Youri Djorkaeff, former Paris Saint-Germain player, spoke to Le Parisien about the new Parisian project, last year’s doubts and this season’s realization. He acknowledges that Luis Enrique has succeeded in creating an osmosis between the players.
Djorkaeff “The transition is going admirably”
“The project has changed?
We had to make a transition at PSG, and it wasn’t an easy one. It’s not easy to absorb the departures of three of the best players in the world. Inevitably, you have your doubts. But the transition is going admirably well.
We talk about the state of mind, the collective level, OK… But I don’t think we emphasize enough the technical quality of the players… Technically, it’s really very strong, there are players who are capable of turning a match around, of reversing situations. PSG are one of the strongest teams around at the moment. I’m not the one saying that, it’s all our opponents, in France and in Europe.
Djorkaeff “There’s an osmosis, a desire to win together and lose together”
Luis Enrique ?
Luis Enrique has a vision. We saw last season that he had very definite ideas about how to develop the game. He had started to put that in place and, this year, it’s working very, very well. There’s an osmosis, a desire to win together and lose together. Very few imagined that PSG would be at this level. Today, there’s a positive momentum, and we need to keep it going and make it grow.”
Last year’s doubts were certainly present. Logically, Luis Enrique had to prove himself, especially as PSG had changed course in terms of mercatos, and in terms of pedigree, the players who arrived were either young or struggling at their clubs. We finally had a mercato thought through from A to Z, with mistakes of course, but we could see the logic continuing this season. Now PSG is up and running, and the team is all about winning and losing together. There are no longer any players who want to take all the credit. If a player goes astray, Luis Enrique makes sure he stays involved in all the attacking and defensive tasks.
