“And yes, at the time, it was almost nothing a striker!
"On the other side of the globe, Carlos Bianchi, laughs at the mention of his transfer from the Stade de Reims to PSG in 1977. Then triple top scorer in D1, the Argentinian had cost" only "1.5 million francs (230,000 euros) to the capital club.
At 71, the native of Buenos Aires has not forgotten anything of his two seasons in the capital, where he still lives half the year.
From his links with Daniel Hechter, the president, through the “folkloric” side of PSG at the time or his admiration for Mustapha Dahleb, whom he considers to be the greatest player in the history of PSG, Carlos Bianchi has agreed to open his memory box for us.
Exciting.
If you had to sum up your adventure at PSG in two words ...
CARLOS BIANCHI
.
Unfinished story… I am happy with my two seasons in Paris.
I was taken to score goals, I think I can say that I did the job.
Each time, I finished top scorer in the championship
(Editor's note: 37 and 27 goals)
.
The first year, I was even the second in Europe.
I was coming out of four seasons in Reims, where I had finished top scorer in D1 three times.
The time I didn't, was because I broke my leg.
I really enjoyed playing for PSG.
But after two years, Daniel Hechter was gone and the club gave me the image of being folkloric.
Folk?
Folk, yes definitely!
In other words, there wasn't a lot of discipline.
In addition, we changed too many coaches.
We had four in two years.
Among them, there was even one who did not come to training.
We worked with his assistant and arrived at the end of the session, stood in front of the changing room door, said hello and that was it!
If that is not folklore ... I don't know how a president can tolerate that.
Football is no different from other professions.
To do a good job, you have to be professional.
A coach is like a father, it is he who must set an example.
You were also coached by Jean-Michel Larqué, who was a player-coach at the time.
What memory do you keep of it?
Jean-Michel was a good trainer, his training was fun.
His only problem was that he wasn't psychologist enough.
As he was a good football player, very technical, he did not understand that his players were not at the same level as him.
It gave rise to a few skirmishes
(laughs)
!
Without this defect, Jean-Michel would have been a good coach.
He had graduated, had even been a major in his promotion, but I had the impression he was not convinced that this was his path.
With him, the training was fun.
That year, I scored 37 goals in 38 games, 50% of the goals for the team that scored 74. I was very happy.
That's why I stayed the following year.
New players arrived, but it didn't work out.
On the contrary, it was worse.
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How is it possible ?
I still wonder.
Yet good players like Bathenay, Baratelli and others had arrived.
But it didn't take.
The PSG of my time was not that of today.
We did not have a lot of economic means.
There were many clubs much stronger and richer than us: Marseille, Nantes, Saint-Etienne, Monaco, Lyon… The two years when I was top scorer, do you know where we finished in the standings?
11th and 13th!
I never understood that with the players we had, we did not have positive results.
That's why I asked to leave.
Especially since Daniel Hechter, who was at the origin of your coming, was no longer there ...
He was not only a very good president, but he was also a guy who put the money in his pocket.
I know very few leaders who can do this.
For me, he's a gentleman.
Sometimes I see him at the Parc des Princes, I have a lot of respect for him.
He came to get me.
I had a very good feeling with him.
We could see that he had given everything to make the club.
He took care of it like his child.
Unfortunately, afterwards they got him dirty.
It's a special world.
I arrived in July, he left in December.
It was a disappointment… They betrayed him!
What is your best memory of PSG?
The satisfaction of having fulfilled my contract.
Lots of players change clubs eight or nine times to make a lot of money.
But deep down they have to be like, “Shit, I can't get myself settled down somewhere.
When you can't settle down like this, it's often that other people don't want you.
Me, I left Reims for political reasons!
Because the successor of Jean Taittinger, the then mayor, cut the subsidies and the club sold me because I was the only "capital".
So you landed in Paris by accident?
Yeah, sort of
(laughs)
.
I could have gone to Real or Barcelona in previous years.
But I signed up for six years and I respect what I signed.
So when I was picked up, if the club wouldn't let me go, I wouldn't say anything.
I could have messed up like some people are doing today.
But the only thing that interested me was playing football.
I could have tried to make a financial case when I arrived in Paris.
Not even, I kept the same contract!
Some players end their careers with a crazy dough, but when you ask them what they've been up to, you've quickly taken the tour!
Who is the best player you've ever played with?
Mustapha Dahleb, without hesitation.
He had everything, the technique, the speed, the strength, the vista… If he played today, he would raise the crowds.
However, we took hits, real ones, soles, hits in the head… Not like now, when we step on a guy's foot and he rolls on the ground.
Mustapha is the best player in the history of PSG.
If Mbappé doesn't make a mistake in life, he will be the best player in the world.
And that, for at least ten years.
He's an extraordinary player.
But Mustapha was also a phenomenon.
The strongest player I've seen.
Today he would be one of the best in the world.
What is your worst memory at PSG?
The fact that the team did not achieve anything the two seasons I was there.
Today 90% - to put it mildly - of the teams which hold the top scorer finish champion or at worst second.
But I don't use the word regret.
In life, you should not regret.
Which player in all of Parisian history would you have liked to play with?
Safet
(Editor's note: Susic)
.
He was a phenomenon, he did the dribbling he needed to serve the striker in the best conditions.
There haven't been many players better than him to put an attacker into orbit.
Like you, Mbappé, Ibrahimovic, Cavani or Pauleta were crowned top scorer in the PSG jersey.
Which do you feel closest to?
Mbappé is going much too fast for it to be him
(laughs)
.
I haven't seen Pauleta play much, so I would say Cavani.
In 1988, Francis Borelli contacted Carlos Bianchi to coach PSG.
He finally preferred Tomislav Ivic./LP/Frédéric Dugit
Like Papin and Onnis, you were five times top scorer in the French Championship.
Will this record ever be broken?
Of course.
If Mbappé remains at PSG, he can finish seven or eight times top scorer.
But I'm not sure he stays in Paris that long.
Me the two years when I was not, it is because I broke my leg against Barcelona (in 1974) and because I had a pubalgia which forced me to the operation (in 79-80).
Would you have liked to train PSG?
I'll tell you an anecdote.
When I was coach of the Stade de Reims, one evening Francis Borelli
(Editor's note: president of PSG from 1078 to 1991) called
me.
He said to me: “Carlos, tomorrow we will settle everything, you are the new PSG coach!
I said, "OK, Mr. Borelli, that's fine with me, let's talk about it tomorrow quietly."
24 hours later, the PSG coach was Tomislav Ivic!
No comment…
Did you imagine that PSG would one day be the club it has become today?
No of course not.
Forty years ago, it was unimaginable.
But it is quite normal that the most beautiful city in the world has a big club.
Today, it is a powerful team, which has a lot of money.
And when you have the money, you have the best players.
How much has PSG marked you?
So much so that Paris is where I live half the year.
The club, the city, France, from which I obtained the nationality, everything marked me.
