They did.
After years of waiting and frustration, breaking their teeth against a hitherto untouchable Olympique Lyonnais, the girls of Paris Saint-Germain were crowned, this Friday evening, champions of France thanks to their victory over Dijon ( 3-0).
Former coach of PSG and OL, third in D1 in 2016-2017 and second in 2017-2018 with Paris, no one is better placed than Patrice Lair to appreciate this Parisian consecration.
And judge the evolution of a long-term project, which resulted this season in the first title in the history of the club.
A coronation that will make a date, but which is not certain to call others, to hear the former coach of 59 years.
For PSG, this title is a real consecration, especially as it puts an end to fourteen years of Lyon hegemony ...
PATRICE LAIR.
It was a long-term job for the leaders of PSG, the coaches and all the people who set up this section.
It is also the consecration of a successful season, where PSG finished with the best defense and the best attack in the championship.
They've been in front most of the time.
If you look at the statistics, it's the team that deserves to be the champion.
What were the steps to take to allow this club to grow and finally achieve this first title of champion of France?
There was a first stage, initiated around Farid Benstiti (coach between 2012 and 2016), with an injection of many great players (Annike Krahn, Linda Bresonik, Kosovare Asllani, Shirley Cruz, Lindsey Horan, Kheira Hamraoui). They worked to reach finals, initially lost, in the Coupe de France (2014) or the Champions League (2015). This is part of the learning stages. I then arrived in 2016, where we left with young people, like Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Grace Geyoro or Sandy Baltimore, who also crossed the capes. Above all, I think we had the intelligence to go get Kadi Diani in Juvisy, we bought her very expensive. I remember she was criticized a lot, she even wondered why I was taking her. But I saw great potential in her. All that took well,it is normal that the successes come then. Olivier Echouafni takes over, he did a good job for two years, rewarded with this title of champion. There was a progression, a logical continuation.
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With this title finally acquired, will we witness a shift in the balance of power for the coming seasons?
Honestly, I don't think so.
I ask myself a lot of questions when I see that Endler leaves for Lyon, that Paredes signs for Barça… I recruited them, these girls, they are the cornerstone of the Parisian project.
Everything had to be done to keep them.
Especially when you know the financial potential of the club, don't come and tell me that you can't keep them.
So, if it's Gérard Prêcheur who comes (
Editor's note: the coach is tipped to replace Olivier Echouafni at the end of the season)
, he will have to remake like me, that is to say rebuild a defensive base.
It's a shame, when they could be even stronger and there is already everything in this team: a quality midfielder, an extraordinary attacking triplet.
I'm afraid that after this championship title, Lyon will quickly gain the upper hand.
While it will always have in its ranks the top scorer (Marie-Antoinette Katoto) and the best player (Kadidiatou Diani) of the Championship, what should Paris then rely on next season to repeat such a feat?
When I arrived in Paris, what saved me was the training. In the Paris region, there is an extraordinary breeding ground and as we saw at the start of the season, there are some young talents who have been picked up by OL. So, when we see the feminine wealth on which PSG is seated, with all these young players who are also French ... For me, we should insist even more on that side. And if to this formation, we add a few good players, or if we keep the ones we have, Paris could have ambition for a new title.
