Assessing Paris Saint-Germain's Options to Replace Unai Emery
Unai Emery has been at Paris Saint-Germain for less than six months, and yet it seems as though his tenure may be at its end.
The former Sevilla boss has struggled to establish an effective playing style, and results have been underwhelming.
While Paris are undergoing something of an evolution following the summer departures of established first-team players like David Luiz and Ezequiel Lavezzi, as well as the iconic Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the quality available to Emery remains high.
PSG have limped to the winter break on an appalling—by their standards—run of form.
Just two wins from the last six games have the four-time defending champions sitting five points off the pace in Ligue 1 and, after relinquishing top spot in their Champions League group, on course to face Barcelona in the round of 16.
The season is not yet a disaster, and club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi told Le Parisien (via MailOnline) he feels the Spaniard is "one of the best coaches in Europe," but Emery's future remains in doubt.
Changing managers midseason is a dangerous exercise but can often be an effective move. Real Madrid won the European Cup last season after dismissing Rafa Benitez.
If Paris are looking to make a change soon, there are plenty of options open to them.
According to Goal.com, Roberto Mancini has been a long-term target for PSG and was considered before Emery was appointed.
A former Manchester City boss, Mancini has experience overseeing a comparably ambitious project to Paris'. His masterful management of City's 2011–12 Premier League-winning campaign is the most impressive mark on his trophy-laden resume.
A pragmatist focused on substance over style, Mancini could be an effective short-term solution for the Parisians.
Mancini, though, speaking with Mediaset Premium (h/t Football Italia), has denied any "concrete" developments over a possible move.
Ex-Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal is another option for PSG.
While his tenure at Old Trafford was underwhelming, Van Gaal has won 19 trophies in his impressive managerial career, and his ability to transform his teams makes him attractive.
An iconoclastic attitude may be the perfect remedy for the malaise that has infected Paris this season, and Van Gaal has that.
The major issue with Van Gaal would be that his suffocating, possession-based style would not represent a great shift away from Emery's. Paris already dominate the ball and take too few risks, and it is difficult to imagine the Dutchman being inclined to change too much.
French football show Telefoot, though, claims a move for Van Gaal is "getting closer." Van Gaal could also forge a more effective partnership with Patrick Kluivert than Emery has managed.
The summer transfer window was a disaster for PSG, with Emery being handed an unbalanced squad short in key areas.
Director of football Kluivert, who made his debut at Ajax under Van Gaal and also served as his assistant with the Dutch national team, is going nowhere, so it is crucial that the next manager is able to work with him.
Yet another name who has been mentioned in connection with the Paris job is Clarence Seedorf.
According to Eurosport (in French), the Dutchman is under consideration despite a minimal coaching history. Seedorf's four months as Milan boss in 2014 is his only meaningful managerial experience to date.
That unremarkable period hardly serves as a ringing endorsement, but as the only player to have won the European Cup with three different clubs, he would bring winning experience.
One name that has yet be mentioned in press dispatches is Marcelo Bielsa.
The man who can count Jorge Sampaoli, Mauricio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola among his proteges, Bielsa would bring an ideology of total domination to the Parc des Princes.
Paris' biggest problem this season has been the predictable nature of their games. They control the ball but rarely move into dangerous areas. As they constantly shuffle the ball around in front of composed opposition defences, they provide little threat.
Bielsa's teams dominate games.
Where Emery's side have been shocked tactically on a number of occasions, Bielsa's preparation is legendary.
The Argentinian would never be caught flat-footed by the likes of Montpellier or Guingamp.
Having spent most of two seasons in France with Marseille, Bielsa has experience in French football lacking in all of the other names on Paris' list.
While at OM, he helped players like Andre-Pierre Gignac and Dimitri Payet reach new heights, and he orchestrated one of their finest seasons in recent memory.
The major drawback with Bielsa, apart from his infamously belligerent temper, is that his teams require Olympian fitness levels, so a midseason appointment is unlikely to yield ideal results.
Bielsa has not often stayed with one club for long, and there is no reason to assume that he could be a long-term choice for Paris either, but his ability to install a philosophy and his exacting standards are precisely what the aimless French champions need.
PSG's problems cannot all be resolved by the appointment of a new manager.
A deeply flawed squad, no longer insulated by Ibrahimovic's superhuman dominance of French football, has been exposed by teams with mere fractions of Paris' budget and apparent aspirations.
Emery has proved to be the wrong choice, and persisting with him makes little sense at this point. Replacing the Spaniard would be an aggressive move but is necessary to advance the project.
The French champions are rudderless, lacking in drive and subsisting on the ability of players like Edinson Cavani to win games for them.
Their hard-won sense of invincibility in France is rapidly eroding, as is any sense that they had reached new heights after last season's stirring ejection of Chelsea from the Champions League.
It is time to arrest Paris' slide and begin a new phase at the Parc des Princes.
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