Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique, 55, has admitted he wants to make subtle adjustments to his team despite their status as European champions, reports L’Équipe. The Spanish coach remains faithful to his 4-3-3 formation, but between the arrival of young players, targeted recruitment, and the goalkeeper change, he wants to keep PSG unpredictable against its opponents.
“He’s always said to be inclined to look at two players before the end of the transfer window.”
“The goalkeeper change is, for now, the most dramatic alteration among the European champions. The recruitment of Ilya Zabarnyi, the right-wing central defender, is undoubtedly aimed at preparing for the post-Marquinhos era, the start of which is unknown.”
Individually, the rest of the desired change could come from two sources: young players who would change their form, like Désiré Doué in the second half of last season, whom Senny Mayulu (19) and Ibrahim Mbaye (17) can hope to emulate, at their own level, but also from recruitment, of course. He is still said to be inclined to look at two profiles before the end of the transfer window: a right-back and, above all, a left-footer capable of playing off-kilter on the right flank.
“We should rather look at the playmaking.”
The first two weeks of training have not allowed the coach to work on a new system. In the short term, there is therefore no question of seeing his team play in any other way than the 4-3-3 they have implemented for the past two years.
To seek changes, we should rather look at the playmaking. The arrivals of Zabarnyi (22) and Chevalier (23) could lead the Parisians to change certain passing patterns, for example. »
Since his arrival in Paris, Luis Enrique has built a winning PSG around a cohesive and highly dynamic 4-3-3 formation. But the Spaniard knows that a pass formation that remains unchanged becomes unreadable, and therefore vulnerable. The arrival of Lucas Chevalier (23) is already disrupting certain mechanisms: the French goalkeeper pushes his defense to play higher and offers a new way of managing depth. Combined with that of Ilya Zabarnyi (22), this integration could alter the passing patterns and encourage more daring passes.
Luis Enrique is also banking on the development of young talent and remains attentive to the market, which seems logical for injecting new blood. With this in mind, the Spaniard isn’t revolutionizing his team (which, as we recall, had a historic season, including a Champions League title), but is refining the details so that each PSG match retains an element of the unexpected, including in the long-range shooting areas, which he wants to exploit more.
In any case, it’s clear that the Spanish coach isn’t one to rest on his laurels. He always wants to help his team and players improve. He’s also capable of making changes depending on the opponent. The Spaniard is preparing his team with several options, and perhaps some new ones will be worked on. We’ve seen Doué play in midfield at the start of the season, and Ousmane Dembélé move back to the right with Gonçalo Ramos in the centre.
