Paris (AFP)
His Argentine coach, Mauricio Pochettino, will be packing his bags and leaving, despite Paris taking Saint-Germain to the tenth title at the French Football Championship last week, equaling the record set four decades ago by Saint-Etienne. At the end of the current season, reports from the French capital indicate that the team will have a new impression.
Saint-Germain have four matches left, which starts outside of their ground against Strasbourg on Friday, bringing together two coaches who will be candidates for the Best Coach title this season in the thirty-fifth round of the clash.
Strasbourg coach Julian Stephen has been highly praised for the growth of his team and players in recent weeks as his team ranks sixth and will be competing hard for one of the qualifying cards to compete in the European Championships next season.
The enthusiasm enjoyed by Stephen, the son of French assistant coach Guy Stefan, was offset by Pochettino’s unpopularity with the capital’s supporters, which increased especially at the end of the season on May 21.
There is no doubt that the dissatisfaction of Saint-Germain supporters was the main reason for their early exit from the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid. Parc des Princesses, then “Santiago Bernabeu” with a return goal at the stadium, before falling to the Royal Club with a magnificent triple for its French striker Karim Benzema. Also, the band does not offer shows that fit its reputation and the magnificence of the stars in it.
The tendency to remove Pochettino from his post is so strong that winning the title after a 1-1 draw with Lens last Saturday did not change anything because the team’s supporters refused to celebrate on the field, but rather celebrated outside of it.
Tottenham Hotspur coach Antonio Conte is reportedly interested in overseeing Saint-Germain and following in his footsteps as his Argentina rival.
However, before joining Saint-Germain as coach, French football legend Zinedine Zidane was asked to oversee the team, but he is more interested in coaching his country after the Qatar World Cup. Cup 2022, followed by his former teammate Didier Deschamps in the national team.
With all this fuss over the identity of the new coach, the club’s management seems to be engaged in making changes to the technical staff, and Brazilian sports director Leonardo acknowledged the disappointing season for his team, saying, “It’s true that the season has been tough, especially in recent months.
He added: We will talk not only with the coach, but with the players and all of us about clarifying certain things and the strategies to be followed. This is a public talk.
Pochettino, who failed to highlight the talents of the trio of Kylian Mbabane, Brazilian Neymar and Argentina’s Lionel Messi, seems to be on fire with the board.
The Argentine coach was very isolated, especially after Leonardo’s statements that he refused to confirm his continuation next season, which was reminiscent of the situation of former German coach Thomas Toussaint, who was sacked in December 2020.
However, Pochettino does not want to leave the ship and has been defending his record since taking office: three titles with the Champions Trophy in the last 18 months and the French Cup in 2021, in this situation, it makes me happy.
He added: “Aspirations and desire are in giving the best, and we have the desire for revenge.”
The decision to remove him is pending, with Pochettino having four games to write a positive result for this difficult season.
Second-placed Marseille are playing a tough match against Lyon, who have not lost hope of occupying the qualifying stage for the European Championships, finishing eighth with 52 points.
Marseille will play his first leg against Feyenoord Rotterdam of the Netherlands in the conference league semi-finals on Thursday evening.