Paris Saint-Germain head into the international break having defeated Angers SCO 4-0 at the Parc des Princes last Saturday. Several newcomers, including Pablo Sarabia, Mauro Icardi, and Idrissa Gueye, found the back of the net and Neymar Jr. added the fourth right before the final whistle.
It was a disappointing game from the visitors who arrived in Paris sitting in second place in Ligue 1 and the league’s top-scoring team as well. They were completely outplayed and barely saw the ball over the span of 90 minutes. According to ESPN statistics, Angers held the ball for 27 percent of the time and only managed two shots on Keylor Navas’ goal. Not exactly what you would expect from a team at the top of the table especially when you consider PSG manager Thomas Tuchel had to play Ander Herrera—a midfielder— at right-back due to several injuries.
Stéphane Moulin, the manager of Angers, was asked about the result and the performance of PSG, in particular, and had some interesting things to say as reported by Culture PSG.
“This Paris team is not quite the same as the one that evolved at the beginning of the season,” Moulin said. “I find [PSG] much more consistent, much more radiant, and much more aggressive on the defensive side. Which means that [PSG] leaves little ammunition to its opponents.”
The former player continued with his praise of Paris Saint-Germain. “I find that, especially on defense, they are a lot stronger than they have been,” Moulin said. “They leave, and I have already said, very few opportunities for their opponents. “So, will they continue like this? I wish wholeheartedly, it would be good. But they do have some good weapons to use.”
Moulin went on to praise the quality of depth in PSG’s squad and the collective strength of the team in his post-game comments. He echoed the sentiments of many PSG supporters but it’s still good to hear an opposing manager assess the reigning French champions in a fair way and give his honest opinion. It’s not something you typically hear especially when the manager in question just got beat 4-0.
It’s still early days in the French capital. We’ve seen past teams get off to a fast start only to be derailed by injuries and the worst luck ever imagined after the turn of the calendar year. It will be important for the players to ignore what people are saying about them and concentrate on one match at a time. This team does feel different but they can’t start believing the hype or think that they can take any match for granted.
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