Last time Paris Saint-Germain sat on top of Ligue 1 at the halfway stage of the season Antoine Kombouare was playing at the heart of the club’s defence. 15 years on and the same man has helped the capital club to the top of the table again, this time from the dugout. His reward? The sack.
It says much about the cash rich Qatari-owned side that Kombouare’s departure was not particularly a surprise. The 48-year-old has been a dead man walking for most of the season, with the Parisians seemingly waiting for the right moment to let him go. But with PSG riding high in the league, that opportunity never arrived, though the club’s exit from the Europa League provided the side with something of an excuse.
In truth, the winter break was always going to provide PSG with the chance for sporting director Leonardo to tempt a big name to the French capital – and so it has proven, with former AC Milan and Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti appointed as Kombouare’s successor on a French record salary of €6M after tax.
The Italian is unlikely to be the only household name arriving at the Parc des Princes before PSG’s next game at home to Toulouse on 14th January. David Beckham is set to join for €800,000 euros a month from MLS champions Los Angeles Galaxy, and the 36-year-old’s signature will assuage some of the anger at Kombouare’s departure, while a number of other stars are on the club’s agenda.
Suddenly Ancelotti’s contacts open up a vast array of possibilities that, PSG would argue, were never likely to be realised if Kombouare had stayed in post. Former Milan man Kaka is wanted, though questions persist as to how the Brazilian, who has endured a lacklustre spell with Real Madrid, could fit into the French side’s natural front four of Javier Pastore, Jeremy Menez, Nene and Kevin Gameiro. Out-of-favour Chelsea winger Florent Malouda is another potential arrival and Didier Drogba could yet land, with his agent having announced the Ivorian will join whoever hands him the highest wages, in order that he can “pay his bills”.
It all adds up to a rather confused strategy in Paris. What is clear at least is that the raising of the club’s profile is key; as well as that of the French league as a whole. Nasser Al-Khelaifi, PSG’s owner, is also the president of Al-Jazeera, who hold Ligue 1’s domestic and international television rights, as well as the rights to broadcast Champions League football in France. PSG have a vested interest in the health of Ligue 1, and so the arrival of big names, not least Beckham, can only be a good thing for the capital club and for French football in general.
In the summer Al-Khelaifi said he would make PSG “a great team and a strong brand on the international scene.” Kombouare showed every sign of doing the former, but the ex-defender was judged to not be able to facilitate the latter. And that is why Ancelotti, Beckham and others will now arrive in the glitzy French capital. The duo, combined with Leonardo and the other superstars who will surely arrive, will form a new PSG, which it is hoped will dominate France and quickly compete for silverware in Europe.
The fans though will not see recent developments in quite the same way. To the PSG faithful Kombouare is a club legend, and his departure will cause discomfort. The “Casque d’Or”, a moniker handed to him through scoring tie-deciding headers, is not just any manager; his rein had a genuine emotional value for the supporters and his departure will, to some, appear to coincide with that of the club’s heart, soul and history.
On the pitch, what could be intriguing is the style of play Ancelotti will adopt. It would be unfair to label the Italian’s sides defensive, but he is more of a pragmatist than the attack-minded Kombouare. Though Ancelotti’s Chelsea team scored 103 goals when winning the Premier League title in the 2009/10 campaign, the 52-year-old’s sides are built on a strong defence and tend to play narrowly, relying on rampaging full backs to provide width. For PSG, this could negate the influence of Menez and Nene, who provide both goals and skill from out wide.
But the biggest challenge Ancelotti may face is getting the best out of Pastore. The €40M summer signing started the season in fine form, scoring and creating goals for fun. This spell though is now a distant memory and Pastore appears disgruntled. Kombouare had admitted the playmaker is unhappy and he looks unable to rediscover his early season form. With this, PSG’s hopes of winning the league are threatened. Fighting off the challenges of Lille, on a 17-game unbeaten run, Montpellier and a rejuvenated Lyon will be a tough task for Ancelotti. Helping Pastore back to his best would make that much easier.
Kombouare had returned to the club he faithfully served as a player for five years in 2009 and led PSG to the Coupe de France as well as to fourth place in Ligue 1 last year, only missing out on the Champions League on the final day of the season. The coach was building a strong team and it remains to be seen what happens next. Ancelotti undoubtedly has experience and skill, not to mention the players and finance, to be a success.
Kombouare has laid out the blueprint of how to win Ligue 1 and Ancelotti now has merely to follow it. With league titles won at AC Milan and Chelsea, the Italian knows how to see out a championship. Should he fail though, then PSG may wonder why they dumped the man who was effortlessly guiding the side towards silverware.
