Since the arrival of Qatar at the helm of PSG in 2012, he is already the eighth coach to take his place on the Parisian bench. After the failure of Christophe Galtier, Luis Enrique was inducted to take over a team that won the Ligue 1 title, but disappointed again on the European stage last March.
Without a job since leaving the Spanish team after the last World Cup in Qatar, the 53-year-old technician will have to get his hands dirty when he arrives in the capital. With a weakened management, players losing their bearings and the Champions League objective not yet achieved, Luis Enrique arrives in an uncertain context. He signed up until 2025 with PSG.
��✍️ Paris Saint-Germain is pleased to announce the appointment of Luis Enrique as head coach of its professional team. The Spanish technician has signed a two-year contract. ����
However, his coaching experience with La Roja, AS Roma but especially within FC Barcelona can plead in his favor. For Tracy Rodrigo, correspondent for L’Équipe in Spain, this choice is even obvious. “I have been campaigning for two years saying that Luis Enrique could be the ideal man for Paris Saint-Germain. He ticks a lot of boxes, he has already won the C1, he is a coach who has known big stars and imposing locker rooms. He knows big egos well, and knows how to handle them. At Barça, he also had to work with a management that sometimes made bad choices. Finally, with Spain, it was the media madness that never let go. He knows how to deal with it all. »
If some find the French press omnipresent and too severe, it is indeed necessary to compare with the Spanish media which were not tender with Luis Enrique. Between the Real Madrid-FC Barcelona cleavage and the criticisms of the style of play practiced by his Spain for four years, the former midfielder was not spared. Which never made him deviate from his course. “He’s a very big character,” Tracy Rodrigo continues. He is impervious to pressure, but in the past he has been able to adapt to complex situations. When he started at Barça, with Lionel Messi, the relationship was going badly. He knew how to put water in his wine to fix it. »
Managing egos is precisely one of the main missions that awaits Luis Enrique in the capital. The winner of the 2015 Champions League will in particular have to take care of Kylian Mbappé, whose future is written in dotted lines. If Lionel Messi has already packed his bags, the Iberian coach will find a player he knows well in Paris, namely Neymar. Will he be the man who can finally revive the Brazilian? While Luis Campos is actively looking for a way out for the most expensive player in history, Luis Enrique would instead like to count on him.
Can the former midfielder be that famous coach capable of speaking in the ears of the stars and creating a collective dynamic? In the past, at Barcelona, he repeatedly praised Neymar. “His way of understanding and interpreting football is very different from the rest of the players, a bit like other Brazilians. He does everything at breakneck speed. Sometimes they are real dance ballets, exceptional ballets, much more than just football dribbling. “If many coaches have tried in Paris to capitalize on Neymar, the former coach of La Roja has the advantage of knowing him beforehand and of having already known how to win with him.
Tactically, the tiki-taka coaching label that sticks to the Spaniard is over. Luis Enrique is not dogmatic and is getting used to the squad he has. “With Spain, his strongest assets were his midfielders, he bet on a game of control and it worked: when he made the semi-finals at Euro 2021, nobody expected it, when you know the Spanish breeding ground was the right plan. But in Barcelona he moved away from Guardiola, the objective was to pass the ball as quickly as possible to the Neymar-Suarez-Messi trio, so that they realize the differences. Luis Enrique is not stuck on his ideas, “concludes Tracy Rodrigo.