Former Gunners manager and Paris Saint-Germain boss believes that he could have done a fantastic job had he stayed on at Paris Saint-German as the head coach.
“In Paris, I missed the chance to become the best coach in the world,” he told France Football. “I won the league, four domestic cups and two Trophees des Champions. But the ultimate goal was the Champions League.
“The first year, in the round-of-16 against Barcelona, were played a really high-level first leg. In the return leg, we were knocked out because VAR didn’t yet exist. We were very clearly knocked out by refereeing decisions.
“The second year, against Real Madrid, we bowed to a team who recorded an historic hat-trick and, again, in the first leg, we could find fault with the officiating. To conclude: we lost the first time on refereeing decisions, and the second against the defending and future champions.”
“I wanted the team to defend higher. Thiago Silva is a great player, but I wanted him to be higher and I couldn’t get him to accept that,” Emery said.
“I wanted him to get out of his comfort zone, to dare to defend higher so that the general pressure of the team on the opposition would be more effective. I worked with him to make him accept this, but I didn’t succeed.
“This characteristic of Thiago Silva’s game reflected on the whole team, which, under pressure, had a natural tendency to drop deeper.”
“I always felt supported by president Nasser,” he said. “For example, when we were about to sign Neymar, it was up to me to explain in person to Ney that we were going to build the team around him.
“With such a phenomenal player, you can’t tell him there is already a team there and that he will have to adapt. You have to create the team for him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t come – that’s for sure. The president and the directors discuss the contract, but it’s the coach who has to convince him of the game plan.”
See More:Â Paris Saint Germain Players Salaries 2020 (Weekly Wages)
