There was a moment during the second half of Paris Saint-Germain’s soul-crushing 2-2 draw against PFC Ludogorets Razgrad that perfectly captured what I feel is the true issue plaguing this team since the beginning of the season. Watch Angel Di Maria perfectly demonstrate what I mean:
Di Maria’s lazy shot/pass in the box was blocked and instead of running to retrieve the ball—assuming it would go out of bounds—he walked and watched another Ludogorets player keep the ball in play. The Parc faithful gave him an earful as it was the last straw in what was a shockingly poor performance from the Argentine.
From what I can tell, the problem with PSG isn’t what formation they’re playing nor is it injuries. Sure, certain formations lend themselves to more fluid play and missing Javier Pastore, Adrien Rabiot, and Marco Verratti, who was suspended, doesn’t help either. However, Unai Emery had plenty of talent available to him and I’m convinced any formation imaginable should have been enough to beat Ludogorets—a team that lost to Arsenal 6-0 in October.
Everyone is disappointed: the players, the coaching staff, the supporters… That’s normal, because we deserved to win tonight. We had chances to win it, but we need to play better.—Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, via PSG.fr
For me, the problem is effort and lack of concentration. Di Maria is the poster child but nearly every player on the pitch, with the exception of Edinson Cavani and Blaise Matuidi, is guilty of playing with a lack of urgency. A win would have secured first place in Group A of the UEFA Champions League for PSG, increasing their chances of advancing deep in the competition, but now they must hope to avoid Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, and other group winners in the knockout round.
So, how do you fix an effort and concentration problem? That responsibility falls on the manager and after losses to AS Monaco, Toulouse FC, and Montpellier HSC in Ligue 1, and Tuesday’s draw, serious questions must be asked of the Basque tactician. His refusal to bench Di Maria, who has struggled mightily of late, along with his failure to rotate the squad with regularity, has depleted his starters of energy and completely burned them out to the point where they’re getting outplayed at home by a team from Bulgaria with no recognizable names on their roster.
I would even go so far as to say Emery is unable to motivate his squad and push them to the results he wants. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Laurent Blanc was some kind of great motivator either but he had something Emery doesn’t: Zlatan Ibrahimovic. PSG’s all-time leading scorer hates to lose and whether he was playing SC Bastia or Chelsea FC, Ibrahimovic gave you everything and his teammates knew that anything less than their best was unacceptable. Cavani now fills the Swede’s shoes and while his effort level might be higher, he doesn’t garner the same level of respect in the locker room. Combine the absence of Ibrahimovic with a new manager with a couple of losses under his belt and you get a squad that appears to be tuning out.
Should @PSG_inside sack @UnaiEmery_? #psglud #ChampionsLeague
— PSG Talk (@PSGTalk) December 6, 2016
The good news for Emery is there’s still time and plenty of remaining tests that if he passes, will secure his employment. This Sunday, Paris face an early must-win situation as Ligue 1 leaders OGC Nice visit the Parc des Princes. A loss would put Les Parisiens seven points back—an unacceptable position for a team of PSG’s quality. Then, the Champions League draw the next day will determine how costly the Ludogorets result was. If they draw Barcelona and get blown away on aggregate, I don’t see how you can justify Emery keeping his job. His predecessor routinely reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League and won the league by 30 points last season.
As frustrated as I am with Tuesday’s result, I can only hope that the Ludogorets draw was the cold water to the face this team desperately needs. Emery is a good manager, you don’t win the UEFA Europa League three consecutive years if you’re garbage, but his questionable in-game substitutions and lack of effort from his players is cause for concern. He may be simply overthinking the game or he could be in over his head. Whatever the case, he’s officially on the hot seat and a loss this Sunday could be the beginning of the end for Emery at PSG.
Subscribe to the PSG Talking podcast (iTunes) (Google Play) and follow us on Twitter @PSGTalk.
Photograph by MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images
I think you’re spot on when you say the huge advantage Blanc had was Zlatan. I was thinking about it last night – just how upset he would have been at his team mates with such effort.
Emery is a bit of a mystery. One week ago I would have said that he’s got everything under control. PSG was steadily catching Nice up and passing Monaco to their inevitable number one spot. Team was turning matches to their advantage and Emery’s substitutions worked well.
But it’s been a long few days for a PSG supporter.
I don’t hope that this performance will be too costly for Emery as it will probably take more time to achieve what he is trying and with new coach we might have to start all over again, but who knows. Even last night, as late as the substitutions came, but on the second goal, both Aurier and Kurzawa were there in the mix and Jese created the last dangerous chance for PSG. I think Lucas could use a rest. I find he has very little to show for this season and he’s played practically all the time. Cavani’s theatrical misses take the attention away from the fact that Lucas dribbles, dribbles, dribbles, loses possession and falls. I like him, but he needs to somehow be able to release the great player from within. It’s telling that his most memorable PSG moment is dribbling through the whole pitch and not scoring – that, I am afraid, summarises the situation. Having said that, it’s not all on him. Jese just needs more of a chance, because even at his best, Cavani’s goals alone won’t take us far.
I think that Emery could be a good coach for PSG, but in that case we would need to basically sell our whole squad and get players that actually suit his counter-attacking style. In that case, Krycho will be a really useful player.
I think that Di Maria really needs to be sold and we should use our squad players and play Jese.
Plus, I’ve heard about the Draxler rumours and I think that we would be better off signing goal-scoring wingers like Insigne/Berardi rather than buying more creative players.
Also, Marquinhos is not having a good time and it would be good to give him a rest against Nice, which would force him to work harder. However, this is a big risk as Marquinhos is much better in general than Kimpembe.
Absolutely SICK!!!! Di Maria obviously doesn’t want to be at PSG. If we can sell him and get a winger who can put the ball in the net with a ruthless disposition the team would be better off.
Marquinos is in an awful run of form and seems to get exposed by big strong attackers and defending long balls against them. I hope he learns, because a loss vs Nice would lead to big changes at PSG, not only with the coach but players as well.
Finally, Trapp needs a run out against Nice because atm, Areola looks out of his depth. And can Jesé get a descent shot at establishing himself, please! Lucas has been OK as of late, but we need at least one winger who can score on a regular basis, thus relieving some of the burden off of Cavani’s shoulders.
Thanks for the comments everyone. Very insightful and always appreciated. It’s been a long few days for PSG supporters that’s for sure. Here’s hoping things turn around and quick!
I agree with Mikmikko. Lucas does need rest. I believe the Di maria issue could also be resolved by benching him for 2 or more games. Jese, Ikone, Augustin should be played more often. Bringing a player in for 5-10 mins doesn’t make much sense. I believe if Di Maria doesn’t want to remain in the team, he should be sold to make room for a younger and more Aggressive Draxler. I believe PSG also has a very good youth academy that is just begging to be used. Experienced players need rest every now and then