"
I love the sea when it's calm, beautiful or raging
", said Christophe Galtier in 2021. In Paris, no sea. It's the general atmosphere that is often raging.
The storm warning is declared after average performances - to put it mildly - since the recovery and three defeats in a row in Marseille (1-0) and Monaco (3-1), then against Bayern Munich (0-1 ) in the Champions League.
Red alert before seeing Lille again this Sunday (1 p.m.), during the 24th day of Ligue 1. Behind, there will still be two meetings (OM, Nantes) before preparing for the return match against FC Bayern, March 8, at the 'Allianz Arena.
Will Galtier still be in charge at that time?
To discover
Calendar and results Ligue 1
League 1 standings
In all likelihood, yes.
The situation shouldn't get any worse by then.
Some sources do not hesitate to say that "Galette" no longer has a joker, some others slipping the names of Zinédine Zidane, Thomas Tuchel or José Mourinho.
"
It's a very exciting month
," said the 56-year-old technician before embarking on this crazy series of February, adding that "
you are under pressure from the moment you sign your contract
" when you are a coach at PSG .
This time, the pressure is really there, strong, heavy.
No room for error?
Never here.
Even less now.
Sand yachting, penaltygate, Benfica…
He has already been treated to a few jolts here and there, after his declarations on the atmosphere at the Parc des Princes or on the "
sand yachting
", there was the "penaltygate", the... "pivotgate", the loss of first place in the group in C1.
This time it's different.
The way hasn't been there for weeks.
Now the results are soaring too.
And we are entitled to wonder if the 2021 champion has the shoulders.
"
Obviously this question arises
," he said at his first press conference in July.
Intervention during which he promised "
uncompromising
" locker room management and "
a different approach to the game
" compared to his previous clubs, he who was not known for the show.
"
You have to win everything and play well
”, he guessed, saying he wanted “
a team that puts the opponent under pressure
” and believing that it is necessary to set up “
a very precise organization and little to change
”.
Since then, he has changed plans at almost every match and it is not uncommon to see Paris react rather than act.
Broken promises.
Especially when you remember the match against Bayern and especially the poor first period.
Obviously, not everything is the fault of the native of Marseille.
Luis Campos has his part, a big part.
And then the rest, the injuries, the virus that invaded the locker room before Monaco, the failed transfer windows, the management of the post-World Cup, the poor form of some or even the legacy of the years spent with a already overflowing payroll.
Read alsoPSG: "No link to be made between the words of Mbappé and the photo of Neymar in a fast food restaurant", promises Galtier
All with players who lack bite by nature and who generally do not have the technical level to hide their lack of aggressiveness.
Everything for the “MNM”.
From there to offer so little ambition in the game that last Tuesday… The plan?
Back to the flat 4-4-2, the one he had sworn never to reuse, the one that was his trademark in his previous teams.
A single objective, as disturbing as it may seem when it comes to a Paris-SG led by Neymar Jr and Leo Messi: to hold the 0-0 until the entry of Kylian Mbappé.
No more no less.
You are laughing at me ?
Do you think I was satisfied with what I saw against Bayern?
Christophe Galtier
Do you doubt it?
Galtier, however, does not hide: "
Circumstances meant that I saw no other way than to try to contain Bayern to return, then, to a second phase, with the entry of Kylian
".
Stretched, reassembled, on the same hot coals as his predecessors over time, Galtier is indignant that one can imagine that he did this with joy of heart.
“
Are you kidding me?
Do you think I was satisfied with what I saw against Bayern?
I wasn't satisfied but my players didn't have much to do with it.
There was this game plan in relation to the available workforce
, ”he insists.
And to add, always for irritated and angry:
If you think I enjoyed watching my team play the way they played against Bayern Munich for an hour, you're disrespecting me a bit
."
Issue ?
Given the post-match statements, even his players only moderately appreciated the restrictive plan...
"
We no longer want flashy, bling-bling, it's the end of glitter
," said Nasser Al-Khelaïfi in June.
This does not mean that Parisian decision-makers can be satisfied with such poverty.
Especially if the results do not follow, or that Europe had to fly away from the 8th.
“
In these difficult times, you have to take refuge even more in work
”, underlines the ex-coach of “Sainté”, Lille and Nice, who must also manage the Neymar / Mbappé case.
“
Everyone should eat well and sleep well
,” said “KM”.
24 hours later, we saw the Brazilian parading in a fast food restaurant after spending the evening at poker.
"
I have the intimate conviction that there is no link to be made between Kylian's words and the photo
», assures Galtier.
Promised sworn ?
Fire on all floors
In Paris more than elsewhere, you have to manage as much as train.
Especially in times of crisis, when the shit flies in squadron and the fire takes on all floors.
In Monaco, Campos strongly hung with Neymar and Marquinhos for example.
In addition to the rumors around the possible succession of Galtier on the bench, there are also those around the potential departures of "Ney" and Messi at the end of the season or the little music that wants some not to have cashed that the leaders "
gave all this power to Mbappé by having the best player in history (Messi) next to him
", like the remarks recently made by Angel Di Maria on
ESPN
.
Explosive.
Read also“Do you think I was satisfied with what I saw against Bayern?”
: Galtier defends his choices... and gets annoyed
There is only one remedy: victory.
It is not the memory of a start to the season that looks like a chimera that can save Galtier, who will now cross his fingers so that his group recharges the batteries in the next three weeks, while taking points in Ligue 1. Starting with this Sunday against a Losc he knows by heart and who is in good shape (5th in the L1 standings before the day), led by the excellent Jonathan David, second scorer in L1 with 14 goals, with Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco) and Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon), behind Folarin Balogun (15, Reims).
Character and personality
Author of a hat-trick during the card in Lille in the first leg (7-2), Mbappé is just behind all these beautiful people with 13 goals, four lengths from the house record of Edinson Cavani elsewhere (196 against 200) .
From here to Munich, however, the idea will be to pamper Bondy's crack, back on the pitch a week early to put on his savior costume against Bayern.
It was not far from working, with this goal refused for a handful of centimeters (83rd).
But VAR wasn't PSG's main problem on Tuesday.
The Parisians lacked personality, character and desire to go forward against the "Rekordmeister", beaten in Mönchengladbach on Saturday (3-2).
Ingredients that they would be well advised to put in the next matches,
story of (re) taking up good habits.
It may not be too late.
It costs nothing to try, to see...
