For Henri IV, “Paris was well worth a mass”. If Christophe Galtier has little to do with the former king of France and Navarre, he could twist the expression a little: “Paris is well worth forgetting about Marseille. To be inducted as the new coach of Paris-Saint-Germain on Tuesday, July 5, replacing Argentinian Mauricio Pochettino, the child from the Marseille city assumes it: he has “put aside [his] Marseille origins”.
During his presentation press conference, Christophe Galtier laid the groundwork for his term as head of the capital club. The new manager did not seem to float in the big coaching suit of the most important club in France. After Saint-Etienne, Lille and Nice in 2021, the Marseille technician intends to impose his method in Paris: “Not a player will be above what the group and the position of the group should be. And he repeated it: “If I have accepted these responsibilities, it is because I am capable of them.” »
Alongside the president of the capital club, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, who finally wraps up more than a month of uncertainty after the announcement with great fanfare of the extension of Kylian Mbappé’s contract, Christophe Galtier presented his project. “There will be no compromise on the requirement and the work,” warned the coach, who later met his new players for a first training.
After a year dominated by procrastination, and another elimination in the knockout stages of the Champions League, the Qatari president of PSG warned at the end of June: “In Paris, the glitter is over. Hardly “bling-bling” – he smiled at the mention of this word -, less a football theorist than some of his predecessors, Christophe Galtier is part of this – umpteenth – new wave at the club.
“Let this sum of talents become a team”
With him, the PSG ensures a leader of men, and hopes to be able to align all the Parisian stars. “We want to start something new. The objective will be to play better, to work more, to play together, to be a team. He knows how to do that,” Al-Khelaïfi insisted on Tuesday.
“The objective is not to teach them to play with the left foot or the head, but for this sum of talents to become a team”, confirmed Christophe Galtier, aware of taking a step forward in terms of general level by having to manage the Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi, Neymar and others. “It’s a privilege to have a squad of this level.”
Tancé, even before being named, for the direct – and sometimes frustrating – style developed by his teams, Christophe Galtier knows he is expected. “Compared to what I’ve been able to do at the clubs I’ve worked for, there will be a different approach to the game. With such a squad, you have to play well as well. I will have at my disposal very high level players, blew the coach. But it will not look like what I was able to do in my previous clubs. »
Renewing in the capital the partnership that had proven itself in Lille with Luis Campos, the club’s new director of football, the new coach intends to continue this momentum. “With Luis, we worked more than three years together, we did three transfer windows together and we were in contact every day,” he said. He knows what I expect from my team, what I want to see, and before leaving on each recruitment, we have always discussed a lot about the system. »
Rare departures
Among Christophe Galtier’s expectations, a drastic reduction in the number of players is necessary. “Players who don’t play are unhappy. We have to find the right squad size so that everyone can participate this season,” he insisted. A refrain sung each off-season in the capital club, where departures remain rare, however.
Like all his predecessors, Christophe Galtier arrives on the Parisian bench with ambition. Many have broken their backs at the controls of this gleaming machine, aiming for the summits of Europe. “I’m not going to revolutionize the locker room,” concluded the new Parisian technician. If he manages to instill a spirit of revolt in his new troops, Parisian fans should be satisfied.
