The criticism has been rampant on Paris Saint-Germain as of late following its UEFA Champions League away group stage loss to Manchester City. For one, Argentine forward Lionel Messi has been much criticized for his performance, which included failing to record a goal contribution and logging a mere one goal-scoring chance created.
Former France national team manager Raymond Domenech is on both sides of this matter. He believes (via L’Equipe) that the Argentine should not be criticized for his lack of defensive contributions, but that the veteran forward should be more assertive while on the ball.
“He walks but Messi has always walked,” Domenech said. “You can’t blame him for walking, but you can blame him for the fact that now when he runs, less happens than before. That’s the difference, but his ability and his game has always been that he could go from zero to 100 in a snap of the fingers.
“You can’t blame him for walking, but you can say that he is not the same Messi when he runs. He lacks something, so I understand the criticism … but we can not ask him to run in all directions, it’s not his thing and it is true that it must be organized around him.”
This matter sure was a topic of debate during Messi’s run at Barcelona. But at the least, he made up for his lack of pressing due to his effortless play in being a goal-scorer and playmaker for the Catalan giants.
Following PSG’s loss to Manchester City, it sure will be noteworthy to see whether manager Mauricio Pochettino has any tactical changes in store for his team.
I lay the blame squarely on the coach Poch. He is not assertive in any way, shape or form.
If he were smart, he would give Messi a role close to what he had at Barca. It’s like he is afraid of Mbappe and Neymar. Even prides have a King! For now, Messi is King of the front 3 and Mbappe and Neymar should do all the running. I see Neymar do some, he must do more, but Mbappe is insufferable when he is not with the ball. I have read where Mbappe said he was willing to do all the running. He should talk less and do more or the coach should make him.
I repeat what I wrote elsewhere, that Messi walked into 6 balon Dor and will strut into the 7th.
Poch challenge is tactical and not being assertive with the players.
Messi is a creater, not a horse. I dont like to see Messi recovering balls on his own square. Many guys say that Messi do not help the defensive. But how the defensive help him on attack? PSG is a team that has 40% of the passes running backward! This is a coach problem.
PSG as a Tactical unit cannot function it need to genuinely accommodate Messi or it’ll be the same old underachieving team.