SPIRO BLOG: CANNY BLANC UNITING PSG

Laurent Blanc’s willingness to listen to his players and share tactical responsibility is helping PSG remain strong and united, says Ligue1.com’s Matthew Spiro.

The scene that took place on the Parc des Princes pitch early in the second half of Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League match against Olympiakos on Wednesday was both unusual and revealing. Although the hosts led 1-0, Marco Verratti had just been sent off and the Greek side was beginning to get on top.
Thiago Silva influence
Skipper Thiago Silva began gesticulating to PSG’s coaching staff, but sensing that his message was not being received, the Brazilian became more and more animated. Eventually Blanc’s assistant Claude Makélélé ran around the outside pitch to speak to goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu, who passed on the defender’s message. Silva told Makélélé that a tactical change was required as he felt the defence was too exposed.

Moments later, Blanc replaced Zlatan Ibrahimovic with Marquinhos and asked the youngster to slot in alongside Thiago Motta in front of the defence. That Olympiakos still equalised – before conceding Edinson Cavani’s last-minute winner – is by the by. The fact is at a key moment of a key game, Blanc changed tactics because a player asked him to.
There are different ways of interpreting that: some may say he showed weakness by allowing himself to be dictated to by a player. Others will commend the PSG coach for being open-minded and intelligent enough to listen to his captain’s thoughts and, after a moment’s deliberation, act on them. I would argue strongly for the latter.
Thiago Silva is the Brazil captain. He was the best defender in Italy at AC Milan, is the best defender in France today, and quite probably the best defender in the world. He is also an experienced, considered, down to earth and smart man. When somebody like that feels so strongly about something, it would be foolish to ignore him.
Blanc man-management

When Blanc was a player, he did not hesitate in speaking out in the changing room or during the game if he felt the need. The cleverer coaches will have listened to him.




SPIRO BLOG: CANNY BLANC UNITING PSG