Luis Enrique is widely considered to be one of the best football managers on the planet right now. The 55-year-old picked up the best male coach award at the Ballon d’Or ceremony earlier this week.
He’s attracted attention after managing to win the Champions League with PSG after a succession of other managers couldn’t get over the line. Not only that, the Spaniard managed to do so with a team that people have taken to.
Habib Beye has now explained Luis Enrique’s latest quirk is something Sam Allardyce was doing at Newcastle United nearly 20 years ago. Allardyce is often unfairly portrayed in the media but he was an innovative coach interested in marginal gains before most.
Luis Enrique: “I’m open to anything”
Beye was a defender with Newcastle United from 2007 to 2009. Now managing Rennes in France, the former PSG player has made the Allardyce-Luis Enrique connection.
Luis Enrique has a new habit of watching the first half of PSG matches from the stands. The idea is he gets a better look at things and can make any necessary adjustments.
Ouest France quote the manager as saying: “It’s very different watching the game from the stands.
“My halftime talk against Lens was completely different because I was up there. I saw things that could be improved, a few mistakes. I’ve long thought we can add something to our approach, and I’m always open to anything that can improve our performance.”
At Rennes, Beye has stuck to the dugout so far but has a member of staff in the stands.
He told a French audience about Allardyce’s innovation: “I’m totally convinced by this. In other sports, it exists and it works. We realise that our impact can be minimal in stadiums where you can’t be heard. The first person I saw do this was Sam Allardyce at Newcastle: he watched the first half from the stands and then came back down.”
