Mauricio Pochettino believes he offered Paris Saint-Germain stability but the challenge proved a step too far after having to appease "too much greatness" within his squad.
PSG brought in Lionel Messi in August 2021, along with Achraf Hakimi, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Sergio Ramos, to join forces with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in the French capital.
A plethora of world-class talent was expected to help Pochettino's side to European glory, though they instead crashed out of the 2021-22 Champions League after a dramatic last-16 clash with eventual winners Real Madrid.
Pochettino and PSG subsequently parted ways in July 2022, with Christophe Galtier his replacement, and the Argentine has said balancing an abundance of superstar footballers was the greatest difficulty.
"You need to adapt constantly because there was too much greatness," Pochettino told Spanish outlet Relevo.
"For Barcelona to have Messi or for Madrid to count on Cristiano [Ronaldo] is a blessing. But when you put too many players on the pitch who all need their place and to be number one, there can be confusion.
"In the end, when you play, it's 11 players with only one ball. There was a penalty and who takes it? It's not even the manager's decision.
"Our ability [Pochettino and his coaching staff's] was that of being people who kept the consensus, who were flexible to give each person what they needed.
"The thing is each one needed something different with their circumstances, depending on how they were doing in sporting terms, in family terms, and so on.
"We gave cause for there to be certain stability at PSG this year and for the same pieces to be maintained."
PSG's recruitment has come under scrutiny in recent years, with their desire to assemble world football's biggest names coming at the detriment of both player happiness and defensive stability.
Mbappe's time at PSG with Pochettino was filled with transfer speculation, the forward signing a bumper three-year extension after it appeared increasingly likely he would wait for a move to Madrid.
Former Tottenham boss Pochettino suggested he did not even know Mbappe was going to sign fresh terms just hours before PSG announced the news.
"They asked me in a news conference if I saw myself with Mbappe at PSG and I said yes because he had a year left on his contract," he added.
"[Carlo] Ancelotti [once] said that thing about how managers can't say the truth.
"Kylian was always calm, he always told me that he hadn't taken a decision. I knew what everyone [else] knew. He told me: 'Mister, I haven't taken the decision.' I insisted: 'But tell me if you've signed, it can stay a secret.' 'Mister, I haven't signed anything,' he replied. 'Are you going to stay?' 'I don't know.' 'Are you going to leave?' 'I don't know.'
"And like that until the end. I don't know what happened afterwards, I only found out a few hours before the announcement was made at the final match [of the season]."
Luis Enrique confident in free-scoring PSG despite Ramos setback
Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique is confident his players can adapt in the absence of Goncalo Ramos to continue their impressive start to the season.
PSG have taken to life without Kylian Mbappe with ease, scoring 10 goals in their first two Ligue 1 fixtures, equalling their highest tally after two games played (also in 2022-23).
The Parisiens have welcomed four new faces during the transfer window, signing Joao Neves, Desire Doue, William Pacho and Matvei Safonov.
Luis Enrique was dealt a blow, however, in PSG's opener against Le Harve, with striker Ramos forced off with an injury that will cause him to miss three months.
But in his absence, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele have starred in front of goal, with Luis Enrique now focused on bringing the best out of the players available.
"We want to sign players, and their prices were very high. I have the players I have, I'm happy with their level, now I have to develop their potential," Luis Enrique said.
"As a nine, we can play with [Marco] Asensio, Dembele, Randal Kolo Muani, Barcola, Ramos, Warren [Zaire-Emery], [Achraf] Hakimi, Vitinha, Fabian [Ruiz], Neves... that's 10. It's the same with the defenders.
"I've got some very versatile players, which fits in with the plan we wanted for this team. Pacho, Doue and Neves — they can play in lots of different roles... so I have a lot of options in my team."
PSG will seek to claim an elusive Champions League trophy once again this season, but have been handed a difficult draw in the competition's new league phase.
Luis Enrique's side will face Girona in their first game in the competition, but will also square off against European heavyweights Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid.
"My impression of the draw is that it's a new competition, a new format," Luis Enrique said.
"It's obvious that statistically we were the least favoured but I can't judge this competition because we don't know it.
"We'll say that this is a competition that we're going to try out and we've been the least lucky."
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
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