PSG have money but little else to tempt Antonio Conte away from Chelsea
By George Perry
The links between Antonio Conte and Paris Saint-Germain strengthened this week as PSG exited the Champions League and Chelsea continued their slump. PSG may have a willingness to spend, but they do not have the culture and environment of winning Conte needs to thrive.
Paris Saint-Germain’s loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16 all but confirmed Unai Emery’s departure at the end of the season. Meanwhile, Chelsea’s loss to Manchester City paved two roads to the same destination. One side of Chelsea watchers say Conte is more determined to leave than ever. The other side says Chelsea are more determined to sack him than ever. And we level-headed few are staying put, confident Conte and Chelsea can still do great things together in coming seasons.
Many people in the first camp point to Conte’s comments before the Manchester City game as proof he is ready to leave. Conte said he has an ambition but no money at Chelsea, and that without one there cannot be the other for a coach like him. PSG, on the other hand, has plenty of money and an eagerness to spend it.
PSG may even have the ambition to match their spending. Their desire to part ways with Emery has less to do with him finishing second last season than his inability convert hundreds of millions of pounds of new signings into any further progression in the Champions League. But PSG’s stagnation in the Champions League has as much to do with their domestic situation as anything internal.
Last season’s Ligue 1 title winners were more notable for not being PSG than they were for being AS Monaco. Ligue 1 and Bundesliga have the greatest gap between their respective hegemons and the rest of the league. Behind PSG, Ligue 1 has less competitive depth than the Bundesliga has behind Bayern Munich. Ligue 1’s UEFA coefficient speaks to the gap between France and the “Big Four.”
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The lack of weekly competition – let alone a season-long threat – in Ligue 1 directly impacts PSG’s Champions League prospects. Playing Amiens and Guingamp on the weekend does not prepare you tactically or mentally for Real Madrid midweek.
Those rainy Wednesday nights in Stoke are no one’s idea of beautiful football, but they are a necessary battle for the Premier League’s title hopefuls. As such, they set a team into a season-long winning mentality. Those games are a psychological practice as much as they are a tactical practice for the Champions League. How a team performs in the Midlands – under those conditions and against that level of competition – translates to other Wednesday nights, the ones in Germany, Italy or Spain.
Antonio Conte’s earlier comments speak to money being a necessary but not a sufficient condition for a club’s success. Spending is only a partial statement of ambition. The club must still have the proper mindset, the organizational commitment and the individual desire for winning that defines clubs like Juventus, Bayern Munich and, at times, Chelsea. And even then, their ability to meet those ambitions still turns on their their environment.
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Antonio Conte may have the passion, tactics and winning mentality PSG feel they are lacking with Unai Emery. But what PSG need most to succeed may be outside even their ability and willingness to buy.