On the eve of the trip to OGC Nice in Ligue 1, PSG coach Luis Enrique answered questions from the media.
Before the international break in October, the PSG
will have the mission to maintain its leadership position in the championship. This Sunday (8:45 p.m. on
DAZN), on the occasion of the 7th day of Ligue 1the reigning French champions face
l’OGC Nice has l’Allianz Riviera. And on the eve of this meeting,
Luis Enrique answered questions from the media since Campus PSG.
How to re-mobilize the group (PSG TV)
“The group is doing well. After analyzing the match, you have to change your mind because it is a match of Ligue
1. We can correct that with this weekend’s match. »
Nice, a solid opponent defensively (PSG TV)
“It’s a team that concedes few goals and defends well, even if they are in a difficult situation (9th in the standings). But we think positive and we want to remobilize after the defeat in Champions League. »
Is everything back to normal with Dembélé?
“As I told you at the time of the incident, when a player does not correspond to the obligations, he is not prepared. On the other hand, when he meets the obligations, he is ready. This is a case that concerns all players in the Ligue
1. »
How does he define his management?
“I am tough when I need to be and more lenient when necessary. This is a great ability that I have as a coach and a person. »
Does he understand the controversy after his comments towards Margot Dumont?
“In fact, I don’t really know what was said after the match, I’m not in the habit of going to check that, listening to the press and reading it. I think that when there is a defeat, the major responsible is me, I accept it. I always try to protect my team and my players. The person responsible for every defeat is the coach. I’ve been working in football for years, I have nothing else to say. What I can’t control I don’t try to control. I have nothing else to add. »
How to resolve the problem of aerial exits from Donnarumma?
“What concerns Donnarummawe’ve been talking about it for years, long before I got here. It’s true that a player’s past is always present in the news. But I don’t have a problem. I even think that there are no errors Donnarumma in goal and that we should have resolved the defensive problem before the ball reached him. We didn’t do it and he’s the one paying for it. I think the fault is not that of any particular player on the pitch. If we have to look for a culprit, and it’s obvious that you want to find one, it’s me. I accept it, it’s something I’ve assimilated and I have no problem with it. My career is full of these types of situations and I will overcome this with work, with the ability I have to convince my players. For the rest, every time there is a defeat it is very sad to talk about a particular player, whatever his position. I’m used to this
Donnarumma is often what we focus on. But I have confidence in what I see in training and during matches. If you want to look for someone responsible, please leave it alone Donnarumma and take care of me. This is my reality and this is how I see things. »
Is there any specific work done by your defenders in the face of Donnarumma’s aerial exit problems?
“We work on all the phases of the game that we consider important. We have two goalkeeping coaches who work specifically with them on all forms of game situations. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen again. In this specific case, it was a defensive mistake by the entire team. Of course, this is something every player can improve on. It’s very ugly when a team loses by going to look for someone responsible, and the same when we win by only going to see the one who scored the goal. But I understand that in football, we often talk about the hero who won or the one who failed. But we who are inside the game see it in a different way. To score, I need my goalkeeper to initiate the action, I need my central hinge, my midfielder. And when we concede a goal, we only see the one who shoots or the goalkeeper’s mistake, but there are perhaps also players in several places who had mistakes, someone who was dribbled past. But you see that the dessert of a meal. We cannot just look at the dessert, we must look at each of the stages and not incriminate or praise a single individuality. We work on defensive and offensive set pieces. We are working on relaunching an action. Sometimes it goes well or badly but in football everything depends on the opponent, there are always actions and phases of play that will be repeated. There will always be mistakes made. »
The Parisian environment in difficulty against big opponents, a youth or collective problem?
“You can say it a hundred times, it will be the same for me. I don’t see things like that. After analyzing the match in a calmer way, I believe that the opponent was better in specific moments of the match. Sometimes we were able to get into the match and cause problems. But if now we play PSG/Arsenal at home, the result would be different. With the group we inherited (in Champions League), we are going to have situations like this again and I hope each time that we come out of it favorably but I am not sure. I am convinced that we will not always have a favorable result because equality in high-level football is as it is. These are the usual topics for journalists where we always come back to the same questions. There’s always been a story of ‘you score in Ligue
1 but not in Europe‘. There is always this story too of ‘is the PSG has a good reputation or not’. We are not perfect, we will improve but I am sure that this team will struggle in all competitions, even in those where the opponents are superior to us. We will continue to fight because I feel that my team has a real state of mind. »
Is PSG still far from the best teams in Europe?
“No, on the contrary, I think we are very close to their level, maybe even almost at the same level. It’s been five years since Mikel Arteta is at the head ofArsenal and it became a team. It’s the same for Pep Guardiola with Manchester
Cityhe’s been building a team for years. For us, it’s been a year and three months. I’m not using that as an excuse, we were competitive last year and we will be competitive again this year. I think we will win all the competitions, that’s my goal and that’s why I get up every morning. Maybe I’m wrong but I’m telling you head-on and without hiding: ‘We’re going to win every competition’. But in relation to a process, with the difference between a team, a coach and a sports management who have been working for five years, and us, of course, we are at a phase which is at the start of something. »
The lessons he learned from the defeat against Arsenal ahead of tomorrow’s match
“They are different competitions and matches. In general, defeats can be positive because you take into account where your friends stand and where your haters stand. This is a solid point to prepare for the next match. Of course it’s hard to lose, it hurts a lot but I’m sure we will improve in our performance. This is the objective of the season and we will continue to prepare for matches in the same way. To explain a tactic, it takes 40-50 minutes. Tactics only interest you when you lose, but when you win, no one cares about tactics. »
His judgment on Willian Pacho
“Rather than individualizing on
On itI would like us to talk in general about the four signings of the summer (Matvey
Safonov, Willian Pacho, João Neves et Désiré Doué). They were even quicker than we hoped in their adaptation. They are aware of the club’s demands, of what is expected and demanded of them over the years they will be with us. I’m really happy with the players who arrived. »
Will Dembélé be in the group tomorrow?
“I repeat to you that each player has a series of obligations to fulfill for the team. Everyone who does it is there. If someone doesn’t do it tomorrow, and especially if they make a serious mistake, I make the decisions I need to make. There are easy and difficult decisions but I have no problem making them even if they seem difficult because I always think about the benefits of my team. I could be wrong, that’s another subject, but what is clear is that I will make the decisions. No one is going to make decisions for me, that’s my responsibility as coach of this team. »
His view of OGC Nice
“They changed coaches (Franck Haise) with a very clear personality compared to what his teams show on the field. They played on Thursday with an unfavorable result (4-1 defeat against Lazio Rome) but they will want to change things and forget this match by playing against us. It’s going to be very difficult to play against Nice. They press hard, never give you the ball and they are difficult to defend. It will be a complicated match for us and probably also for them. We will see how we will manage. »
The team’s areas of improvement, particularly for the Champions League
“In every aspect. This week, we worked on the start of the phases of play, defensive and offensive set pieces on video, and everything else we deem appropriate to improve our level. But we would have worked the same thing if we had won at London. »
The most important thing for him when preparing for matches, setting up his game or adapting to the opponent?
“In general, it’s the opponents who adapt more to us because we have more possession of the ball. When you have possession of the ball, you are in charge and it is the opponent who adapts. Depending on how it adapts to our game, we need to deploy a different solution. That’s the difficulty of football. In the same match there can be different offensive and defensive scenarios. For example, we will play against Nice. If they start behind, they will press high and harder than usual, so we will expect stronger one-on-ones. We try to prepare for all these situations that will occur most often in a match. »
