Luis Enrique’s new training method sparks online debate

This week, PSG manager Luis Enrique used a giant tactic board in his side’s training, which has caused mixed reactions online. The board, seems to show the players in the exact position in which they should be playing in small sided training games. The board appears to display an attack vs defence game, in which PSG’s front six will take part in drills in which they will be matched up against some of their defensive teammates in the shape of a backline. This drill, presumably, is to improve cohesion and work on patterns of play, and pressing, both in an attacking and in a defensive shape.

Luis Enrique’s surprise new training technique causes online stir

The board also seems to reveal a few hints as a potential formation against Rennes, with Ilyia Zabarnyi being placed at Right back on the line up, and Lucas Hernandez seemingly starting at left back. The board also shows a front three in the attacking formation of Desiré Doué, Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola, which would seem to indicate the former’s imminent return from an injury that has kept him out more than a month now.

The board also displays Quentin Ndjantou and Lee Kang-In making up a midfield two behind the aforementioned front three, a strategy that we have yet to see in a game this season (Ndjantou’s few appearances have mostly come as part of a front three, and so have some of Lee’s) but that could be employed soon, if the board is to be trusted.

There has been speculation online about the exact reason for Enrique to display seemingly important tactical information in such an indiscreet manner, but it wouldn’t be the first time that the Catalan coach has behaved in a somewhat eccentric manner: he famously was actively streaming on social media platform Twitch and discussing tactics live online during his spell as Spain manager, over the period of the 2022 World Cup.

Others have also discussed the possibility of displaying purposefully misleading or even false tactics in order to bamboozle any upcoming opponents (in the type of bluff that is somewhat reminiscent of the infamous ‘spygate’ incident that occurred back in 2019 between then Leeds coach Marcelo Bielsa and former Derby boss Frank Lampard). This would be an interesting strategy for Enrique to use: although one would perhaps then have expected it to be deployed on the eve of a big Champions League clash, rather than an (admittedly important) home Ligue Un game vs Rennes.

While the exact reasons for the giant tactical screen’s installation remain unclear, it is not the first time that coaches have been very public about tactics and team selection. José Mourinho, during his second spell at Chelsea, famously once revealed his entire back four and starting goalkeeper prior to a key Champions League clash against PSG, in a bold move that paid off, as Chelsea went on to win the game 2-0. Enrique will hope that the tactics board has an invigorating effect on his Parisian stars, and that it inspires them to bounce back from last week’s disappointing home defeat to Marseille with what would be a vital league win tomorrow evening.