The closing scene in “You don’t have a f**** clue,” a documentary featuring Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique, turned out to be a prophecy: “I believe I’m going to make [the team] better. When you have a player who moves wherever he wants, that means there are game situations I cannot control. Next year, I will control them all. All of them. No exceptions.”
Time has proven the Spanish coach was right. Not only did his 2024/25 Paris Saint-Germain side not suffer from star Kylian Mbappe’s transfer to Real Madrid C.F., it became a team in every sense of the word, overcoming the loss of Mbappe much better than anyone would have expected.
In addition to improving their football, PSG took home the long coveted UEFA Champions League trophy, the first in the club’s history, in a one-sided affair against FC Internazionale Milano just prior to the start of the FIFA Club World Cup™.
After an emotional finish to such a long journey, the clip went viral again on social media but there have been challenges at the global showpiece. An unexpected defeat to Botafogo in the club’s second match appeared to disrupt their plans but PSG bounced back in style, easing past hosts Seattle Sounders FC to qualify for the round of 16.
Following an impressive display of free-flowing, attacking football, the team is headed to Atlanta where they will face another American side, in the form of Inter Miami CF.
What though is the difference between now and last season that has led to their exponential growth?
“Well…that would be the subject of another documentary!” he told FIFA after the win over Seattle.
“What I try to do as a coach is make our players better, as a team and as individuals. I like to have control, over what you can control in football. We are always looking for new ways to play and make our team better. That’s what motivates me as a coach, what motivates me every day. Taking the players out of their comfort zone, to try new things.”
In another video that made the rounds on social media, the cameras showed Luis Enrique speaking with Mbappe, where he clearly laid out his expectations. “You’re a phenomenon, one of the best in the world, but that doesn’t matter to me. A real leader is someone who, when you can’t help with goals, helps us however he can in defence. In attack, I know you’re a god. But when you can’t attack, you have to be the best player in defence in history.”
With Mbappe no longer in the squad, that philosophy has become a mantra, a modern version of total football. Everyone on the team knows it. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the talented Georgian winger who arrived in January from Napoli, quickly took to the philosophy. “We all have to attack, and we all have to defend in this team,” he said.
“Everyone has their responsibilities on the pitch. It doesn’t matter if you’re an 18-year-old newcomer or a 30-year-old veteran like me. If you don’t give everything you’ve got, you don’t play. That’s the coach’s philosophy, and that’s what’s brought us to this level,” points out team captain Marquinhos, who has been at the club since 2013.
With the goal of winning the club’s first Champions League, where others would have put faith in experience, Luis Enrique invested in youth and strengthened his squad with a quartet of players under 23. Willian Pacho (22) from Frankfurt, Desire Doue (19) from Stade Rennais, Joao Neves (19) from Benfica and Kvaratskhelia (23) from Napoli.
“I’ve never said I don’t want stars, I want a team full of good players,” he stated at the time. We don’t want players who come and act like they’re doing us some kind of favour. It should be just the opposite: we want players who are hungry, who want to come to a one-of-a-kind club like PSG, to a one-of-a-kind city and a one-of-a-kind country, players who want to write their names in the club’s history books.”
Joao Neves, who also won the Nations League with Portugal, is one of the stars of this renewed PSG side. Speaking to FIFA post-match, he analysed the squad’s flexible system, which has revolutionised how they have played in recent months.
“It’s the mobility, occupying empty space. It doesn’t really matter who, someone just has to occupy it. Read your teammates, do things right – with players who can play in more than one position. It doesn’t matter who, the spaces need to be occupied.”
“Our coach is incredible,” Neves adds. He gives us everything we need so we can give our best. He gives us confidence, he gives us freedom, but with responsibility. Possession is what matters most. He wants us to have the ball and make the other team run. And when we don’t have it, we have to get it back quickly. It doesn’t matter who the opposing team is, it’s always the same: it’s eleven against eleven. We all attack, we all defend.”
This is the new PSG. Everyone working as a team to recover possession, placing defence above individual talent. Free-flowing attacking play, adaptive football to exploit spaces, confuse opponents and disrupt defensive plans. Figuring out Luis Enrique’s squad on the pitch is a mission impossible: players can swap roles and positions at any given moment.
