Ranking the 5 PSG managers in the last decade
French champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are getting prepared for the 2022-23 season. The Parisians recently got rid of Argentine manager Mauricio Pochettino, replacing him with former LOSC Lille and OGC Nice gaffer Christophe Galtier.
Pochettino was shown the exit after just 18 months at the club, having failed to impress his employers. Under his tutelage, PSG crashed out in the quarter-finals of the 2022 Champions League. They were also unconvincing in the league, finishing second in the 2020-21 season.
The new manager will now be saddled with the responsibility of rejuvenating the performances and spirit of the great squad at his disposal. He will also have his eyes on winning the Champions League for the Parisians.
Christophe Galtier has been announced as PSG's new head coach 🇫🇷 https://t.co/2k2CQ4g5yQ
Galtier became the sixth manager to grace the Parc de Prince in the last ten seasons. In pursuit of domestic and continental supremacy, the Qatari owners of the club have chopped and changed coaches.
Before Galtier, the club had five different coaches in the last decade, who have brought varying levels of success to the Parisians.
This article will rank the five PSG managers since 2012.
#5 Mauricio Pochettino
The most recent manager to exit the Parc de Princes. The Argentine was lured to the dugout following the sacking of Thomas Tuchel in January 2021. He had earlier been sacked by Tottenham Hotspur in November 2020 and was on a sabbatical.
Over the next six months as manager, PSG failed to deliver domestically and in Europe. They lost the league to Liile and were eliminated by Manchester City in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Expectations were higher in the 2021-22 season after the club acquired the services of some elite players like Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Achraf Hakimi. Winning the Champions League was paramount and anything short of that would be tagged a failure.
'We enjoyed some amazing moments and big wins all together'
Mauricio Pochettino waves farewell to PSG with a touching message trib.al/RcPoMMG https://t.co/E6ntHu9xDs
Pochettino's sacking didn't come as a surprise to many following the club's performances in the 2021-22 season. They were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid 3-2 on aggregate despite having a 2-0 lead going into the second leg.
Although he won the league title, the Coupe de France and Trophee des Champions, his team's performances were below par. He departed with a win percentage of 65% (55 wins, 15 draws, 14 losses).
#4 Carlo Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti is one of the greatest and most decorated coaches of the 21st century. The current Real Madrid coach is the only manager to win a league title across Europe's top five leagues.
Ancelloti joined PSG in the second half of the 2011-12 season following the sacking of Antoine Kombouare. The Paris-based club were top of the table when he arrived, but ended up losing Ligue 1 to Montpellier.
His second season at the club was more fruitful. He signed top players like David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, and Marco Verratti in the summer transfer window and won the club their first league title in 19 years.
The French club also made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League but were ousted by Barcelona on away goals. At the end of the 2012-13 season, Ancelotti resigned from the job to become the manager of Real Madrid.
He recorded a total 49 wins, 19 draws and nine losses from 77 matches. Under his tenure, PSG scored a total of 153 goals, conceding 64, with a win percentage of 64%.
#3 Unai Emery
The pursuit of Champions League glory was one of the sole reasons why the Qatari handpicked Unai Emery as manager in the summer of 2016. The current Villarreal boss was one of the most prolific coaches in Europe at the time.
He led Sevilla to three consecutive Europa League glory (2014-16). The Spanish manager's main objective was to bring his expertise in European cup competitions to bolster PSG's chances of winning the holy grail.
However, Emery would only lead the club to domestic success but not on the continent. In his first season, he won a domestic cup treble (Coupe de la Ligue, Coupe de France, and Trophee des Champions).
One infamous moment in Emery's first season was PSG's elimination from the Champions League. His side threw away a 4-0 first leg home victory against Barcelona. The Catalans defeated the Parisians 6-1 at Camp Nou to achieve a historic comeback.
The following season came with more success on the domestic scene. Emery won Ligue 1 alongside three titles won the previous season, leading the club to a domestic quadruple.
But another poor run in the Champions League suggested that he wasn't the man who would deliver continental success to the club. At the end of the season, he called it quits with the club despite having one year left on his contract.
Emery is the second-most successful coach in PSG's history. He won seven titles, recording a win percentage of 76â„… (87 wins, 15 losses, 12 draws), the highest by any coach in the club's history.
#2 Thomas Tuchel
Current Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel was next in line following the departure of Emery in the summer of 2018. He signed a two-year contract with the club and was an instant success at the club.
Tuchel won back-to-back league titles, the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue in his first two seasons at Parc de Prince. He was handed a 12-month contract extension in May 2019, which would have kept him at the club until 2021.
In 2018-19, Thomas Tuchel's PSG side set the record for most wins to start a top-five European league season:
WWWWWWWWWWWWWW
And they scored in all 38 games of the campaign. 🤯 https://t.co/10CrdOWfIL
In the 2019-20 season, he led the club to their first-ever Champions League final, losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich. However, four months after achieving this feat, Tuchel fell out with the club's hierarchy over transfer issues, which led to his sacking.
Tuchel left Paris Saint-Germain with a record of 95 wins, 13 draws, and 19 defeats in 127 games.
#1 Laurent Blanc
French legend Laurent Blanc is arguably PSG's most successful manager to date. The former France national team coach was appointed in June 2013 after the departure of Ancelotti.
Like Emery, he was successful on the domestic scene but failed to lead PSG to glory in Europe. He won three Ligue 1 titles (2014, 2015, 2016), two Coupe de France (2015, 2016), three Coupe de la Ligue (2014, 2015, 2016) and three Trophee des Champions (2013, 2014, 2015).
However, PSG never got past the quarter-finals of the Champions League during his tenure as manager. They suffered three consecutive quarter-final defeats.
Blanc's inability to replicate the club's domestic dominance in Europe led to his sacking in June 2016, barely four months after he was handed a two-year extension contract. Nevertheless, his 11 domestic honors are the most by any PSG manager to date.
The 56-year-old was in charge of 173 games (126 wins, 31 losses, 16 draws). PSG scored 391 goals and conceded 126 under his tenure as manager.