United States coach since September 2024, Mauricio Pochettino looked back on his time at Paris Saint-Germain in a long interview with the daily newspaper The Team. Having left in June 2022, the 54-year-old Argentinian wanted to settle his scores during this interview, particularly after having suffered numerous criticisms of his management. Starting with Thierry Henry. “Thierry Henry, who commented for Prime, said he did not understand why Pochettino had put Messi on the right when he was better close to Neymar. To this, I answer: Pochettino and his staff did not deliberately send Messi to the right in the second half. It happens that players find themselves in a defensive position to recover, to regain their freshness, and this was the case with Messi. So, if a former player like Henry criticizes this situation and holds me responsible for it, it causes an uproar. We hear: “This coach doesn’t know how to play Messi. He doesn’t know how to use Mbappé.” (He laughs.) This is the kind of irresponsibility that some in football can adopt. The ideal target at PSG, the scapegoat was the coach”.
“I remember telling him that. He actually agreed with me and replied: “Okay, what do you want me to do?” No ! Not “What do you want me to do?” Just don’t tell untruths, that’s all. Sometimes these are the things that hurt me the most. When we sign for PSG, it’s because we have a journey behind us. It’s not to give me a gift. Nobody gives you any favors in football. If someone tells me I’m ugly, fat or whatever, I don’t care. Let us lie, on the other hand… At that time, there was a lot of lack of respect towards us. I repeat: we had the knowledge to create a solid structure to give Messi, Neymar and MbappĂ© the opportunity to give their best. But hey, the decision was made to withdraw”.
