"How lucky to have a player like Mbappé": the words of Galtier before the "poster" Lens-PSG

We are not too strong, we win matches, sometimes in a good way, but the matches are always difficult and we won against Strasbourg with a situation that was compromised at times, in numerical inferiority.

Snatch victories in the last seconds and in difficulty, it's good for a team, a group.

The first poster of the year 2023 will be Lens-PSG and it's a poster because RC Lens is doing a magnificent job.

They won all their home matches (8 wins in 8 matches at Bollaert, editor's note).

They are on a very high dynamic.

Season after season, Franck Haise has improved, always through the same system, his game, his team, by erasing the few faults that there may have been at times.

If it's a poster, it

is because of our background and what PSG represents in the French landscape, but also the background of Lens.

The icing on the cake: there will be an extraordinary atmosphere with Lensois supporters always omnipresent, plus our supporters who will be numerous.

There are all the ingredients for it to be a great poster and a great evening.

It's not trivial… We know their importance in our game and our offensive animation.

If we are efficient on the offensive level, it is because we have a very high level trio.

After the match against Strasbourg, with the automatic suspension of Ney, I looked very quickly at the organization and animation of the game and the team on the offensive level.

We worked yesterday (Thursday) and today (this Friday) with the players and especially the staff to find the best animation possible.

I have a pretty clear idea of ​​what I'm going to ask my players, how I'm going to position them.

(...) We have to manage to find this famous mobility (see the following answer), but also depth.

Facing Lens, if we are only on the play in support / delivery,

we are going to favor the pressure and the very good organization of Lensoises.

You will have to find depth.

What we had not done in Reims, without Messi and Neymar.

My ideas are very clear: we are working on that, we are going to work with the staff this afternoon (this Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday).

We will have to find depth whatever the register of each other, that there is an extra soul in the fact of offering more races forward.

The original plan was to play a lot inside but not positionally.

What made matches pleasant, when we were able to get out of the opposing pressure, was that there was a lot of mobility inside the game. There were also a lot of people inside the side of Strasbourg, but we only took position, without movement and we were enormously upset.

It can be linked to the opposing density, but also to the fact that it was a recovery and that we lost these automatisms.

I've already talked to the players about it, about the fact that you need a lot more movement inside and not be in a positional game that favors opposing pressure.

The fact that we didn't have a trained left winger prevented us from switching to that side and,

in the middle of the first period and at half-time, we found another organization, another way to get the ball out (central defender El Chadaille Bitshiabu started on the left because of the withdrawals of Nuno Mendes and Juan Bernat, editor's note ).

The first reason is that we had very little movement while we have very mobile players in the heart of the game, who redouble the passes and go forward.

There, we doubled the passes without breaking the lines, without wanting to break the lines in fact, which produced a somewhat sterile game.

we have very mobile players in the heart of the game, who redouble the passes and go forward.

There, we doubled the passes without breaking the lines, without wanting to break the lines in fact, which produced a somewhat sterile game.

we have very mobile players in the heart of the game, who redouble the passes and go forward.

There, we doubled the passes without breaking the lines, without wanting to break the lines in fact, which produced a somewhat sterile game.

If we refer to the classification, yes.

We'll see after the match... But I know they performed well against the big teams in Ligue 1. They've also become a big team in Ligue 1. There's this ambition to want to tickle the top table.

They have the right to believe, to hope, to dream of an extraordinary season, as others have been able to do in recent decades.

By the number of points they have and the quality of play that Lens can offer, in my eyes, on this first part of the championship, it is certainly the most difficult opponent that we will play.

We will stay in our routine, our organization.

We will train tomorrow (December 31) with a studious session.

We will go to Lens on the 1st in the morning.

There is always the question of what will happen to the players on the 31st, will they have a meal suitable for the match or... on December 31, will they go to bed later, drink some alcohol.. I have very high level players, they know the importance of the meeting.

They are used to chaining matches.

I have total confidence in the way they will individually prepare for the meeting, even if we will talk about it tomorrow (Saturday).

It's a very professional group.

It's the first against the second, it's the poster of the day.

We will have to play a full match to give ourselves a chance of winning.

If I understood his statements correctly, it will take time to digest the fact of not having lifted the World Cup for the second time.

Obviously... All the players, the coach, will have that in mind for a long time.

Then, the fact of coming home quickly and showing such a desire to win, to bring the team with him to seek victory in a difficult moment shows a certain state of mind and a mentality of very high level champion.

I saw him again this morning in training, he is very dynamic, smiling, very invested in his role, a player who is growing week after week, match after match.

In 2022, he scored 56 goals in 56 matches!

That's what player we have... How lucky to have a player like that at PSG,

He has been in the elite group for a while and now regularly in training sessions with us.

He had been training with the professional group for quite a few weeks.

There were a lot of absentees at the start, we integrated it into daily life.

He will now be on a regular and daily basis with the professional staff.

He is a totally atypical player in the way he moves, his physique, but a player who has a lot of qualities.