Thiago Motta’s interview
Thiago Motta continues to write his story. With his player’s chapter now closed, the former midfielder has decided to open a new one. As coach of the PSG’s U19 national team, the Italian naturally turned to his new role as coach. A choice that did not surprise anyone. “He is predestined,” writes La Gazzetta dello Sport, who has been talking to Motta in recent days. The result is an exciting interview. Excerpts.
Obviously, going from player to coach is an important step. And not always obvious. But Thiago Motta has prepared himself as well as he can and has no regrets. “I have no regrets. I have won titles everywhere, I have lived in big cities (Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Paris…). I have learned a lot. I remember my last game at the Parc des Princes, the farewells, the tears… I didn’t even have time to wipe them off when I moved to Coverciano (editor’s note: the Italian Clairefontaine) to start the second half of my career…”, confided the former midfielder.
“A declining champion is a problem for every coach. My last year at PSG, I didn’t play three times… and I got angry three times. I wanted to stop before I became a problem. I decided to stop my career when I was still at the top, after a season when I was still a starter,” he continued. For him, it is simply impossible to learn the role of a coach in “your last year as a footballer”.
Its models and philosophy
In his new life as a coach, Motta is inspired by the greatest. “Guardiola is the best, the king of the game. But I really admire Zidane,” he says. The best coach of his career? “Ancelotti. He has an impressive knowledge of football and a perfect management of the dressing room (…) He is unique,” replied the former Italian international, who refused to tell an anecdote where Ancelotti got very upset during a match in Evian. “Ask Ibrahimovic…”, he says.
Thiago Motta has clear ideas about his philosophy. And no defined schematics. “I want offensive football, attacking football. A team that imposes its game, high pressing, that moves together, with and without a ball (…) The important thing is your idea of football and your ability to transmit it. What is difficult in football is to do the simple things: control, pass, stand out. I don’t like the figures related to the diagrams,” he says.
“What matters is the movement. You can be very offensive with a 5–3–2 and defensive with a 4–3–3–3. It depends on the men and the attitude (…) Recently, two of my players, who were number 9 and 10 last season, played at the sides…”, said the PSG U19 coach.
His ambition? “Train the PSG,” he says.
Thiago Motta is currently working with PSG youth, but he is not lacking in ambition. “I have a two-year contract with PSG U19s, but my goal is to coach the first team one day or another,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. What about Thomas Tuchel in all this? “I have nothing against him, I respect him,” said the former midfielder. “But my goal is the PSG bench…”, he adds, obviously decided.
PSG’s ambition has remained unchanged for years: to win the Champions League. “But you can’t just rely on the players, the history of a club is important,” says Motta. You don’t win unexpectedly. When I arrived at PSG, the goal was to win national titles. Today it’s the Champions League. But there are also other teams…”
Thiago Motta, who was also asked about his former team-mates, expressed his feelings. “Is the Mbappé-Cavani-Neymar trio the strongest in the world? On paper, yes. But it depends on how they move and how they integrate into the field,” he says. In some respects, the Mané-Firmino-Salah trio moves so well that they have nothing to envy anyone,” says Motta. Neymar? “He has to learn to give up dribble always 3–4 players. He must free himself from the front ball to stand out and receive the final pass. He shouldn’t always go one on one (…) I always told him:’Give me the ball, I’ll give it back to you, avoiding two dribbles and hits’.”
Finally, regarding his former sidekick Marco Verratti, Thiago Motta thinks he is the only “only Italian top player” in circulation. “When he arrived at PSG, I realized in five seconds that we had recruited a great player. It was a pleasure to play with it,” said the former midfielder, happy that Verratti is now shining with the Italian national team.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
