The advantage for Leonardo is that with the recruitment of Pochettino, the sports director of PSG does not need to come and lecture his coach or try to clear the field after his press conferences. For now, the new PSG coach remains well in the nails not even pronouncing the names of Neymar or Mbappé, or outright evading when asked if the French world champion is still tired as he was before the truce .
The art of dodging is therefore part of the panoply of the Argentinian, and it is a viaticum like any other when you have to take up a coaching function in a new club. But that does not mean that the former Parisian defender (2001-2003) is not faced with the same problems as his predecessor and with an ever more pressing obligation of results in the league. After a draw without panache for his first in Saint-Etienne on Wednesday (1-1), combined with a new success of Lyon which escapes in the standings, the replacement of Thomas Tuchel can not be missed against Brest for his return to the Princes Park.
An important site
The emotion – Pochettino spoke of a “special evening” – will quickly give way to the erosion of the Breton defense, which the Parisians have never really been able to cope with against the Greens. Or too rarely. In Forez, the former manager of Southampton and Tottenham was able to measure the site that awaits him with players having physically plunged at the start of the second period, and a pattern of play that is difficult to read and without identifiable preferential circuits. If he never openly criticized the work of his predecessor, he seemed to deplore the large number of injured and a schedule that offered him little opportunity to get his group back physically.
“You have to improve in a lot of areas, and the physique is part of it,” agreed Pochettino. The ability to adapt is one of the most important things in life and as a staff you have to adapt to find the best strategy. The circumstances are what they are. But I am happy with the investment of the players. Now we are trying to recover the wounded to have more people. “
At the re-entry level, the PSG technician will recover Kurzawa, Florenzi, Icardi but still not Neymar or Kimpembe, and we can think that the reverse would have been more profitable. A point will be made at the beginning of the week to know if the Brazilian, in particular, can participate in the Champions Trophy against OM on Wednesday. In total, 6 Parisians still frequent the infirmary. And this is not the least of the concerns that the Argentinean and his staff encounter.
