This Saturday, at Camp des Loges, Thomas Tuchel held his first press conference of 2020. Sunday evening (8:55 pm), the team coached by the German coach goes to Bondoufle to face in the 32nd finals of the Coupe de France Linas-Montlhéry, who plays in R1, the equivalent of the French sixth division.
What is the state of the group, when your players have resumed training for this Thursday, January 2?
THOMAS TUCHEL. I found my players in a good state of mind, we started again in a good atmosphere. For the match, Thiago Silva, Abdou Diallo and Kimpembe are absent. All others are available.
What have you been doing since Thursday?
We did endurance and effort tests to check the workload. We did two groups. One in the morning, the other in the afternoon. We have done three training sessions so far. Four with that of this Saturday. We want to win, to be serious. It's up to us to find the rhythm. We will decide in the morning who will play in the evening. We have to think, we have matches every three days. You have to manage the minutes.
What work have you done on Linas?
It's difficult to find videos from Linas but we respect it, it's football. The difference is great but respect is to play seriously. For us, to find the rhythm. It's a decisive match.
Neymar took advantage of the truce. How did you find it? Can he afford to have this healthy lifestyle?
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I don't look at these things. They had an individual program. Ney had personal trainers with him, he did the individual work. He was in a good frame of mind. Holidays are made to enjoy. He can play but we haven't decided yet.
How are you going to manage this period with a lot of matches?
We did tests to find out the individual data. To manage minutes and workload. We are a large group. We have the possibility of managing the minutes, to give more training depending on who plays. We play twice against Monaco (January 12 and 15 in L1), a very strong team with a new coach. You have to find rhythm. We cannot calculate everything until Dortmund (the 8th final round of the Champions League on February 18). It's not like that. We must find the spirit, a good state of mind. We have to start winning again to keep first place. We think game after game.
With the accumulation of matches, are there risks of injury?
Yes, the risk is still there. We play too much. We don't have enough time to recover to play free. We don't have enough days to prepare. That is why there is always a risk. We do everything possible to protect the players but injuries will happen because it's always like that. With Kylian (Mbappé) and Ney together at the end of the year, this had a great influence. If you want to win everything, to pass Dortmund, it is necessary to arrive with healthy players. You never have enough time to really prepare. It is always a compromise. No one was sent to locate the lawn at Bondoufle. I hope it is not dangerous but we will adapt whatever the state.
Do you have requests for the transfer window?
You can never say never. I did not ask anything. I love my team, my players. We created an atmosphere, a bond. We can continue with this group. I am super calm.
Paredes and Cavani will they be there until the end of the transfer window?
Paredes plays a lot. He showed that he was capable of being a key player. For Edi, it was hard. He was injured several times, he lost his rhythm. The others did well. He is there, in a good frame of mind. I have a lot of confidence in both. I think they will stay with us.
Is there a mental coach at PSG?
We haven't thought about that. It would mean that we are not prepared. It's not like that. We were close last season, it may have been an accident, perhaps mental. We prepare mentally every day. It is special to use a mental trainer. Great trust is needed between the staff, this person and the players. It is very delicate. We can prepare them mentally by creating a bond. We are ready to play great games.