Christophe Galtier could be jailed for three years.
This year, Paris Saint-Germain won the 11th league title in its history, becoming the sole champion in the number of titles. After the arrival of big money from Qatar, the club established itself in the status of hegemon in France. But the owners had much bigger ambitions: they expected to build the strongest team in Europe in Paris.
There are big problems with the implementation of plans. The hosts spare no expense in inviting world stars, trying to guess with the head coach, but the maximum achievement in the European arena in 12 years is the only Champions League final. Recent events at the club certainly do not bring PSG closer to their cherished goal.
Damage to reputation
A year ago, Christophe Galtier replaced Mauricio Pochettino at the helm of the team, signing a two-year contract. Like previous coaches, he was invited with the expectation of success in the Champions League, because PSG takes Ligue 1 by default. The path in the main tournament turned out to be too short: already in the 1/8 finals of the Parisians, without any special options, Bayern, far from ideal, landed. Even then it became clear that Galtier was unlikely to complete his contract completely.
A scandal followed, which had no direct relation to PSG. Galtier was accused of racist remarks while still working at Nice (2021-2022). Former sports director of the club Julien Fournier said that the coach made several discriminatory attacks against the players. The specialist allegedly said that there were “too many blacks and Muslims” in the team. Galtier himself denied all the charges, but law enforcement agencies took him seriously.
The investigation has been underway for several months, and this Friday, Galtier and his son, who also worked at Nice, were detained by the police to testify. If allegations of racist remarks are proven in court, the PSG head coach faces a prison term of up to three years.
For the Parisian superclub, such a scandal is another blow to its reputation. Newspaper headlines in the spirit of “PSG coach faces jail” definitely do not benefit the club. In words, PSG supported Galtier, referring to the principle of the presumption of innocence, but at the same time he was looking for a replacement for the head coach. The point here is not only an unpleasant story – there were many purely sports questions for Galtier. The game and the atmosphere in the team under him were far from ideal.
A new head coach, Luis Enrique, is expected to be announced in the coming days. The Spaniard has been out of work since being sacked from the Spanish national team in December. He has not been seen in club football for six years since leaving Barcelona.
Supertrio fiasco
Building a superteam is a very difficult process, even with unlimited funds. It is in a football simulator that you can buy stars and tear virtual rivals. In life, everything is a little more complicated.
PSG under the Qatari masters has always strived for luxury purchases. It is no coincidence that this particular club continues to hold the top two lines of the most expensive transfers in history – Neymar (€222 million) and Mbappe (€180 million). In the summer of 2021, Messi also arrived, after which the club’s attack in terms of talent became almost the strongest in history. As a result, instead of dominance in the Champions League – two relegations to the 1/8 finals.
Leo was obviously not too comfortable at PSG. The club tried to keep the Argentine at least for another year, but he chose to warm the bones in Miami. Mbappe continues to twist the hands of the owners, blackmailing them with a move to Real Madrid. It is difficult to build a serious project with such a star. Fans of Kilian’s behavior frankly got tired, and they wish the speedy denouement of this story. The eternally injured and capricious Neymar also does not pull on the role of a backbone figure.
It is significant that PSG fans at various times baited and booed each representative of the super trio. In 2021, they met Messi with great enthusiasm, but unjustified expectations in the Champions League, detachment and scandals with the management made Leo the object of hatred. It seems that, not least because of this atmosphere, Messi was not eager to stay in Paris.
Before that, for various reasons, Mbappe and Neymar got it from the fans. They often came to the base and staged protests there. The last bright episode occurred in May, when fans came to visit the team with smoke bombs and banners. Later, they got to Neymar’s house and shouted only one word out the window to the Brazilian: “Get out.” Obviously, in the atmosphere of such a madhouse, a strong team cannot be built.
PSG lack patience
The entire modern history of PSG confirms the thesis that money alone is not enough for success. It is too naive to count on him without competent management and strategy. The path of Manchester City, which was also hit by billions from the Middle East, at one time resembled Parisian throwing, but in the end, the British, with similar opportunities, built an ideal system.
At first, both clubs went in parallel courses. As sports directors, they took the stars of the 90s. Chiki Begiristain has been working at Man City since 2012, a little earlier Leonardo was at PSG. The British were as lucky with Begiristain as they were with Guardiola. This couple worked together back in Barca, in City their spike again confirmed its effectiveness.
In 2016, the owners of the Manchester team firmly decided not to twitch and build a long-term project, the main designers of which were two Spaniards. As a result, a sea of titles in the strongest league in the world and a long-awaited triumph in the Champions League. It’s easy to imagine Man City now as a dynasty that will dominate Europe in the coming years.
PSG have a big problem with patience. During the time that Guardiola is in charge of City, five specialists managed to train in Paris: Laurent Blanc, Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino and Christophe Galtier. Very soon the team will change the head coach again.
It is significant how the Parisian club easily got rid of the most successful coach of the new era – Thomas Tuchel, with whom the team reached the Champions League final and had the best percentage of victories in club history. The German complained that in Paris he had not only to train, but also to play endless political games with the leadership. As a result, the conflict with Leonardo ended with the resignation of Tuchel, who won the Champions League with Chelsea just a few months later.
The toxic and eccentric Leonardo was removed from PSG a year ago, but things haven’t gotten any better under new sporting director Luis Campos. The club is still shaken by scandals, relations with the fans are at a low point, the situation with the main stars remains unclear. The new director of the Paris circus has a lot of work to do. Luis Enrique in such a situation can only wish good luck and patience.
