Find someone who loves you as much as Nasser Al-Khelaifi loves Luis Enrique.
The PSG president has long called the Spaniard the ‘best coach in the world’ but he’s overdone himself this time.
With the Ligue 1 side in a crisis of sorts, Al-Khelaifi has given his head coach his full support.
Interviewed by L’Equipe, the Qatari businessman said: “I have absolute confidence in the project, the coach, the sports advisor and our team, and we will continue to evolve.”
Asked if he’ll keep Luis Enrique on even if PSG are knocked out of the league phase of the Champions League, he replied “100%”
PSG are currently 25th out of 36 teams, outside of the play-offs, with three losses in five games and only one win.
In Luis Enrique’s debut season last time out PSG won three trophies and looked like the form side in Europe before they were surprisingly knocked out of the semi-finals by Borussia Dortmund.
Things have deteriorated considerably this term, though, and recent reports talk of a dressing room revolt led by Ousmane Dembele and Presnel Kimpembe.
Al-Khelaifi is known to enthusiastically back his coaches, but support for an early Champions League exit would certainly be a shock, given that the competition is their Holy Grail and many more have been dismissed after failure.
But the president and owner seems to have made a shift in philosophy after the damaging free transfer departure of Kylian Mbappe.
“Transformation and change take time,” he explained. “It requires patience and perseverance, not wild panic when things don’t always go your way or the wind blows.”
Leave a Reply