Pochettino’s Paris Plans: 5 Telling Tactical Takeaways From The First Month Of Poch At PSG

Mauricio Pochettino’s more-than-one-year-long hiatus from football management came to an end on 2nd January when the former Tottenham Hotspur manager returned to Paris Saint-Germain, where he spent over two years as a player from January 2001 until July 2003, to succeed now-Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel as manager of the defending Ligue 1 champions.

In his first month as PSG boss, Pochettino has overseen six games in total, winning four, drawing one, and losing one.

As a disclaimer, it’s early days in Pochettino’s tenure at Le Parc des Princes, and it’s difficult to definitively say whether or not all of the tactics and ideas that he’s implemented thus far will 1.

Remain in his plans for the long-term and 2.

Succeed/fail in the long-term.

This tactical analysis doesnt serve to determine either of those two things nor does it really serve to compare and contrast him with Tuchel.

This tactical analysis piece examines the first steps of Pochettino’s PSG journey by looking at some of the key elements to his tactics and philosophy that hes displayed in the early days of his time in Paris, as well as looking at trends from his previous jobs, to try and determine what Pochettino has immediately set out to do in his new job and how fans of the Ligue 1 side could expect to see their club evolve moving forward under the Argentinian coach.

Mauricio Pochettino Formation

PSG utilised a two-man midfield, deploying a 4-4-2 or a variant of that shape, quite a lot under Tuchel.

By doing so, the German coach could field a four-man attack featuring Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, Mauro Icardi and Ángel Di María.

This season, however, Tuchel lined his team up in a 4-3-3 formation more often than any other shape  37% of the time.

This could largely have been enforced on him, rather than a preference of his, with Neymar, Mbappé and particularly Icardi spending some time sidelined due to injury.

On his arrival at Le Parc des Princes, however, Pochettino has almost exclusively used a two-man midfield.

Throughout his managerial career, it’s become apparent that Pochettino’s preferred shape is the 4-2-3-1.

Certain roles within that shape have also become synonymous with the Argentinian coach’s tactics, for example, as was evident through his use of Dele Alli in north London, you might say that he likes the ‘number 10’ in his system to essentially be a second striker-type rather than an attacking midfielder-type.

Pochettino has utilised several different formations at PSG so far, including the 4-4-2 that Tuchel tended to use, but he has mainly set his side up in his usual 4-2-3-1 shape.

Given that you could call this his ‘trademark’ formation and he has started utilising it almost immediately in Paris, it seems reasonable to suggest that his team will ideally be moulded in this shape moving forward.

The image above shows us an example of Pochettino’s shape in the build-up during his side’s emphatic 4-0 win over Montpellier on 22nd January.

For the majority of this game, PSG lined up in a 4-2-3-1 shape, even though it looks more like a 4-4-2 here, because the ‘10’ is positioned very high up the pitch.

PSG’s famous