Mauricio Pochettino has started his managerial duties at Paris Saint Germain on a disappointing note as his new team failed to win over lowly rated Saint-Etienne.
Though the Argentine tactician joined PSG three days before the game, he was expected to maintain the momentum or probably lift it higher than the 4-0 win the club recorded against Strasbourg the night before Thomas Tuchel was sacked as the club’s manager.
The best Pochettino could get as a welcome present from his players was a 1-1 draw which has widen the gap between PSG and first placed Lyon. PSG are now two points away from first placed Lyon which are topping the table with 39 points in 18 games.
In the game against Saint-Etienne played on Wednesday night, January 6, PSG started showing some brilliance very early at the start of the game. But it was Saint-Etienne that took the initiative to score the first goal through the boots of Romain Hamouma in the 19th minute.
PSG did not hesitate to fight for the equalizer which came in the 22nd minute. After that, either side was unable to create a goalscoring chance throughout the remaining part of the match.
At the end of the game, Mauricio Pochettino had to make do with a 1-1 draw which he didn’t like but admitted that Saint-Etienne deserved the point they got from the game which has taken them to the 14th spot on the league table.
“I am of course a little disappointed because we are PSG, so we must win,” Pochettino told Telefoot after his first league match as the coach of PSG.
“But after three days we had little time to prepare. There are a lot of things to work on that we have to improve. It is not a result that we wanted but it is clear that Saint-Etienne deserved this result.
“We must improve a lot. We tried to put into practice different concepts, but I’m happy that the players tried to apply them. I’m happy with the effort, the attitude. We have to improve with the ball. It was positive but there are many things to improve.”
Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino has urged the club’s talisman, Kylian Mbappe to improve more ahead of the club’s subsequent games, adding that the France international was disappointed that PSG could not win the league game.
The former Tottenham Hotspur coach did not stop at urging Mbappe to improve, he urged his entire squad to improve and described the game as a “beginning” for him and his team.
“For sure he (Mbappe) is disappointed,” Mauricio Pochettino said. “But all the players need to improve, the team needs to improve. It is only the beginning, we arrived three days ago.”
PSG’s next league match is against Brest scheduled to kick off on January 9, at 21:00. So far this season, PSG have recorded 11 wins, three draws, and four defeats in 18 league games.
🎥 Highlights: Ligue 1 "eM J18" Saint-Etienne vs Paris Saint Germain (1440p)#Ligue1 #ASSEPSG
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