Reports say Luis Enrique sent staff to Paris nightclubs to investigate players’ whereabouts

It’s no laissez-faire lifestyle for Luis Enrique, who is out killing the joie de vivre of his players. According to reports, the Spanish coach of PSG sent a member of staff to Paris nightclubs to investigate whether or not his players were on secret nights out.

Discipline, under Luis Enrique, has been one of his core principles as a coach. The manager has always liked to uphold a sense of order in the dressing room, and is of the opinion that outside distractions can be pernicious for his players. His time at PSG has shown that this quirk of his behaviour is here to stay, even going so far as to reportedly hire workers to keep a watchful eye over what his players do under the cover of the night.

Training ground registers, nightclub watchers and social media patrol

According to L’Équipe, a French newspaper close to PSG, the ex-Spain manager implemented an obligatory sign-in system at the training ground. Respecting the hours put in place by the coach, as well as a commitment to 100% effort, were the two non-negotiable principles that the coach had in mind to get PSG, who recently confirmed their passage to the Champions League Round of 16, back to the top of European football. Away from the pitch, the idea of fundamental principles is the same.

Since the start of the season, as highlighted by L’Équipe, Luis Enrique sent a member of staff to snoop around the most popular nightclubs in Paris in order to see if any of the players were out partying. This employee, at the same time, was in charge of checking up on the players’ social media accounts to try to make sure that the people close to the players did not have a bad influence on them in terms of their daily output. These measures, although extreme, are firmly believed in by the coach.

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Luis Enrique’s public image is different to his private persona

The fact that Luis Enrique has implemented such stringent measures does not, as it might be understood, mean that he is opposed to the players partying, simply that it cannot affect their performance. In summer, the manager, who won the treble at FC Barcelona, told both Verratti and Neymar that they were not part of his plans this season, something which was interpreted as the manager not being in agreement with their lifestyle which, in the end, was thought of as a compromising factor in their daily performance with PSG.

Another characteristic of Luis Enrique’s internal management is to put the collective above the individual. He never singles out a player in public, he never humiliates them and he also defends his squad to the death in press conferences, regardless of their form/performance. Over summer, once his contract was signed, he agreed with Al Khelaïfi, the PSG owner, that the club was above everything else, something which led PSG to temporarily ‘exile’ Mbappé from their plans. Discipline, something so yearned for in Paris for so many years, is here with Luis Enrique.