How Laurent Blanc became one of Europe's best managers this season

Paris Saint Germain’s win in Ligue 1, months before the league will be completed, raised all sorts of wrong questions. How is it that the French giants faced absolutely no competition in their run to the title just one year after they were involved in a three-horse race for it? Is their monetary advantage hurting the league? Have they monopolised the league for the foreseeable future? While these questions are more complex than they might seem on paper, it is difficult to deny Laurent Blanc the credit he deserves with his side doing one over every club in France. Money or no money, it takes a good manager to get the kind of results Blanc has this season. For some reason, despite three straight league wins, Blanc has received less credit than he arguably deserves.

It mustn’t be forgotten that a crucial job of a manager is to keep the players in check and when the players are huge superstars, things become tougher, undoubtedly. At PSG, Blanc has huge egos to deal with in the form of superstars Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Angel di Maria, David Luiz and Thiago Silva among others. He has managed to keep a good managerial relationship with everyone at the club and there have never been any voices of discontent in the media from any of these veterans. The only episode which might hurt Blanc in this department is what recently transpired with Serge Aurier, but Aurier’s naiveté is clearly to be blamed there. Besides, if Blanc does give special treatment to Zlatan, it isn’t a huge surprise as sometimes big names need to be dealt with for the benefit of the team. Sir Alex Ferguson did the same with Eric Cantona, and when Luis Enrique appeared to have a fall-out with Lionel Messi last season, the stability around Barcelona clearly quivered, and the results took a hit because of that.

Tactically, Blanc likes to focus on possession, and has ensured that his team is very efficient in regaining possession which is primarily to the brilliant midfield and the effectiveness of Verratti, Matuidi, Motta as well as Rabiot. The manager’s preferred formation has been the 4-3-3, and it is the one that suits his style of play the most. The French manager evidently loves to see his team keeping the ball in the heart of the pitch and dictating play from the centre. The value of having effective midfielders who are good on the ball, do not get bullied easily and can find their way out of a tough situation is clearly a lot for the coach. The front trident has varied between Ibrahimovic, di Maria, Cavani and Lucas Moura. Sometimes di Maria has played slightly deeper on the flanks in the midfield to accommodate another attacker. In such a situation, having solid full-backs who don’t just love going forward but remain responsible at the back is imperative.

In three seasons, Blanc has slowly built a formidable unit which can now compete at the highest level. A mix of big stars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Luiz, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani and Angel di Maria combined with talented youngsters that have been mentioned before, without ignoring key first players like Javier Pastore, Blaise Matuidi and Thiago Motta, who have been at the club for a number of years now, has made up this squad which has proven itself to be so efficacious this season.

Domestic success could mean little this season, and it’s all about the Champions League. Fans take league success almost as a given, and many showed their annoyance at the new contract being awarded to him before PSG defeated Chelsea in the Champions League. Considering the form Manchester City find themselves in, PSG’s time might be made easy in the upcoming semi-final. The Frenchman has a very realistic chance of guiding the Parisians to the final of the tournament and could perhaps even get the coveted trophy back home. However, irrespective of that, Blanc’s season will count as an extremely successful one with the former Barcelona player doing terrifically overall. He had made PSG a force to be reckoned with in all of Europe during his tenure but really solidified that status this season.