Things have changed around Camp des Loges this summer and not just because Thomas Tuchel has had his drawing board up.
Paris Saint-Germain have been transformed behind the scenes, their training base painstakingly redesigned by the new manager. Offices have altered, so too areas for the players.
The place was almost unrecognisable on the squad’s return for pre-season, with Tuchel’s architectural brush all over it. He has engineered something else on the side, and it required a far lighter touch.
Kylian Mbappe is hoping to point the way to long-awaited Champions League success for PSG
Despite signing megastars like Neymar, PSG have never been beyond the last eight
However things are changing behind the scenes since Thomas Tuchel arrived as manager
From his first meeting with president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, Tuchel has sought to temper expectations at PSG. No mean feat and a big ask given the finance lavished on this club, but it appears to be a battle of mindsets he may just be winning. For now at least.
Those around PSG say the level of obsession with the Champions League is on the wane since Tuchel took over. Lifting that had been the unashamed goal ever since the Qatar Sports Investment buyout in 2011. Forget adding to the paltry two league titles – secured in 1986 and 1994 – it was the big one they demanded.
Their relationship with the competition has been troublesome, however, and that is probably putting it mildly. They fell at the quarter-finals in four consecutive seasons before losing to both Barcelona and Real Madrid at the last 16 in each of the previous two campaigns.
Tuchel is aiming to mould a group of individual stars into a team capable of great success
PSG have been dominant domestically but have endured a series of failures on the continent
That is all despite stellar names being brought in for exorbitant money, the early days seeing the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Luiz, Thiago Silva, Angel Di Maria and Edinson Cavani. Latterly it has been Neymar, Kylian Mbappe. Dani Alves might have been free but certainly was not cheap either.
It is beyond reasonable doubt that Al-Khelaifi – who attended training in the French capital on Monday – has craved a Champions League trophy.
The pledge to build a team capable of lifting that crown saw them run into well-documented difficulties with UEFA, most notably a fine of more than £50million for a failure to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations in 2014.
UEFA’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, claimed last month that a decision will soon be made on their recent transfer dealings. All of this while La Liga president Javier Tebas cries ‘financial doping’ with a megaphone. The acquisitions of Neymar and Mbappe set PSG back upwards of £365m over two summers and they are less than impressed over in Spain.
The 6-1 capitulation at Barcelona in 2017 remains PSG’s defining moment in recent years
Yet here we are, a few weeks into Tuchel’s reign, with very different messages filtering out of the Parc des Princes. A change in attitude from the top, instigated by Unai Emery’s successor. Tuchel – who comes up against old mentor Jurgen Klopp at Anfield on Tuesday night – has instilled something new but his roster of talent, and the egos among them, are a contradiction to his philosophy.
The board’s fourth permanent manager has spoken to them about an increased need for unity and a spirit that had not strengthened for some time. Building from the bottom up might be needlessly basic for a squad of such quality and depth but Tuchel – who would have rejected the job had his mandate simply been win the Champions League – believes fundamental foundations are required.
The 45-year-old studied PSG’s final few games of last season, where they dropped points in five of their last seven Ligue 1 matches. It was noted that the team’s attitude differed depending on who they might be playing – and when it had come to the crunch in Europe, they failed anyway.
PSG’s association with the Champions League feels more aligned to Manchester City than ever before after months of adjusting to Tuchel’s beliefs. If it happens, it happens. If it does not then, well, there were a fair amount of factors as to why, many of them outside of the club’s control.
But that is where the similarities end. City have a Premier League to fall back on; those arduous, grueling months of toil and a overwhelming sense of achievement if they win it. Generally, PSG’s only slips in Ligue 1 are of their own doing, having won five of the last six titles.
Last season PSG showed their weakness in a limp exit at the hands of Real Madrid
‘I disagree with you, it is not easy,’ Tuchel said. ‘It’s a point of view which does not help us in club.
‘If we judge ourselves only by the biggest goal you can have in European football, then the possibility for disappointment is very high. Why should we do this?
‘Liverpool have won five Champions League titles, so there is experience that they can do it in this club.’
The only league failure in the last six years came in 2017 when finishing second to Monaco. Monaco’s stars were subsequently picked off by European rivals that summer. PSG’s wealth has meant they generally keep those they want, although whether that remains the case is as yet unknown. Neymar is unlikely to be placated by Ligue 1 titles and Coupe de France victories.
Nevertheless, Tuchel wants calm in Europe. Measured expectation, if anything, and the owners have bought into that way of thinking. PSG have been a club in a hurry for the past seven years though and how long this new-found controlled ambition can last is another thing altogether.