DBasia.news – Christophe Galtier, the coach of Paris Saint-Germain, reminded the superstar trio Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar that they had to accept being substitutes.
In the past, Mauricio Pochettino rarely did rotations, but now Galtier, who replaced him, did not hesitate to substitute Neymar for the 3-0 win over Nantes in Ligue 1, Sunday (4/9), three days before the crucial match against Juventus in the Champions League group stage.
Neymar came on in the second half, replacing Mbappe who had scored twice. While Messi also doesn’t always play full time, as when he was withdrawn towards the end of the match versus AS Monaco and Toulouse.
“I spoke about it twice, once with each of them and once with the whole squad, to tell them that this is what will happen and that we have to have the right attitude and accept it [as a substitute],” said the coach.
Galtier’s rotation policy was implemented because there will be a series of busy schedules due to the postponement of the 2022 World Cup from November-December.
“You say it’s a new [rotation policy], but it’s a must for all because the schedule is so tight,” he continued.
“There will be a lot of games, every three days, then four days, then there’s the World Cup. Every player has to understand that they won’t be able to play all the games.”
Not only the three superstars, Sergio Ramos also did not start against Nantes, only playing when the match entered the 62nd minute.
“All players have to be ready to play. The most important thing is the team. We have the same quality as starters and substitutes,” said Presnel Kimpembe.
“We have a good team, everyone knows that. We maximize each other to be as good as possible.”