Mauricio Pochettino admits the idea of managing Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar is "difficult" - but the reality is very different.
The Argentine was given the chance to manage the trio last year at PSG, prior to his dismissal. Messi arrived at the Parc des Princes after his contract saga at Barcelona and joined an already star-studded attacking line - creating huge possibilities but also unique problems.
Pundits and experts questioned how the dynamic would work - with all three match winners in their own right. In other teams they would command the spotlight, but in Paris it had to be shared. Pochettino though is adamant that the three players need to be given the freedom to do their own thing.
He said on the BBC : "In your mind maybe you make it a difficult idea to manage, but they are humble. In the room that is not the public, the media, social media. I think the approach is completely different. When you have Maradona in the national team you have one, but Messi, Neymar, Mbappe - a 19-year-old who won the World Cup - I think that they all need space, all need to approach in a different way.
"Sometimes the man management is to not make a decision, be flexible and listen, and it was a massive, massive challenge, the greatest players. Now I am much better person, professional, coach, in every single aspect, to be able to have these type of players in the same dressing room."
Despite their obvious quality, PSG could not conquer Europe like they'd hoped last term. Messi, Mbappe and Neymar were unable get them past the last 16 with the Parisians collapsing against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu.
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Domestically they claimed Ligue 1 - but that was all after being dumped out of the French Cup. It was a poor return for the quality available to Pochettino, who was subsequently axed by the club's ambitious Qatari owners.
Christophe Galtier assumed the reigns after Pochettino's dismissal and quickly laid down the law as he attempted to hammer home his authority. The former Lille and Nice boss made it clear that the trio would have to accept time on the bench due to the amount of games they had.
"I talked about it twice—once with each of them and once with the whole squad,—to tell them that this is how it was going to be and that we had to have the right attitude and accept it," he told reporters. "We play a lot, every three days, then every four days, then there is the World Cup. Everyone has to understand that they won't be able to play all the games."
