Luis Enrique: I Think the Ballon d'Or Winner Must Be a PSG Player, But I Could Be Wrong

At 03:05 Beijing time on September 5, Paris Saint-Germain will host Monaco in the third round of Ligue 1. Before the match, PSG head coach Luis Enrique attended a press conference. This article is the third part of the press conference.

Coach, hello. Last week the draw for the Champions League league phase was held. You have just briefly responded to the upcoming match against Roma, but overall, what do you think of this draw? In particular, you will face Barcelona, Manchester City, and some teams you have never played before. What is your view of the draw result?

Obviously it is easier than last season, because it could not have been more difficult than last season (laughs). But we are already used to this type of draw. We must improve our performances and aim to finish near the top, because that is our intention. However, we already have the experience from these years and from the past two seasons. It is not easy; in the previous two years we ultimately finished only in 11th and 15th place.

Hello, Luis. A few days ago Mourinho said that the Ballon d'Or winner does not necessarily have to be a Paris Saint-Germain player because they won the Champions League, nor does it necessarily have to be a Spanish player because they won the World Cup. He then supported Mbappe's candidacy. Do you think the Ballon d'Or winner must be a PSG player, meaning one of your own players? Let me give a simple example, such as Fabian Ruiz, because he won the World Cup and the Champions League?

I am not particularly interested in who wins the Ballon d'Or. What I can say is that this is purely my personal opinion: the person who deserves to win the Ballon d'Or should be a Paris Saint-Germain player. Because we have everything: we have players who won the Champions League together with the whole team, we have Fabian who won the World Cup, and we have Ousmane Dembele, who has won the Ballon d'Or in recent seasons. For me, the Ballon d'Or winner must be a PSG player, but this is only my opinion and I could be wrong; that is obvious. Apart from that, I am not interested in individual awards, because football is a team sport and we must remain focused on what is more important for the entire team.

Hello, Luis. A few days ago, a speech by Cesc Fabregas during a tactical lecture went viral. He said that there is currently more man-marking in football, which forces teams to create more movement when attacking, and that positional play has been somewhat removed from its natural state. This made me think of your team, because PSG has been a typical example in recent years of constant movement and position exchanges around the ball. Do you think current football will move in this direction because of the increase in man-marking? Do you agree with Cesc's view?

Okay, Spanish or French? French? Explaining tactics in French, I don't know if I can do it. But no, I think I need to watch Cesc Fabregas' interview. He is showing his ability to coach at the highest level. The work he has done at Como is incredible and very positive. But I agree with his view. I think every coach has their own cycle to show what they want to present in football.

For me, the most important thing is to keep adapting. What we are doing now is very different from what I did in Rome or Barcelona. Later, when I was at Barcelona, the situation was different again, because everything has to adapt to the players. Later, when we took over the national team, we did different things because we could choose the players we wanted.

But at that time, I think football was always changing. And with the software tools that all coaches now have to analyze and observe every opponent's movement, it is truly incredible. I remember saying a phrase last year: 'Difficult for opponents to predict, but predictable for ourselves.' That is the key, or the key we are still searching for. We aim to provide more information and make sure nothing is left to chance.

In the Champions League this season, we still have to make changes because opponents will adapt to what we do. As a head coach, this is very fascinating to me, and it is also my biggest motivation: having the desire to keep improving, trying to give players more help, and trying to understand the difficulties they face. I agree with Cesc Fabregas: the traditional Barcelona-style positional play that I knew has disappeared, because if you cannot have fluidity, you cannot surprise any team. I like this; it is different, and it is about finding new 'tools' through innovation.