Luis Henriquez News

Thiago Alcantara explains Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola difference and 'love' for Liverpool star

Thiago Aclatanra has described Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola as the two greatest coaches he ever played for and outlined the key differences between the pair as managers. Thiago played for Guardiola for three seasons between 2013-2016 at Bayern Munich and eventually moved to Liverpool in September 2020 after the then Premier League champions struck a £25m deal with the Bundesliga giants. Former Spain international Thiago played under Klopp for three years and was part of the squad that won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup before picking up 92 Premier League points and ending as Champions League runners-up in 2022. In an interview with Rio Ferdinand , Thiago name-checks Klopp and Guardiola as the best coaches he has worked with and explained what it was like to be a midfielder for two of the most revered managers of the 21st century. "I’ve played for so many good coaches," Thiago said. "Carlo (Ancelotti), Luis Enrique, Julen Lopetegui now. But Pep and Klopp, it’s the way they communicate. "The way they have an idea and they can express that idea. In those terms they are very similar. But then Pep is more [of] the approach of how he sells his idea through tactics. "And Klopp is how he sells his idea through the community, the energy, the group. So those are two different approaches of football. "Many. Many [differences between Guardiola and Klopp]. I came from Barcelona school and everything was slow-cooked. You need to set the timer, have the proper ingredients. "And Klopp is: 'OK, open the fridge, let’s take the food out, let’s cook whatever'. The best meal you will have in your life is what we have in the fridge. Different approaches, but at the end you have a great meal." Thiago also paid tribute to former Reds colleague Roberto Firmino, describing the former Brazil forward as one of the most intelligent players he ever played with during a decorated career that saw him turn out for Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool at club level as well as Spain between the years of 2011 and 2021. Thiago added: "I was in love with Bobby (Firmino). "Bobby, I think he’s one of the best players I’ve ever played with. In training, to do things as a striker, to do things that midfield players did, and scoring goals, wow. "Because sometimes you meet people in life that you want all good things to happen to them. Bobby was one of them. "The way he is as a person, and then suddenly he’s another person playing football. He’s cheeky with the ball, doing things, reading the game, being fast, clever. "You have this kind of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as personality, being the nicest person ever, but then a hell of a football player. He made that mix, and you say, wow. "He did a tunnel here. He did a bike here. And you think: 'OK, maybe he’s arrogant now'. He’s the greatest human being ever." FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page

2026-07-05

World Cup starlet 'clearly unhappy' amid Aston Villa transfer links

Paris Saint-Germain starlet Ibrahim Mbaye is ‘considering his future’ amid links to Aston Villa. That’s according to European football expert Andy Brassell who reckons the 18-year-old would thrive in the Premier League and that Mbaye could fit in well into Unai Emery's team. Brassell believes the forward is ‘clearly unhappy’ having struggled to nail down a regular starting place in Luis Enrique’s star-studded line-up. With the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola to choose from, Mbaye made just one Champions League start and ten in Ligue 1. That has prompted a lot of speculation around Mbaye at a time when he is away at the World Cup with Senegal – particularly with Villa. Mbaye scored for his country in the 3-1 loss to France. FOLLOW OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! Get more news and AVFC analysis via our Aston Villa FB page “Premier League clubs are interested in him," Brassell told talkSPORT . "Aston Villa have been sniffing around him. “He has made it clear through his agents that he is considering his future. He’s got two years left on the first professional contract he signed with PSG. “He wants to play. He wants more game-time. That’s understandable. He’d be a fantastic fit for the Premier League. “You look at Villa returning to the Champions League, hoping to step up a level… they work around having a dynamic midfield. “I think it would be really interesting seeing him in front of Boubacar Kamara. The fact he can play in those wide roles as well… the sky is the limit. He’s got so many strings to his bow. "PSG still have the chance to persuade him to stay, although he is clearly unhappy, and whichever club buys him in the end is going to have the chance to really shape a big star of the next four, five, six years. “He’s so mature for his age. I expect him to end up in the Premier League at some point. "And I imagine PSG will insert some kind of buy-back clause because he’s got the personality to succeed at a club like that.” TalkSPORT add Mbaye's agents have let clubs know he could be ready for a fresh start, with Villa set to return to the Champions League next term.

2026-06-21

Arsenal news: £200m transfer plan suffers setback as Mikel Arteta is sent very clear message

Mikel Arteta has been dealt a setback in his pursuit of two strikers who would cost a combined fee of over £200million. Arsenal are already planning for this summer’s transfer window despite their current squad taking them to within three games of a league and European Cup double. The Gunners know the fate of the title is in their hands following the weekend victory over West Ham as the north Londoners bid to end a drought that has lasted since 2004. Next up is Monday's home fixture against Burnley , before Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on the final day of the campaign. Arguably the biggest month in Arsenal’s recent history concludes with the Champions League final on May 30 , where Arteta’s men hope to exact revenge on last season’s winners, Paris Saint-Germain, and lift the trophy for the first time ever. FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news and more on our dedicated Facebook page Now, Mirror Football takes a look at two of the latest news stories involving the Gunners. PSG have already looked to land a blow on Champions League final opponents Arsenal by ramping up their pursuit of Gunners target Julian Alvarez. Alvarez, who scored against Arsenal in the semi-finals of the tournament, is understood to be a key target of sporting director Andrea Berta. Berta is already well aware of the Argentine forward’s talent, having been the one to sign him for Atletico while he was still in charge of transfers there in 2024. But Arsenal are now expected to face competition from the Parisians as they look to secure the 26-year-old’s signature. Spanish outlet AS reports via The Standard that PSG head coach Luis Enrique has made a specific request to the club’s board to sign Alvarez, who he tried and failed to sign two years ago. The report claims PSG could present the most attractive offer to the former Manchester City forward, who is also wanted by Barcelona . The French champions are believed to have the finances ready to land Alvarez, who is valued at somewhere between £100m and £148m by Atletico. PSG are one of the few clubs in the world able to spend more than the Gunners. Atleti manager Diego Simeone admitted there was interest from all three clubs recently as he said: "I understand it’s normal that an extraordinary player like Julian Alvarez is wanted by Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona. It's normal because he's very good." In yet another blow to Arteta’s hopes of signing a top forward, Bournemouth chief Tiago Pinto has made it clear that Eli Junior Kroupi will not be going anywhere this summer. The Frenchman, 19, has been linked with Arsenal and a host of other top clubs thanks to his fantastic performances over the past year. But Pinto insists the Cherries are not prepared to sell their most valuable asset, even if they are offered a whopping £85m for Kroupi, who has scored 12 league goals this campaign. He said: "Junior Kroupi will not be leaving the club. His contract is for more than four years, there is no release clause in the contract, and he will not be going anywhere." When asked if a certain number could convince Bournemouth to sell the attacker, Pinto replied: "We will not sell Kroupi even if we receive offers of €100million (£85m)."

2026-05-14

'Not bothered' - Michael Carrick gives update on Manchester United head coach role

Michael Carrick insists he has no problem with his Manchester United bosses running the rule over potential candidates to replace him, despite steering the club back into the Champions League . The 44-year-old is expected to land the job on a permanent basis after a run of 10 wins from 14 games since he replaced Ruben Amorim in January, but United officials want to make sure he is the right man. Old Trafford sources have been adamant since January that they will conduct a "thorough process" to make sure they get the appointment right, and although Carrick has aced his audition, that still stands. Click here to find out the latest Manchester United news in our daily newsletter A number of high-profile names have been ruled out, with Thomas Tuchel signing a new contract with the Football Association and Luis Enrique poised to commit his future to Paris Saint-Germain. United's reluctance to consider a coach at the World Cup is expected to rule out Julian Nagelsmann. That leaves Carrick's main competition as Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola and Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner, both of whom are leaving their clubs when their contracts expire this summer. United's interim head coach is the favourite thanks to his outstanding record, but claims he isn't fussed about seeing other people linked to the job. "No, genuinely not. Whether it's discussed or not discussed, it hasn't bothered me, it hasn't changed literally how I go about it," he said. "I've been confident in the work that we're doing and working with the players and leading the club, so it literally hasn't had any effect on me at all. "I think it's a process, I think pretty obviously it's going to be a process and that was from the outset, in terms of finding someone to fill the position." Carrick's claims to the role have been strengthened by several players backing him to stay publicly, with Kobbie Mainoo and Matheus Cunha the latest to add their support last weekend. "I think as a coach or manager and a leader of a group, you're only a leader of a group if people want to follow you," said Carrick. "It's not a thing that you can talk about so much, it's actions kind of prove that. So when I feel the support and I feel that the boys are all connected, not so much with me, but showing it together on the pitch is the most important thing really and they've clearly shown that in different ways. "That's the most pleasing thing and then we try to guide them and help them in certain ways. But yeah, it's satisfying when you can see them putting it together as a team." Amad was the first player to go public with his support for Carrick staying in. His form has suffered recently, and he was withdrawn at half-time against Brentford, before coming on at half-time against Liverpool and giving the ball away for Dominik Szoboszlai's goal. But Carrick insists there is no concern internally around Amad and played down a hug he had offered the winger at the end of last week's 3-2 win against Liverpool. "Amad's fine, he's absolutely fine," he said. "He's no problem. He was smiling at full-time. Mistakes were part of football. I've made them. I've made plenty as a player, I understand, and sometimes you make them and it leads to a goal. Sometimes you make them and you get away with it and no one really talks about it. "He's done so many good things since I came back and the impact that he's had on the team, his performance is what he gives the team. With the ball, without the ball, his energy, his attitude towards it and he's been great over the last few days and he was great after the game and so he should be. "He's got nothing to feel down about or upset about or frustrated about because he's got so much to look forward to and he's so talented and so exciting and an absolute joy to work with."

2026-05-09

Football Daily | All aboard to Budapest! PSG purr past Bayern to set up gunfight with Arsenal

THE GRAND BUDAPEST CARTEL The state-owned football team it’s OK to like (and proof that sportswashing works), Paris Saint-Germain booked their place in Bigger Cup final courtesy of a draw against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. Like Shaun Murphy in Monday’s night’s thrilling denouement of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre, the German champions didn’t do a great deal wrong and were similarly gracious in defeat despite their obvious disappointment. “The level of both teams was very, very high,” sighed Vincent Kompany as he ruminated on his team’s exit. “PSG have so much quality, they’ve probably been the best team in Europe in the last two years.” A team that is currently so good it was forced to replace deadweight no-marks such as Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar to finally shed their tag as Bigger Cup nearlymen and bottlers, the willingness of their replacements to do the dirty work of defending played no small part in helping PSG get over the line. For all their graciousness in defeat, Bayern’s departure from the tournament wasn’t entirely unclouded by rancour. It was understandable considering that ultimately, they were diddled by a PSG penalty in the first leg that should never have been awarded. On Wednesday Bayern felt further aggrieved by two more handball decisions that didn’t go their way, one of which turned out to be entirely correct and an initial one that still doesn’t look entirely incorrect after multiple viewings. “It’s astonishing, to say the least, that a referee with only 15 [Bigger Cup] appearances is allowed to take charge of such a match,” parped Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen of Portuguese referee João Pinheiro’s performance. “And that perhaps also explains some of the decisions.” While Mikel Arteta, his coaching staff and Ben White will spend the next couple of weeks lying awake wondering how best to solve a problem like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia without creating 99 others elsewhere, no end of Arsenal and PSG fans will endure similarly sleepless nights stressing over how they will get tickets for the final in Budapest. With just 16,824 general admission tickets going to each club, almost exactly half of the 67,215 capacity of the Puskas Arena will be reserved for “friends” of the dysfunctional “Uefa family”. While 10,000 fans from each club will get tickets for a reasonably priced €70, the next cheapest are twice that amount while the most expensive Category A admission slips are just shy of a grand. With airlines and Budapest boarding houses also shamelessly muscling in on the gouging act, many Arsenal fans will consider the small fortune begged, borrowed or stolen a small price to pay for the privilege of watching Arteta’s Fun Boat™ drop anchor in the Danube. LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE Join John Brewin from 8pm BST for hot Bigger Vase semi-final updates from Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest (agg: 2-2 aet; 4-3 on pens), while Niall McVeigh will be at the wheel with full coverage of Crystal Palace 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk (agg: 5-2) in the last four of Tin Pot. QUOTE OF THE DAY 10pm 6 May: “I’m excited by what the future holds for this amazing group of players” – Manchester City boss Andrée Jeglertz pays tribute to his team after they ended Chelsea’s run of six consecutive WSL titles, crowned champions after Arsenal could only draw 1-1 at Brighton. 10.30am 7 May: WSL top-scorer Bunny Shaw decides to leave Manchester City this summer at the end of her contract. FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS Doing some half-hearted/@rsed research of potential Bigger Vase finalists, Braga, I drifted into a section about the city’s famous old inhabitants. One of these was a 16th-century skeptic philosopher called Francisco Sanches, who claimed that nobody knows anything, particularly those who say they do. With a European campaign – that was helmed, briefly, by both Big Ange and Sean Dyche (et al) – potentially ending in an unlikely final, Forest seem to have proved old Fran-San’s point” – Andrew Boulton. It’s interesting that Declan Rice thinks that Arsenal’s achievements can’t be underestimated (yesterday’s Football Daily). The only things that can’t be underestimated are things that are extremely small. Anything large can easily be underestimated” – Bob Cushion (and others). Maybe Chester and Wrexham (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition) could go down the Forest/Derby route and rename the A483 to ‘Phil Parkinson Way’?” – Jim Hearson. Am I the only one who saw this fine picture of Pep Guardiola and Jordan Pickford at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night and thought: ‘All this really needs is the addition of an ‘I’ and an ‘S’ to be perfect?’” – Adam Sherlock. If you have any, please send letters to [email protected]. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Adam Sherlock, who gets a copy of Classic Football Shirts. It’s out now and the Guardian Bookshop is offering discounted copies here if you’re not successful. The are loads of other top reads on their website, too. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.  This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

2026-05-07

Football Daily | All aboard to Budapest! PSG purr past Bayern to set up gunfight with Arsenal

THE GRAND BUDAPEST CARTEL The state-owned football team it’s OK to like (and proof that sportswashing works), Paris Saint-Germain booked their place in Bigger Cup final courtesy of a draw against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. Like Shaun Murphy in Monday’s night’s thrilling denouement of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre, the German champions didn’t do a great deal wrong and were similarly gracious in defeat despite their obvious disappointment. “The level of both teams was very, very high,” sighed Vincent Kompany as he ruminated on his team’s exit. “PSG have so much quality, they’ve probably been the best team in Europe in the last two years.” A team that is currently so good it was forced to replace deadweight no-marks such as Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar to finally shed their tag as Bigger Cup nearlymen and bottlers, the willingness of their replacements to do the dirty work of defending played no small part in helping PSG get over the line. For all their graciousness in defeat, Bayern’s departure from the tournament wasn’t entirely unclouded by rancour. It was understandable considering that ultimately, they were diddled by a PSG penalty in the first leg that should never have been awarded. On Wednesday Bayern felt further aggrieved by two more handball decisions that didn’t go their way, one of which turned out to be entirely correct and an initial one that still doesn’t look entirely incorrect after multiple viewings. “It’s astonishing, to say the least, that a referee with only 15 [Bigger Cup] appearances is allowed to take charge of such a match,” parped Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen of Portuguese referee João Pinheiro’s performance. “And that perhaps also explains some of the decisions.” While Mikel Arteta, his coaching staff and Ben White will spend the next couple of weeks lying awake wondering how best to solve a problem like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia without creating 99 others elsewhere, no end of Arsenal and PSG fans will endure similarly sleepless nights stressing over how they will get tickets for the final in Budapest. With just 16,824 general admission tickets going to each club, almost exactly half of the 67,215 capacity of the Puskas Arena will be reserved for “friends” of the dysfunctional “Uefa family”. While 10,000 fans from each club will get tickets for a reasonably priced €70, the next cheapest are twice that amount while the most expensive Category A admission slips are just shy of a grand. With airlines and Budapest boarding houses also shamelessly muscling in on the gouging act, many Arsenal fans will consider the small fortune begged, borrowed or stolen a small price to pay for the privilege of watching Arteta’s Fun Boat™ drop anchor in the Danube. LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE Join John Brewin from 8pm BST for hot Bigger Vase semi-final updates from Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest (agg: 2-2 aet; 4-3 on pens), while Niall McVeigh will be at the wheel with full coverage of Crystal Palace 2-1 Shakhtar Donetsk (agg: 5-2) in the last four of Tin Pot. QUOTE OF THE DAY 10pm 6 May: “I’m excited by what the future holds for this amazing group of players” – Manchester City boss Andrée Jeglertz pays tribute to his team after they ended Chelsea’s run of six consecutive WSL titles, crowned champions after Arsenal could only draw 1-1 at Brighton. 10.30am 7 May: WSL top-scorer Bunny Shaw decides to leave Manchester City this summer at the end of her contract. FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS Doing some half-hearted/@rsed research of potential Bigger Vase finalists, Braga, I drifted into a section about the city’s famous old inhabitants. One of these was a 16th-century skeptic philosopher called Francisco Sanches, who claimed that nobody knows anything, particularly those who say they do. With a European campaign – that was helmed, briefly, by both Big Ange and Sean Dyche (et al) – potentially ending in an unlikely final, Forest seem to have proved old Fran-San’s point” – Andrew Boulton. It’s interesting that Declan Rice thinks that Arsenal’s achievements can’t be underestimated (yesterday’s Football Daily). The only things that can’t be underestimated are things that are extremely small. Anything large can easily be underestimated” – Bob Cushion (and others). Maybe Chester and Wrexham (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition) could go down the Forest/Derby route and rename the A483 to ‘Phil Parkinson Way’?” – Jim Hearson. Am I the only one who saw this fine picture of Pep Guardiola and Jordan Pickford at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night and thought: ‘All this really needs is the addition of an ‘I’ and an ‘S’ to be perfect?’” – Adam Sherlock. If you have any, please send letters to [email protected]. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Adam Sherlock, who gets a copy of Classic Football Shirts. It’s out now and the Guardian Bookshop is offering discounted copies here if you’re not successful. The are loads of other top reads on their website, too. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.  This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

2026-05-07

What makes this PSG team so great? Their attackers love to defend | Luke Entwistle

Ousmane Dembélé grins when he says that, if he does not press, he will be benched by Luis Enrique. The Ballon d’Or winner does not do his defensive work under duress. Like the rest of his teammates, he seems to derive enjoyment from a part of the game that was once seen as unnatural. Attackers would attack and defenders would defend; simple rules for a simple game. But demands have changed. The forward line of Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar was a mouthwatering prospect but they failed to take Paris Saint‑Germain close to a Champions League title and there was a lack of joy in their work. All attack and no defend made PSG a dull watch. There was a lesson in their failure: that football had changed and matches could not be won by the sheer weight of their attacking talent. Luis Enrique tried to teach Mbappé that lesson in his final season at the club. In a documentary on the manager’s first year at PSG, there was a scene in which Mbappé was sat down like a naughty schoolboy and forced to watch his own defensive shortcomings during the Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona. Luis Enrique made his demands very clear: “I read that you like Michael Jordan,” he said. “Michael Jordan grabbed his teammates by the balls and defended like a son of a bitch. You think you have to score goals for us. Of course, you’re a phenomenon, a world-class player, no doubt, but that doesn’t matter to me that much. Being a leader is, when you can’t help us with goals, you help us defensively. If you set the example by going to press, you know what we have? A fucking team.” Mbappé has since admitted that he was “half-thinking about Madrid at that point” and that he “didn’t make the most of Luis Enrique”. The France captain never bought into the overarching philosophy. He thought that defending would stymie his attacking potential and he did not want to give up the freedom he had been granted by his former managers for the sake of the collective. The players who now make up PSG’s forward line – Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola – have no such qualms. In Europe’s top five leagues, no player has made more presses per 90 minutes than Doué. Kvaratskhelia also features in the top five. The footage of Dembélé waiting to pounce on Yann Sommer’s goal-kick during last season’s Champions League final is one of the prevailing images of PSG’s maiden triumph. Fail to comply and you’re on the bench; having four world-class options for three places in the team ensures that threat is not a hollow one. But the players themselves, notably Dembélé, also drive the standards. “Above all, we have to play for Paris Saint-Germain to win matches because, if we play alone on the pitch, that won’t work. Last year, we put the club above everything else, before thinking about ourselves. We need to rediscover that. We have to play for the club first and foremost before thinking about ourselves,” he said in February. Performances in the Champions League since suggest he has been heard by his teammates. PSG rank second in ball recoveries in this season’s competition, behind Atlético Madrid. Last season, they topped this metric – and by some distance. But as they showed emphatically against Bayern Munich last week, their defensive diligence does not come at the detriment of spectacle, flair, entertainment or efficiency. Kvaratskhelia is proof of that. The Georgian has 10 goals and five assists in the Champions League – a record for a PSG player in a single campaign – and has also become only the fourth player to score or assist in six consecutive knockout games in the tournament. Dembélé did the same last season. Of course, PSG are not alone in adopting a super-aggressive high-press approach, and in recent days, much attention has been paid to the conditions that allow them to implement it better than others – notably clubs north of the English Channel. The quality of Ligue 1 and its reduction to 18 teams in 2023, the removal of the Coupe de la Ligue in 2020, and the financial chasm that separates PSG from their domestic competitors all are valid reasons why PSG can perform to this level at this stage of the season in the Champions League. It’s no surprise that Bayern Munich are doing the same given their similar situation in the Bundesliga. Regardless, PSG’s all-action, uber-fluid, high-press has brought success and most of the other elite teams in Europe are trying to replicate it. It marks a significant divergence from tradition for French football, historically a pot-pourri of outside influences. There are other approaches – as seen in the other Champions League semi-final – but this is the direction of travel and PSG are leading the way. Talking points • PSG find joy in defending but there is no pleasure to be derived from watching Marseille under Habib Beye. Since the departure of Roberto De Zerbi in February, the club’s regression has been spectacular. The Italian said last season that, if he was the problem, he would leave. These recent weeks have emphasised that he was not the issue. There is a lassitude that is increasingly visible, accentuated by reported tensions behind the scenes and a feeling that the writing is already on the wall for Beye. He inherited a side that was fourth in the table. They have dropped to seventh after a shocking 3-0 defeat to Nantes on Saturday. Champions League qualification, so crucial to the club from a financial perspective, may have slipped through their fingers. Nantes, who have only won five league games all season, have done the double over Marseille and have given themselves a slender chance of survival, while also perhaps providing the final nail in the coffin for Beye, who is nonetheless expected to see out the season. • Paul Pogba made his first start since May 2023 as Monaco narrowly beat Metz on Saturday. The technical ability is clearly still there, but there was an unsurprising lack of dynamism. His manager, Sébastien Pocognoli, highlighted the time elapsed since his last start as mitigation. It was only once he departed that the cogs started to turn for Monaco as they came from a goal down to beat Metz in extra-time, thanks to an Ansu Fati goal – his 10th in Ligue 1 this season. The defeat consigns Metz to the drop for the eighth time in their last 13 seasons in the top flight. The club has a propensity to bounce back, but they may do so without Benoît Tavenot. The manager has an unwanted record of 25 games without a win this season, a run that started with Bastia in Ligue 2 and has continued during his 14 games in charge of Metz. This is an article by Get French Football News

2026-05-05

What makes this PSG team so great? Their attackers love to defend | Luke Entwistle

Ousmane Dembélé grins when he says that, if he does not press, he will be benched by Luis Enrique. The Ballon d’Or winner does not do his defensive work under duress. Like the rest of his teammates, he seems to derive enjoyment from a part of the game that was once seen as unnatural. Attackers would attack and defenders would defend; simple rules for a simple game. But demands have changed. The forward line of Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar was a mouthwatering prospect but they failed to take Paris Saint‑Germain close to a Champions League title and there was a lack of joy in their work. All attack and no defend made PSG a dull watch. There was a lesson in their failure: that football had changed and matches could not be won by the sheer weight of their attacking talent. Luis Enrique tried to teach Mbappé that lesson in his final season at the club. In a documentary on the manager’s first year at PSG, there was a scene in which Mbappé was sat down like a naughty schoolboy and forced to watch his own defensive shortcomings during the Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona. Luis Enrique made his demands very clear: “I read that you like Michael Jordan,” he said. “Michael Jordan grabbed his teammates by the balls and defended like a son of a bitch. You think you have to score goals for us. Of course, you’re a phenomenon, a world-class player, no doubt, but that doesn’t matter to me that much. Being a leader is, when you can’t help us with goals, you help us defensively. If you set the example by going to press, you know what we have? A fucking team.” Mbappé has since admitted that he was “half-thinking about Madrid at that point” and that he “didn’t make the most of Luis Enrique”. The France captain never bought into the overarching philosophy. He thought that defending would stymie his attacking potential and he did not want to give up the freedom he had been granted by his former managers for the sake of the collective. The players who now make up PSG’s forward line – Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola – have no such qualms. In Europe’s top five leagues, no player has made more presses per 90 minutes than Doué. Kvaratskhelia also features in the top five. The footage of Dembélé waiting to pounce on Yann Sommer’s goal-kick during last season’s Champions League final is one of the prevailing images of PSG’s maiden triumph. Fail to comply and you’re on the bench; having four world-class options for three places in the team ensures that threat is not a hollow one. But the players themselves, notably Dembélé, also drive the standards. “Above all, we have to play for Paris Saint-Germain to win matches because, if we play alone on the pitch, that won’t work. Last year, we put the club above everything else, before thinking about ourselves. We need to rediscover that. We have to play for the club first and foremost before thinking about ourselves,” he said in February. Performances in the Champions League since suggest he has been heard by his teammates. PSG rank second in ball recoveries in this season’s competition, behind Atlético Madrid. Last season, they topped this metric – and by some distance. But as they showed emphatically against Bayern Munich last week, their defensive diligence does not come at the detriment of spectacle, flair, entertainment or efficiency. Kvaratskhelia is proof of that. The Georgian has 10 goals and five assists in the Champions League – a record for a PSG player in a single campaign – and has also become only the fourth player to score or assist in six consecutive knockout games in the tournament. Dembélé did the same last season. Of course, PSG are not alone in adopting a super-aggressive high-press approach, and in recent days, much attention has been paid to the conditions that allow them to implement it better than others – notably clubs north of the English Channel. The quality of Ligue 1 and its reduction to 18 teams in 2023, the removal of the Coupe de la Ligue in 2020, and the financial chasm that separates PSG from their domestic competitors all are valid reasons why PSG can perform to this level at this stage of the season in the Champions League. It’s no surprise that Bayern Munich are doing the same given their similar situation in the Bundesliga. Regardless, PSG’s all-action, uber-fluid, high-press has brought success and most of the other elite teams in Europe are trying to replicate it. It marks a significant divergence from tradition for French football, historically a pot-pourri of outside influences. There are other approaches – as seen in the other Champions League semi-final – but this is the direction of travel and PSG are leading the way. Talking points • PSG find joy in defending but there is no pleasure to be derived from watching Marseille under Habib Beye. Since the departure of Roberto De Zerbi in February, the club’s regression has been spectacular. The Italian said last season that, if he was the problem, he would leave. These recent weeks have emphasised that he was not the issue. There is a lassitude that is increasingly visible, accentuated by reported tensions behind the scenes and a feeling that the writing is already on the wall for Beye. He inherited a side that was fourth in the table. They have dropped to seventh after a shocking 3-0 defeat to Nantes on Saturday. Champions League qualification, so crucial to the club from a financial perspective, may have slipped through their fingers. Nantes, who have only won five league games all season, have done the double over Marseille and have given themselves a slender chance of survival, while also perhaps providing the final nail in the coffin for Beye, who is nonetheless expected to see out the season. • Paul Pogba made his first start since May 2023 as Monaco narrowly beat Metz on Saturday. The technical ability is clearly still there, but there was an unsurprising lack of dynamism. His manager, Sébastien Pocognoli, highlighted the time elapsed since his last start as mitigation. It was only once he departed that the cogs started to turn for Monaco as they came from a goal down to beat Metz in extra-time, thanks to an Ansu Fati goal – his 10th in Ligue 1 this season. The defeat consigns Metz to the drop for the eighth time in their last 13 seasons in the top flight. The club has a propensity to bounce back, but they may do so without Benoît Tavenot. The manager has an unwanted record of 25 games without a win this season, a run that started with Bastia in Ligue 2 and has continued during his 14 games in charge of Metz. This is an article by Get French Football News

2026-05-05

Champions League review: a stone-cold classic, Díaz’s perfect timing and a defensive puritan

Football’s role as a leading hot-take commodity was taken to the nth degree after Tuesday’s nine-goal slugfest between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in Paris. Best game ever? What happened to the lost art of defending? Proof that France and Germany’s dominant clubs enjoy the luxury of not being challenged in their domestic leagues so they can keep their powder dry for the latter stages of the Champions League? Proof that the best attackers in Europe are sequestered at PSG and Bayern Munich? All of the above may well be true. The debate will continue until next Wednesday’s second leg in Munich. Those who said it was the competition’s best ever semi-final – it had the most goals of any 90-minute match in the Champions League last-four – forgot previous contenders. “The best match I have ever coached,” said Luis Enrique. The PSG coach omitted to mention La Remontada of 2017, when his Barcelona team won 6-1 at the Camp Nou to complete the greatest comeback of all. And how about last season’s 7-6 semi-final double-header when Inter edged Barça? Only when the second leg delivers the same excitement can accusations of recency bias be dismissed. As widely predicted, a 1-1 draw between Atlético Madrid and Arsenal on Wednesday night in Madrid did not match the previous evening for entertainment. Those who value defence over attack got their fill until Antoine Griezmann and Julián Alvarez grew in influence in the second half. Griezmann, as if acknowledging this would be his very last Champions League home game, showed off the class that has many wondering if decamping to MLS is premature. Fans at Orlando City have much to look forward to from one of Europe’s unique talents. The expected barrage of set pieces did not materialise. Instead, it was a night when penalty kicks and the video assistant referee took centre stage. The award – and rescinding – of what initially seemed a penalty when Dávid Hancko caught Eberechi Eze in the 78th minute had Arsenal supporters raging. “No clear and obvious error [on the initial decision],” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. “And this changes the course of the game. And at this level, I’m sorry but this cannot happen.” Many pointed to the agitating role Diego Simeone played while the Dutch referee, Danny Makkelie, analysed the footage. “Simeone orchestrates the crowd here, but he also orchestrates the officials,” said the former Arsenal player Martin Keown, admittedly not an undetached pundit, on TNT’s UK broadcast. Simeone meanwhile was not happy with the earlier penalty Arsenal received after Hancko blocked off Viktor Gyökeres. “In Champions League semi-finals, you need a penalty that is truly a penalty,” said Simeone. It is rare that Arteta is the calmer of the two managers on the sidelines, and nobody comes close to Atléti’s man in black’s perpetual motion. Simeone’s shift of Atlético’s formation at half-time lifted what had previously been a moribund contest. He also involved himself in a post-match exchange with Ben White. There is more than one way to negotiate the Champions League. Player of the week It may prove to be the most crucial goal of the nine in Paris. Bayern Munich’s Luis Díaz completed the scoring to make it 5-4, and his coolness and perfectly timed run capped off a night when every attacker on the field was at his very best. They said it “More. Even more. We’re at home. We’ll have 75,000 people in that stadium. The city will live it for an entire week.” – Speaking to Amazon’s Gabriel Clarke, Vincent Kompany revealed what he wants from his Bayern team next Wednesday. Kompany offered no apologies for his team’s approach; at one point they were 5-2 down. His approach to coaching makes it easy to forget he was one of the finest defenders of his era. The pundit’s chair “By definition it can’t be a great game if you’re having that many mistakes on the pitch. It can’t be. I would take the Juventus v Milan European Cup final at Old Trafford 0-0 every day of the week.” – Former Birmingham City player Kenny Cunningham led the defensive puritans. Speaking on Irish channel Premier Sports, he compared Tuesday’s thriller unfavourably to a final widely regarded as the dullest of the Champions League era. Looking ahead Achraf Hakimi has claims to be the best attacking full-back in world football but his continues to be an injury-hit season; he struggled for fitness as Morocco failed to win the Africa Cup of Nations. A hamstring injury means Hakimi will miss the second leg, so PSG’s right flank will be manned by Lucas Hernández, who won the Champions League with Bayern when they beat PSG in the 2020 final. Arsenal’s recent problems are attributed to a lack of verve in attack. Their starting front three of Gyökeres, Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke did not create enough danger against Atléti. Gyökeres at least made a pest of himself and took his penalty well. Bukayo Saka was able to play some part, and substitute Eze lifted those around him. The unfortunate Kai Havertz is unlikely to feature on Tuesday. Atléti’s Alvarez was recently linked with Arsenal; he would be an upgrade. Should the Gunners fall short, questions will be raised about the recruitment policy of their sporting director, Andrea Berta, who once held the same role at Atlético.

2026-04-30

Champions League review: a stone-cold classic, Díaz’s perfect timing and a defensive puritan

Football’s role as a leading hot-take commodity was taken to the nth degree after Tuesday’s nine-goal slugfest between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in Paris. Best game ever? What happened to the lost art of defending? Proof that France and Germany’s dominant clubs enjoy the luxury of not being challenged in their domestic leagues so they can keep their powder dry for the latter stages of the Champions League? Proof that the best attackers in Europe are sequestered at PSG and Bayern Munich? All of the above may well be true. The debate will continue until next Wednesday’s second leg in Munich. Those who said it was the competition’s best ever semi-final – it had the most goals of any 90-minute match in the Champions League last-four – forgot previous contenders. “The best match I have ever coached,” said Luis Enrique. The PSG coach omitted to mention La Remontada of 2017, when his Barcelona team won 6-1 at the Camp Nou to complete the greatest comeback of all. And how about last season’s 7-6 semi-final double-header when Inter edged Barça? Only when the second leg delivers the same excitement can accusations of recency bias be dismissed. As widely predicted, a 1-1 draw between Atlético Madrid and Arsenal on Wednesday night in Madrid did not match the previous evening for entertainment. Those who value defence over attack got their fill until Antoine Griezmann and Julián Alvarez grew in influence in the second half. Griezmann, as if acknowledging this would be his very last Champions League home game, showed off the class that has many wondering if decamping to MLS is premature. Fans at Orlando City have much to look forward to from one of Europe’s unique talents. The expected barrage of set pieces did not materialise. Instead, it was a night when penalty kicks and the video assistant referee took centre stage. The award – and rescinding – of what initially seemed a penalty when Dávid Hancko caught Eberechi Eze in the 78th minute had Arsenal supporters raging. “No clear and obvious error [on the initial decision],” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. “And this changes the course of the game. And at this level, I’m sorry but this cannot happen.” Many pointed to the agitating role Diego Simeone played while the Dutch referee, Danny Makkelie, analysed the footage. “Simeone orchestrates the crowd here, but he also orchestrates the officials,” said the former Arsenal player Martin Keown, admittedly not an undetached pundit, on TNT’s UK broadcast. Simeone meanwhile was not happy with the earlier penalty Arsenal received after Hancko blocked off Viktor Gyökeres. “In Champions League semi-finals, you need a penalty that is truly a penalty,” said Simeone. It is rare that Arteta is the calmer of the two managers on the sidelines, and nobody comes close to Atléti’s man in black’s perpetual motion. Simeone’s shift of Atlético’s formation at half-time lifted what had previously been a moribund contest. He also involved himself in a post-match exchange with Ben White. There is more than one way to negotiate the Champions League. Player of the week It may prove to be the most crucial goal of the nine in Paris. Bayern Munich’s Luis Díaz completed the scoring to make it 5-4, and his coolness and perfectly timed run capped off a night when every attacker on the field was at his very best. They said it “More. Even more. We’re at home. We’ll have 75,000 people in that stadium. The city will live it for an entire week.” – Speaking to Amazon’s Gabriel Clarke, Vincent Kompany revealed what he wants from his Bayern team next Wednesday. Kompany offered no apologies for his team’s approach; at one point they were 5-2 down. His approach to coaching makes it easy to forget he was one of the finest defenders of his era. The pundit’s chair “By definition it can’t be a great game if you’re having that many mistakes on the pitch. It can’t be. I would take the Juventus v Milan European Cup final at Old Trafford 0-0 every day of the week.” – Former Birmingham City player Kenny Cunningham led the defensive puritans. Speaking on Irish channel Premier Sports, he compared Tuesday’s thriller unfavourably to a final widely regarded as the dullest of the Champions League era. Looking ahead Achraf Hakimi has claims to be the best attacking full-back in world football but his continues to be an injury-hit season; he struggled for fitness as Morocco failed to win the Africa Cup of Nations. A hamstring injury means Hakimi will miss the second leg, so PSG’s right flank will be manned by Lucas Hernández, who won the Champions League with Bayern when they beat PSG in the 2020 final. Arsenal’s recent problems are attributed to a lack of verve in attack. Their starting front three of Gyökeres, Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke did not create enough danger against Atléti. Gyökeres at least made a pest of himself and took his penalty well. Bukayo Saka was able to play some part, and substitute Eze lifted those around him. The unfortunate Kai Havertz is unlikely to feature on Tuesday. Atléti’s Alvarez was recently linked with Arsenal; he would be an upgrade. Should the Gunners fall short, questions will be raised about the recruitment policy of their sporting director, Andrea Berta, who once held the same role at Atlético.

2026-04-30