Mauricio Pochettino often relied on his captain Marquinhos to relay his messages to the group, Wednesday in the Cauldron.

-

Laurent Cipriani / AP / SIPA

  • PSG was a little behind OL at the top of Ligue 1, after their draw conceded Wednesday in Saint-Etienne (1-1).

  • The start of the Mauricio Pochettino era was eagerly awaited.

    The Argentine coach has not yet managed to boost a new dynamic.

  • Deprived of nine players, including Neymar, the former coach of Tottenham has several projects in front of him, before welcoming Brest on Saturday (9 p.m.).

At the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium,

Mauricio Pochettino wrapped up his first match on Wednesday as a PSG coach, a disappointing draw (1-1) in Saint-Etienne, with an embarrassed smile.

The Argentine had indeed steered a few seconds earlier by misinterpreting the question of a journalist, who wanted to know how much he had missed coaching a team.

"It's easy to point out mistakes once you don't win, but it's not fair to say that," the former Tottenham manager snapped back, before his deputy Miguel D'Agostino did whispers to him that he was on the wrong track.

This comical and authentic sequence, followed by a frank mea culpa, almost symbolizes the inevitable groping accompanying the first steps of Mauricio Pochettino in his immense challenge.

Namely that of convincing as quickly as possible a group with much stronger egos than at Spurs to adhere to its methods.

We will not be surprised to find that three training sessions at Camp des Loges were not enough to really feel on his group the paw of an attacking and collective football dear to the Argentine coach.

PSG "did not press much" after the break

"It's hard for the players to apply the concepts they are discovering," says the former Parisian central defender [from 2001 to 2003].

We have to adapt to the players, and they have to adapt to the new staff.

But I am happy with the attitudes and the efforts made.

“These clearly did not jump out in the Cauldron, as PSG were jostled, especially after the break, by a team from Saint-Etienne (14th) without complex.

Keylor Navas had to be decisive against Moukoudi (9th), Debuchy (43rd) and Bouanga (65th), before being saved by his cross on a header from the same Bouanga (70th).

"I find that we took the ascendancy from the start of the second period", logically noted Claude Puel after this draw (1-1) allowing OL to take three points ahead at the head of the Ligue 1. "We saw a team from Paris a little stretched, which did not hurry much," adds Jessy Moulin, aware of having come close to a big blow against a triple defending champion of France far from the score.

Mauricio Pochettino (@PSG_inside) at the microphone of @ OLIVETALLARON: "It's very difficult for the players to adapt ... The attitude, the state of mind were there. Now you have to prove ..." #ASSEPSG pic.twitter.com/SVG4nChHHh

- Canal Football Club (@CanalFootClub) January 6, 2021

Pochettino had to face a massacre of nine forfeits

Very active on the edge of the field, Mauricio Pochettino notably tried to revive his new formation by transforming his 4-3-3 into 4-4-2 with the entry into play of Julian Draxler.

"I try to help the team from the touchline, to give advice to the players and to transmit my energy to them," explains the Argentinian, who did not have to discover on Wednesday that Kylian Mbappé or Angel Di Maria did not. was not Heung-min Son

in his dedication to dry cleaning.

Unsurprisingly, Mauricio Pochettino prefers to retain "very positive things, especially given the circumstances, even if we are not going to complain".

Namely the nine absent in the evening, including Neymar, Kimpembe or Rafinha and Florenzi.

After all, in his dream of coaching PSG he may not have seen himself banking on Dagba, Kehrer and Bakker for his debut, with the added bonus of a bench of four under 20s.

Sport

ASSE-PSG: Very disappointing for the premiere of Pochettino, the Parisians lose two points in Sainté ... Relive this draw (1-1) with us

Sport

ASSE-PSG: Will Pochettino (finally) succeed in running Paris and its stars?

  • Soccer

  • League 1

  • Sport

  • Paris

  • PSG

  • Mauricio Pochettino

  • ASSE