Paris Saint-Germain have sacked coach Thomas Tuchel, with PSG’s former defender, ex-Tottenham Hotspur coach Mauricio Pochettino, lined up as his replacement, various media reports said on Thursday.
The French champions declined to make a statement to confirm the shock Christmas Eve axing as claimed by L’Equipe, news outlet RMC and Germany’s Bild.
“No idea” a club spokesman replied when asked when the news would be confirmed.
Photo: Reuters
PSG forward Kylian Mbappe paid tribute to Tuchel on social media.
“Unfortunately it’s the law of football but no-one will forget your time here,” the World Cup winner wrote on Instagram. “You wrote a great line of the club’s history and I say thank you coach.”
Pochettino, who spent two-and-a-half years as a player at the club, could take his first training session on Jan. 3 after the winter break.
Tuchel, 47, arrived at the Parc des Princes on a two-year contract in 2018 and guided the Parisians to their first UEFA Champions League final last season, but now, if the reports are confirmed, less than three months on from the final defeat to Bayern Munich in Lisbon, the German has become the first PSG coach to leave mid-season since Antoine Kombouare was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti in December 2011.
Tuchel, who is set to depart six months before the end of his deal, guided PSG to a round-of-16 clash with Barcelona in this season’s Champions League, despite being plagued by injuries, suspensions and COVID-19 infections.
In contrast to his predecessors, Tuchel appeared adept at man-managing his band of superstar players, giving Neymar back the smile that was missing during the Unai Emery era, but the Qatari-backed club were thought to be unhappy with comments in the press by Tuchel, the most recent an unauthorized interview which appeared in German media on Wednesday.
“We missed winning the Champions League by one match, and we never had the feeling that we had convinced people and that they recognized our performance. Sometimes that makes you a little sad or angry,” Tuchel told Sport1.
He also complained about the demands imposed upon him.
“During the first six months I was asking myself: ‘Am I still a coach … or a minister of sport?’” he said.
He was reportedly given his marching orders less than 24 hours after Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace which left them a point off the top of the Ligue 1 table ahead of the winter break.
If his dismissal is confirmed he leaves PSG with two Ligue 1 titles, a Coupe de France and a Coupe de la Ligue.
Tuchel in 2017 lost his job as Borussia Dortmund coach three days after guiding the Bundesliga side to a DFB Pokal victory and reportedly falling out with the club’s hierarchy.
The new man in the PSG dugout when the season resumes in the New Year is to be Pochettino, RMC reported.
The Argentine, a popular PSG centerback between 2001 and 2003, left his position as Spurs coach in November last year, six months after leading them into their maiden Champions League final.
The 48-year-old transformed Spurs’ fortunes during his five-and-a-half-year reign, but failed to win a trophy.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS