Thierry Henry has suggested that while Tottenham Hotspur had a clear identity under Mauricio Pochettino, the same cannot be said of the Argentine’s Paris Saint-Germain side.
Winning the Champions League has been the holy grail for PSG for a long time, which is partly why the Ligue 1 giants have chopped and changed managers over recent years.
Their wait for the elusive Champions League title is set to go on for another year after they were knocked out of the competition by Real Madrid at the round of 16 stage on Wednesday.
Pochettino has come under plenty of criticism after PSG’s 3-1 loss at the Santiago Bernabeu (Daily Star) and the former Spurs boss’ head might now be on the chopping block.
However, Henry has come to the defence of Pochettino, suggesting that player power at PSG might be preventing the 50-year-old from implementing his philosophy.
The Arsenal legend questioned why the Parisians are not making things as difficult for their opponents as Pochettino’s Spurs and Southampton sides did.
He told CBS Sports (09/03/22/ at 10:30 pm): “That’s a given with Pep (Guardiola). If you don’t do what is required, then you are not going to play.
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“If you don’t do what you have to do in Europe, especially away from home. You have to do extra. And this is what’s not happening with Paris.
“We mentioned before, Emery couldn’t do it. He left, then won the Europa League with Villarreal. Tuchel, he leaves, and suddenly he wins the Champions League with Chelsea.
“Even Pochettino, when he was in the Premier League, you knew what Tottenham were going to do. You knew what they were about. Even when he was at Southampton.
“Tough team to play against. They were going to get you on the break and put pressure. It was difficult. I didn’t see that yet with Paris Saint-Germain. We can also go with other managers that were there. Are the players too powerful?”
Spurs Web Opinion
It is inevitable that player power will dominate when you have the likes of Messi, Neymar, Mbappe and Ramos in the same dressing room.
I do not think there is any manager in world football who would be able to make the likes of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe work harder off the ball, which, as we know, is a central feature to Pochettino’s system.
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