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.
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.
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Photograph by MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images