PSG's Forgotten Man
An appreciation of Vincent Guérin, the engine room in PSG's team of the '90s
Vincent Guérin didn’t really look like a footballer. With long sleeves typically rolled below his elbows and his unfashionable curly mop, Guerin looked more like a bank cashier. However, for six trophy laden seasons, he was a pivotal cog in Paris Saint-Germain’s glamour team of the ‘90s. A tenacious, tough-tackling, box-to-box midfielder, Guérin provided the engine which allowed stars like Rai, Valdo, David Ginola and George Weah to purr with destructive brilliance.
Yet despite clocking up over 180 appearances for the Parisians, Guérin is rarely reminisced about today. So, who was the player nicknamed the “Brains” of PSG’s midfield, and why has he been forgotten?
Guérin’s Paris love story began in 1992 at the age of 26, after completing a thorough apprenticeship at Brest (91 appearances), Matra Racing (34) and Montpellier (98 and a Coupe de France) respectively. Guérin arrived as part of Canal+’s transformational acquisition of the club in May of the previous year. The media giant’s takeover revitalised the club in a stroke: Artur Jorge, Porto’s 1987 European Cup winning coach, was recruited and a host of stars soon followed, including Ricardo, Valdo, Paul Le Guen, David Ginola and George Weah.
Guérin hit the ground running in his first season in the capital, defeating Nantes in the Coupe de France final and helping the Parisians reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. Guérin had certainly played his part, weighing in with 47 appearances across all competitions, providing a dynamic shield alongside captain Le Guen and Daniel Bravo.
However, it was the arrival of Raí the following season that really elevated both Les Rouge-et-Bleu and Guérin. Guérin and Rai formed a formidable partnership with Guérin’s combativeness providing the perfect foil for the silky skills of the Brazilian playmaker. The Frenchman clocked up 45 appearances across all competitions as PSG stormed to their first league title since 1986.
The following season, under new coach Luis Fernandez, Guérin had arguably his finest season in the capital. Despite finishing third in the league, PSG won a domestic cup double and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. It was on this rarified stage that Guérin’s all action performances really caught the eye; even bagging the winner in the quarter final showdown with Johan Cruyf’s Barcelona ‘Dream Team’ with a memorable long-range strike.
The midfielder would play an instrumental role in the Parisians winning the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup the following year and gaining international recognition with 19 caps, taking part in Les Bleus’ run to the semi-finals at Euro ’96.
So, why, almost as soon as Guérin called time on his glittering career in Paris in 1998, and retirement a year later, has he been expunged from French football’s collective memory?
A likely explanation is bad timing. Guérin simply arrived on the scene just a little too early. When France’s golden generation of 1998 lifted the ultimate prize in international football at the Stade de France, the 31-year-old midfielder had just weeks earlier played his final game for Les Parisiens at the same venue in the Coupe de France final defeat to RC Lens. Moreover, the fame and notoriety of PSG’s Qatari era megastars have only further pushed Guérin (and his ‘90s teammates) further down into the mists of time.
Nonetheless, a glance at Guérin’s outstanding contributions to the revitalisation of PSG in the ‘90s should remind us of a special talent worth remembering. Indeed, in his pomp he wouldn’t have looked out of place in Luis Enrique’s Champions League conquering outfit, and not many players can say that.