On occasion down the years Luis Enrique or his representatives would travel to London for discussions with leading Premier League clubs and at least once for exploratory talks about taking over our benighted national team.
The response of the bigwigs became depressingly predictable: ‘He expects to be in charge of everything. Who the hell does this man think he is? Alex Ferguson?’
As it happens Sir Alex, recognising one of his own characteristics, was minded to recommend Enrique as one of his possible successors at Manchester United.
That notion, expressed to me one lunchtime in Mayfair’s Les Ambassadeurs club, would run into the same roadblock of corporate buffoonery.
The loss has been English football’s. A failure of vision illuminated by the dazzling performance under Enrique’s iron command by which Paris Saint-Germain broke the Champions League final scoring record with a 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan.
How beautifully ironic that it should be the most autocratic of all ownerships who bowed to Enrique’s demands for total control of all things football. Having bought PSG lock, stock and oil barrel, this Qatari consortium found their ambition to be beyond the reach of wealth alone. Embarrassingly so. Until, in desperation, they took Enrique on his strict, absolute terms.
PSG’s boss Luis Enrique was snubbed by England and leading Premier League clubs
English football’s loss has been PSG’s gain following their Champions League triumph
PSG’s Qatari ownership bowed to Luis Enrqiue’s strict demands and have reaped the rewards
Yes, his salary was huge — but not the prime factor. No interference was the maxim that mattered. Not with team selection. Not with systems of play. Not with transfers. Not with discipline. In less that 22 months Enrique has delivered two Ligue 1 titles, two French Cups and, most brilliantly and vitally of all, their first Champions League.
Enrique has been described as stubborn, arrogant, convinced that he is always right and obsessive. Try genius — that is the truth. That is why he has joined Pep Guardiola as one of only two managers to win the Treble twice. In his case, first with Barcelona, for whom he was a wondrous player. Now with PSG.
One of his first acts upon arrival in Paris in 2023 was to tell his squad he approved of Kylian Mbappe being sold to Real Madrid: ‘Kylian is excellent but you will be a better team without him.’ The proof was there in Munich.
There have been no more superstar purchases such as Neymar and Lionel Messi. The latter of whom he clashed with in Barcelona over which of them should hold the greatest power at that club. Since their parting, Messi has said: ‘The two finest coaches I’ve played for are Pep and Luis.’
Guardiola says: ‘Of the many great teams I’ve managed against, the Barcelona of Luis and the Liverpool of (Jurgen) Klopp are the most difficult.’
The hallmark of his PSG team was clear in the final when they celebrated as one a dispossessing tackle as enthusiastically as one of their five goals. The Paris of D’Artagnan and his three musketeers would have identified with their motto: All for one and one for all.
To a man they have committed to Enrique’s demands. As such, they have developed in no time from a collection of big names into a formidable force. There are signs of a Champions League dynasty in the making. Assuming four years is long enough to establish such a legacy.
Like Jose Mourinho, Enrique has collected his trophies while staying no longer than that with any one employer. Thus is the way with most high-impact managers. Only for so long can most groups of players remain fresh and eager in an atmosphere of such intensity, sacrifice, bravery, stamina and fanaticism. It is not the physical strain under which they wilt, but the psychological.
Luis Enrique decided PSG would become a better team by selling Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid
The Spaniard’s side embraced the defensive side of the game as much as scoring goals
Luis Enrique led PSG to their first Champions League triumph and there are signs of a dynasty in the making
Among the multi-Champions League-winning managers of the modern era only Carlo Ancelotti, who stands alone in claiming it five times, and Ferguson stayed as long as eight years or more in one place. With Ancelotti that was early in his career with Milan. Even he could not end the Champions League drought during his two years at PSG.
Klopp, like Ferguson at United, made a slow start at Liverpool but held on to land silverware in his last four seasons. Then he sensed his influence waning and left. Unlike Ferguson, who alone kept performing miracles of team reconstruction and player reinvigoration. In part that was achieved by his perception of when star players should be let go — Ruud van Nistelrooy, Eric Cantona, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo — and also his instinct as to who needed a rollicking and who needed an arm round the shoulder.
There was a hint of that insight about Enrique when he said at the height of one dispute with Messi: ‘I do not treat all my players the same, just as I do not treat all my children the same. On some things I am permissive and on some I am demanding. But there are some rules that everyone must follow. That is one of my principles.’
The four-year principle is the one likely to concern Arsenal as Mikel Arteta enters his fifth-and-half season as manager with just an FA Cup to show for it. The run of second-places in the league suggest a Gareth Southgate-esque faltering when it comes to crossing the line. For how much longer will his players keep believing with so little return?
Arsenal were among the English clubs who passed up on Enrique’s demands. They may be among many asking now whether Arteta would like to reconsider his answer to the question as to which was the best team in this season’s Champions League.
The loss of Enrique was not only to the Premier League, but has already been felt by England and threatens to become even more consequential.
During Enrique’s spell in charge of Spain — tragically interrupted and then ended by the death of his youngest daughter Xana through bone cancer — he laid the foundations for revolutionising the style of Spanish football which has resulted already in the complete out-classing of England in the Euro 2024 final (result: 2-1 going on 4-1).
Luis Enrique had laid the foundations for Spain’s triumph at Euro 2024 last summer
England should look to Luis Enrique for the European Championships three years from now
Spain, not England, are now favourites for next summer’s World Cup in America, with their new-age football.
The press and pass-pass football of Guardiola, successful and imitated as it has been, is coming to the end of its time. It is in the throes of being displaced by Spain’s pressing, passing, plus pace and penetration.
There is no loitering in Enrique’s world. Possession eagerly regained is put to instant use by precision passing to team-mates sprinting to dissect defences and explode on goal. Not only highly effective but hugely exciting.
Come on England. The father of football’s future will be just 58 three years from now — when there will be a Euros to win.
