MNM Trio Will Need to Accept Sitting on the Bench, Says PSG Coach

Football - Ligue 1 - Nantes v Paris St Germain - The Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau, Nantes, France - September 3, 2022 Paris St Germain's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
Football - Ligue 1 - Nantes v Paris St Germain - The Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau, Nantes, France - September 3, 2022 Paris St Germain's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
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MNM Trio Will Need to Accept Sitting on the Bench, Says PSG Coach

Football - Ligue 1 - Nantes v Paris St Germain - The Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau, Nantes, France - September 3, 2022 Paris St Germain's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)
Football - Ligue 1 - Nantes v Paris St Germain - The Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau, Nantes, France - September 3, 2022 Paris St Germain's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their first goal. (Reuters)

Paris St Germain will need all their resources if they are to shine on all fronts this season, and it means that their formidable "MNM" attacking trio will need to take a break at times, whether they like it or not.

While Mauricio Pochettino would rarely replace Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe or Neymar, his successor Christophe Galtier has not hesitated to put the Brazilian on the bench on Saturday, three days before their Champions League opener against Juventus.

Neymar came on around the hour mark but it was Mbappe who made way for his fellow forward in their 3-0 win at Nantes and the France player did not show any sign of frustration.

Messi is the one who played the most among the three, although he was also recalled to the bench in the closing stages against Monaco and Toulouse.

Galtier, who took over this season, had warned that the team would come first, and he has been true to his word as PSG scored a record 24 goals in their opening six league matches.

"I talked about it twice - once with each of them and once with the whole squad, to tell them that this is how it was going to be and that we had to have the right attitude and accept it," said Galtier.

With a packed schedule with the World Cup looming in the European autumn, Galtier said there was little choice.

"You say it's new, but it's an obligation for everyone because of the very busy schedule," he explained.

"We play a lot, every three days, then every four days, then there is the World Cup. Everyone has to understand that they won't be able to play all the games."

Center back Sergio Ramos was also given a relative rest against Nantes, only coming on in the 62nd minute.

"Everyone has to be ready to play. The most important thing is the team. We have quality in both the starters and the substitutes," said center back Presnel Kimpembe.

"We have a good group. Everyone knows that. We take advantage of each other to be as good as possible."



Amorim is 'Very Excited' about where 14th-place Man United Can Go in 2025

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim reacts at the end of the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United in Manchester, Britain, 30 December 2024. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim reacts at the end of the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United in Manchester, Britain, 30 December 2024. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
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Amorim is 'Very Excited' about where 14th-place Man United Can Go in 2025

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim reacts at the end of the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United in Manchester, Britain, 30 December 2024. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim reacts at the end of the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United in Manchester, Britain, 30 December 2024. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN

Despite his team entering 2025 in 14th place in the Premier League, Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim is “very excited” about the year ahead.
United’s 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle on Monday saw it suffer five league losses in the same calendar month for the first time since September 1962, and a fourth straight reverse in all competitions means the Red Devils have lost six of their last eight.
But in a message posted on his club's official X account on New Year’s Eve, Amorim wrote: “I know it will take a lot of hard work from everyone to get there, but I am very excited about where we can go together in 2025.”
Amorim is yet to halt the alarming slide which led to Erik ten Hag’s dismissal in October, and his team is seven points above the drop zone with increasing talk of a relegation fight, including by Amorim himself who has called it “a possibility.”
But the Portuguese says he's determined to press on with the 3-4-3 system despite the difficulties United’s squad has had in adapting, The Associated Press reported.
“Of course I didn’t choose the players specifically for these positions but that I already knew,” he said. “But I understand they have a lot of difficulties because they spend two years playing one way and then they are playing another."
Amorim did not have the benefit of a pre-season to implement such a major change to United’s tactical model, and admitted that is having a significant impact.
“I think the players are losing everything, the small things that we try to work on in training," Amorim said. "After one goal they lose everything because we don’t have the base, we don’t have time to build the base to cope with the difficult moments so it’s really hard in this moment.”
United has the toughest of starts to 2025 when it travels to play league leader Liverpool on Sunday in what is widely considered English soccer’s fiercest rivalry.