With the judgment of Ligue 1 pronounced last April 30 by the French authorities, the PSG connects two seasons in one month. From July 24, date of the final of the Coupe de France at the Stade de France against Saint-Etienne, at the end of August for the resumption of the championship and perhaps the final of the Champions League just before (August 23), l Thomas Tuchel's team will finish and start their work by reducing the spatio-temporal fault created by the coronavirus. Is it really the end of the 2019-2020 fiscal year that the PSG is about to compete or is it already looking to tomorrow? If a new adventure is brewing, should Paris already switch to the aftermath with a new captain?
August 24 in the morning, deadline - we will be the day after the final of the Champions League -, Thiago Silva will no longer wear the armband, the one that has surrounded his biceps for almost eight years. He extended his lease until the end of the current season, unlike Edinson Cavani or Thomas Meunier also at the end of the contract, but the rest will be written without him. A few days after his final departure, another will succeed him and everyone understands that the lucky winner is called Marquinhos, who has all the qualities of the designated heir.
End of season on the bench?
To indicate that PSG is already entering a new era and to impose a first strong decision, coach Thomas Tuchel could change captain in the final of the Coupe de France against Saint-Etienne. A possibility which Jean-Marc Pilorget, defender in Paris, opposes during the first golden age of the club (Coupe de France 1982 and 1983, champion 1986). “If we want to pay tribute to Thiago Silva, which would be legitimate, says the former coach of Paris FC or AS Cannes, we leave him the armband. Especially since I have always thought that it is not because we do not wear it that we are not a leader. Nothing prevents other possible candidates from playing a leadership role.
For Rolland Courbis, ex-coach and current consultant on RMC, the question will resolve itself. "The captaincy will change arms by itself because Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe will be the titular defense for this end of the season and the next. And so Marquinhos will be the captain of this end of the season because I don't see anyone other than him to take on the role. "Facing Atalanta Bergamo, Tuchel could nevertheless choose to strengthen his midfielder with Marquinhos leaving in line Thiago Silva with Kimpembe. "From time to time, Tuchel takes us out of inventions that we had not thought of such as depriving ourselves of Icardi and Cavani in Dortmund," smiles Courbis. But I don't see Thiago Silva finishing the season on the field. "
Marquinhos, natural candidate, Mbappé, the big odds
Beyond the choices of men who will condition that of the new captain, PSG lives or has lived its last hours under the magistracy Thiago Silva. If Presnel Kimpembe must quickly establish himself as vice-captain, three men stand out: Marquinhos, the natural candidate; Neymar, the star; Kylian Mbappé, the other star and the future.
Rolland Courbis chooses the first and does not believe in the other two applicants. “Tuchel is not going to take the risk of upsetting one of his two stars by entrusting him with the armband. It would be complicating life and logic rather wants the captain to be a central back. Jean-Marc Pilorget is campaigning for another idea. "Without knowing what could happen in a year or two, it would not be a problem for me to give it to Kylian Mbappé," he said. We can already see all that it represents today but also from Monaco and again in the France team. If we also want to give ourselves a chance to keep it as long as possible ... If I were a coach, I would appoint him direct captain. It is not commonplace a boy of this age who already has such a beautiful state of mind. A Tuchel to decide and say if the hour of "responsibilities", claimed by the interested party in a famous speech after trophy for the best player of the season, has struck for the world champion.
