns during which PSG has so often relied on the talent of its stars, and in particular Mbappé, to make the difference. It can only work for a while, Paris has paid to see. This is also the expected revolution: with Luis Enrique, “offensive identity is non-negotiable”. The 53-year-old Spanish coach had perhaps not expected that we would still be entitled to a Mbappé saga – “I hope that an agreement will be found” – and that the summer would be as hot on the front transfers when arriving in Paris. Although, it is especially Poissy that he has seen so far, and the new training center of the French champion club. “Paris seems very far to me,” he smiles.
The architect of… the remontada of 2017 knows in any case well that PSG has only worked on alternating current in the game in recent seasons. “I’m here to change that. We want to be competitive for 90, 95 or 100 minutes in each league or Coupe de France match in order to be ready for the Champions League, he insists. I don’t want to see a different team in C1. I don’t want to only have 10-15 minutes at full intensity. I want 95 minutes of total football, of maximum intensity, of attacking play, in order to show the supporters that we are professional and that we want to give them pleasure. It will be very different from what we have seen in the past.”
First full-scale test this Saturday (9 p.m.), at the Parc des Princes, with the reception of Lorient on behalf of the first day of the French championship. “From what I see so far, from what I feel, I think we will manage to have this rhythm, continues the former coach of La Roja. The players will obviously not be at 100% on Saturday, it’s only the first game of the season, but from what I see in training, the progress is already noticeable. We know that the first match will be complicated. We want to give pleasure to the supporters but Lorient will make it difficult for us, they are a very good team which beat us last season. We will try to manage this match in the best possible way. We want to be better from the first to the last minute”, he still assures, he who believes that “PSG must be one of the favorites in all competitions”.
When we see the workforce of Manchester City or Bayern Munich, this may not be the case in C1 this season… Luis Enrique has however come to build over time. Unlike his predecessors, he should have a number of latitudes when it comes to coaching. “Poche” and “Galette” could indeed not offer much once they had put the trio Mbappé, Neymar, Messi on the score sheet… “Of course we will lose matches. But we have to work from the base, with the football we want to implement from the youth teams to the first team, that’s also why we have this beautiful training center, ”said Al again. -Khelaïfi in early July, believing that there are “too many expectations around the Champions League”.
And the Qatari leader added: “Of course we have ambition, 100%, but ambition with logic, we have all the time to work, the lights are green, we don’t know. don’t care about immediate results. This is the new era of PSG. It changes. You the media, you put it in our head that we had to win the C1, but everyone wants to win, me too. But first we have to build the foundations.” A little bad faith never killed anyone, apparently, knowing that “NAK” has often been the first to talk about winning C1 since the arrival of QSI in 2011…
In any case, while the Parisian people were on the verge of deep disgust at the end of last season and the club is in the dark regarding the composition of its workforce, all between two controversies and a communication battle that turns to ridicule with the Mbappé clan, Luis Enrique begins his major project this Saturday, against the Hakes of Lorient. The opportunity to (re)talk about football in Paris, that will change. One thing is certain: while waiting to have a workforce worthy of the best clubs in Europe, “Lucho” has a job to change the software and make this PSG a team that relies on its collective to make the difference. Impossible mission ? Probably not. But it may take some patience. Especially since the group is weakened by a few glitches and still incomplete at this stage of the transfer window. The future will tell if the revolution wanted by the management represented a blow for nothing or a masterstroke.
