Paris Saint-Germain will improve in 2022, says Mauricio Pochettino, who is satisfied with the progress he has made at the club so far.
PSG head into their final Ligue 1 game of the year, against Lorient, 13 points clear at the top of the table.
It has been a mixed bag for Pochettino since he took over in January, replacing Thomas Tuchel.
He took PSG to the Champions League semi-finals, where they were eliminated by Manchester City, who would go on to lose to Tuchel's Chelsea in the final.
Pochettino celebrated his first trophy as a coach, winning the delayed 2020 Trophee des Champions, and won the Coupe de France last season, but PSG finished second in Ligue 1 behind Lille.
They are firmly on course to regain that crown this season, with superstar Lionel Messi having arrived to form a formidable attacking trident with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum, Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes also signed in a sensational transfer window.
However, doubts linger over Mbappe's future, with PSG rejecting Real Madrid's advances, but the 23-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season. Pochettino's future is also up in the air, with links to Manchester United not going away.
Asked for his thoughts on his first year in the job, Pochettino told a news conference: "You could compare the first six months and the last six months.
"I think it has been positive, because in the first few months you have to settle in, although I already knew the club, it was still new and the start of a project.
"Joining a club that I wanted to be at, where I played, with incredible supporters, I think that is my best memory. We have also achieved some of the success we wanted but I feel the best is to come next year.
"There aren't many bad memories. The most important thing is health, a key topic at the moment during this pandemic, so bad things in sport don't affect us in the day-to-day.
"The bad things are this pandemic made us live in a different way and has caused so much harm to loved ones, in many cases."
PSG have played 62 games in all competitions under Pochettino in 2021, with only two sides in Europe's top five leagues – Chelsea (62) and Man City (65) – playing more.
Only City (51) and Bayern Munich (42) have managed more wins than PSG's tally of 41, with Pochettino's side also ranking third for goals scored (128), while they have lost 10 times in total.
Mbappe has played the most games under Pochettino, tallying 53 appearances, five more than second-ranked Danilo Pereira.
The forward's 43 goals, at an average of one strike every 104 minutes, is way out in front of any other player, with Mauro Icardi next on 15.
Mbappe also leads the way for assists (16), but while Messi has gradually worked his way into consistency since signing from Barcelona, it has been a poor year for Neymar by his own standards.
The Brazil star came 16th in the Ballon d'Or voting and has played just 33 times, directly contributing to 19 goals (11 scored – six were penalties – and eight assists).
Neymar, who is injured, and the rest of PSG's South American contingent will be given freedom to return home over Christmas, with Pochettino happy to give his squad a break.
"It has been a year of a pandemic and there have been very high levels of competition," he said.
"Due to the competitiveness and the fact we are pleased with how we are doing, we are going to be back on January 1 to work hard.
"As for the South American players who are going to spend time with their families, they should be back on the 31st, so they have seven or eight days to recover with a specific plan. They will be ready to play at Vannes on January 3."
Gilbert expects much from young Reggae Girlz representatives in local women's league semis; lauds tenacity shown at U-20 Champs
Xavier Gilbert says the tenacity shown by Jamaica's young Reggae Girlz in their failed Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship campaign, should not be understated given the circumstances under which they entered the tournament.
Gilbert, the Head coach of local female outfit Frazsiers Whip, home of a number of the Under-20 players, to include Shaneil Buckley, Davia Richards, Tiny Seaton and Andrene Smith, among others, believes the Girlz had their task of securing an historic Women’s Under-20 World Cup qualification cut out for them, as they entered the tournament in the Dominican Republic with limited preparation and team chemistry.
As such, he praised the players and the Hugh Bradford-led coaching staff for the self-belief and fight shown when limiting heavily favoured powerhouses United States and Canada in 0-4 losses, before bouncing back for a 4-1 win over Panama to end their Group A outing on a high.
"We have to commend them for how they performed and the coaching staff for what they did with limited preparation playing against those teams (United States and Canada), who would have had way more camps than us going into that tournament," Gilbert said.
"So, we have to give them credit and we have to put things into context, it wasn't the strongest teams in some sense, but I think they showed a lot of fight. There are people who would probably be disappointed, and you can't fault them for their opinions, but I believe the Girlz must be applauded," he added.
Gilbert, who is also an assistant of the senior Reggae Girlz setup, is hoping those players can bring match fitness into play, as they are expected to be involved in Saturday's Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL) first-leg semifinal action against Olympic Gardens at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence. Game time is 3:00 pm.
The winner of the two-leg tie will meet Cavaliers Women in the June 17 final.
"I am a little bit concerned about tired legs and fatigue so we will just have to manage those players as best as we can. In fact, I don't think I'll have the services of two of those players which is understated, so others will have to step up and we will see how it goes," Gilbert said.
Having already copped the knockout title, Gilbert is optimistic that they can add the League title to their accolades but is aware that they first have to get by a determined Olympic Gardens unit.
"We have played them a couple times we just have to ensure that we get them out of the game as early as possible and have them chase the game. I don't think their condition is as good as ours so will use that to our advantage," the tactician shared.
"Olympic Gardens is a team that can be up and down, if they come out with the right attitude and frame of mind then it's not going to be easy, so we have to be focused because if we are not tactically disciplined or lapse at any time, they can make our lives difficult," Gilbert noted.
Man City players will give everything to win FA Cup final – Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has promised Manchester City fans his side will “give everything” to beat rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
The neighbouring clubs clash in the competition’s Wembley showpiece for the first time as the domestic season reaches a mouth-watering climax on Saturday.
There is plenty of incentive for City as they look to claim the second leg of the treble and move a step closer to matching United’s 1999 haul of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League trophies.
Yet even just taking the game in isolation, City manager Guardiola is well aware of how much simply beating United in a major final – after plenty of suffering at their hands in the past – would mean to supporters.
With that in mind, and his players fully focused, Guardiola has urged fans to savour the occasion.
He said: “I will ask to our fans, behave properly first and, secondly, go there to enjoy an incredible event, knowing the players will give everything to beat Man United.
“The consequences and the result, who knows it? I don’t know it. (United manager) Erik ten Hag doesn’t know it.
“It’s a football game. Enjoy the moment and enjoy next week to prepare for the (Champions League) final, to dream of seeing the team. It’s the best way.
“You have to understand anything can happen but we are going to do everything to beat United.
“I understand completely for City fans, who were in the shadow for decades behind United.
“We’ll try to do the best game as possible. So I would say have fun, enjoy the right portion of beers before the game and, that’s all. Enjoy it.”
The fact City are bidding for the treble could also give United extra motivation, however, as they not only look for a derby cup triumph but to preserve the uniqueness of their club’s own achievement 24 years ago.
“I could understand that, it belongs to them,” said Guardiola. “That’s normal. Sport is like that. It’s completely understandable.
“But it’s a football game. Who will be better will win.”
After an intensive schedule in the closing weeks of the Premier League season, City have had a full week to prepare of the fixture.
Guardiola even had time to attend a Sir Elton John concert in Manchester while some of the players went to watch Coldplay at the Etihad Stadium.
The City boss has no doubt the mental break has done his players good.
He said: “When you have these events in this city – and one of the legends, Sir Elton John – you have to use them.
“They’ve trained really good these last two training sessions. There’s a good mood in the locker room and on the pitch.
“We know what we are playing for. I don’t have to tell them. It is the final of the FA Cup against United, the chance to add another trophy. This is the mentality we have right now.”
Kris Doolan pushed Partick Thistle promotion dream from day one – Kyle Turner
Kyle Turner revealed Kris Doolan targeted cinch Premiership football immediately upon becoming Partick Thistle boss as the Jags stand on the brink of a return to the top flight.
Doolan stepped up from his role as under-18 coach in February to take over, initially on a temporary basis, from Ian McCall and the turnaround in form since has taken the Maryhill side all the way to the play-off final.
The Jags are 2-0 up from Thursday’s first leg against Ross County – the victory extending their unbeaten run to 11 games – with the return game taking place in Dingwall on Sunday.
Thistle are the first team to finish fourth in the second tier to go all the way to the play-off final – during that run Doolan had to cope with the death of his father Lawrence – and they are looking to make more history by completing the job against the Staggies.
Malky Mackay’s side played most of the game in Glasgow with 10 men after 16-year-old defender Dylan Smith was sent off in the first half for denying Aidan Fitzpatrick an obvious goalscoring opportunity and midfielder Turner is hoping Doolan’s ambition is soon fulfilled.
The 25-year-old said: “The gaffer has been brilliant. He has had a hard time in the last few weeks and it has been tough for him.
“But when he came those were his first words, ‘let’s try to get to the Premiership’.
“He constantly goes on about it in the changing room, that we want to be looking up the way and how we want to get there.
“It is the top league in Scotland and he instilled a belief in us that we can do this and so far so good.
“Since the gaffer has come in we have a siege mentality and we keep going to see what happens.
“In five play-off games we have scored 18 goals and conceded three, so the gaffer has installed a belief in us. He wants us to be free and go and play our own game and it has worked so far.
“We were disappointed this season and we should have been challenging in the final games but we slipped up a few times and we weren’t happy with that.
“We finished fourth and we had to play six games in the play-offs. We felt the worst we should have finished was second.
“When we got past Queen’s Park, then the belief started to grow. We know Sunday will be tough and County will throw everything at us so we have to be ready.”
Turner believes the margin of victory over the Staggies, who finished 11th in the Premiership, could have been greater.
The former Stranraer and Dunfermline player said: “I thought we put on a good performance. We were actually disappointed we didn’t score more goals to be honest.
“We had a lot of chances in the second half but County defended well and they threw bodies in front of the ball to make it hard for us.
“If someone had said to us we would win 2-0 then we would have been happy.
“But the way the game went with them down to 10 men, with the chances we created, on another day we would have scored more. But overall though we are delighted with the win.”
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