It was confirmed on Tuesday morning that Mauricio Pochettino had left Paris Saint-Germain, despite the former Tottenham manager winning the French title by 15 points.
Pochettino’s position at the club had been heavily under scrutiny since his PSG side capitulated in the Champions League back in March, surrounding a 2-0 aggregate lead with only 45 minutes remaining against Real Madrid.
Winning the competition remains the key objective for PSG’s Qatari owners and failure to land the trophy has ultimately cost the Argentine his job.
Former Nice boss Christophe Galtier has been announced as his successor. He’s a name well-respected in the French football scene after he led Lille to the Ligue 1 title in 2020/21 before joining and guiding Nice to a top-five finish last season.
Despite the 55-year-old’s high stock in French football, his transition to becoming the first-team coach at PSG won’t necessarily be a seamless one. The bulk of his success in recent years has been built on tactics centred around defensive solidity as opposed to more free-flowing attacking football.
In the campaign Lille won the title, PSG scored 22 more league goals than Galtier’s men, while four teams averaged more shots on goal. They also finished the campaign with five teams having averaged a higher possession share. But crucially they did concede a league-low 22 goals across the whole campaign.
A 4-4-2 formation was the key staple of these robust displays from Gailter’s teams at both Lille and Nice. However, the Frenchman has hinted that he may look to adapt his system in Paris.
In his first press conference as PSG boss, the 55-year-old said: "A three-man defence has been spoken about a lot. I'm lucky to have incredible wing players but also those at the heart of play. But there is a tendency towards a three-man defence, yes."
With these comments in mind, Mirror Football has put together what could be a potential starting XI for PSG under Gailter next season.
With such a plethora of attacking talent at his disposal, Gailter will probably need to loosen the shackles in order to get the best from the likes of Mbappe, Messi and Neymar.
The latter has been the subject of plenty of media speculation linking him with a move away from the clu b, however Galtier was clear that the Brazilian remains firmly in his plans: "What manager wouldn't want a player like Neymar in their squad? I have a very precise idea of what I expect from him. I haven't met him yet, I will, but I want him to stay with us. It's always better to have a player of that class with us."
It’s not just Neymar who could be set to benefit from Galtier’s arrival. The French coaches' more disciplined approach could turn out to be favourable for players likes Gini Wijnaldum too.
The ex-Liverpool man spent a large portion of last season on the periphery of Pochettino’s squad. However in terms of a profile, he has a lot that could appeal to Galtier.
At Anfield, he’d often play a hugely selfless role, taking few risks in possession and providing cover for more attack-minded players. He alongside Marco Verratti would give Galtier the sort of robust core in the middle of the pitch that he favours.
