Pochettino hits out at pundits over his spell at PSG

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·24 de marzo de 2026

Pochettino hits out at pundits over his spell at PSG

Mauricio Pochettino, former defender (2001-2003) and coach (2021-2022) of Paris Saint-Germain, who is now in charge of the United States national team, spoke to L’Equipe in an interview published this Tuesday. He notably defended his approach at PSG, saying the project needed to evolve. But he also explained his resentment towards “certain pundits” during his Parisian adventure.

Pochettino: “I believe we were not helped by certain pundits either.”

“I believe we were not helped by certain pundits either. Like in Marseille, where Hakimi was sent off at the start of the second half and the match ended 0-0 (on October 24, 2021). Thierry Henry, who was commentating for Prime, said he didn’t understand why Pochettino had put Messi on the right when he was better close to Neymar. To that, I reply: Pochettino and his staff did not deliberately send Messi to the right in the second half. Sometimes, players find themselves in defensive positions to recover, to regain their freshness, and that was the case for Messi. So, if a former player like Henry criticizes this situation and holds me responsible, it causes an uproar. You hear: ‘This coach doesn’t know how to play Messi. He doesn’t know how to use Mbappé.’ (He laughs.) That’s the kind of irresponsibility that some people in football can adopt. The ideal target at PSG, the scapegoat, was the coach.”

Pochettino: “We had the necessary knowledge to create a solid structure”

Did the criticism from former players like Thierry Henry upset you? No. But I remember telling him about it. He actually agreed with me and replied: ‘Well, what do you want me to do?’ No! Not ‘What do you want me to do?’ Just don’t say something untrue, that’s all. Sometimes, those are the things that hurt me the most. When you sign with PSG, it’s because you have a track record. It’s not to do me a favor. No one does you favors in football. If someone says I’m ugly, fat, or whatever, I don’t care. But if someone lies… At that time, there was a lot of disrespect towards us. I repeat: we had the necessary knowledge to create a solid structure to give Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé the opportunity to give their best. But, well, the decision was made to let us go.”

Pochettino’s annoyance is quite understandable, especially since we can already be frustrated or tired by the comments we hear. Especially about PSG, but not only. We’re not even inside the club, with the players, having to make decisions. Decisions that are constantly questioned and criticized by outsiders. There are even some pundits’ opinions that become “realities.” We’ve seen this with criticism of Marco Verratti, Neymar, Marquinhos, and even Luis Enrique for a while.

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It’s all the harder to deal with when the criticism is often quite superficial, with more catchy phrases than in-depth analysis. Unfortunately, that’s been part of the “game” for a while now, and it’s also up to the clubs to let it slide. Pochettino and his staff shouldn’t have let themselves be brought down by such criticism. You have to be confident and move forward with the project.

Luis Enrique has managed to do this very well, perhaps also with better support from the club. Still, it’s mainly thanks to the football that the Spaniard has convinced people, especially since it has brought great results. Pochettino didn’t particularly give the impression of moving in the right direction, of being in control of the team’s development. The pundits shouldn’t be blamed for his failure either, even if we’d like them to be a bit fairer.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.