Over the course of the season, there has been much talk regarding “balance” concerns when Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino rolls out Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe on the pitch at the same time. The trio does not have a strong desire to track back and defend, as they have much focus centered on simply scoring and creating keen goal-scoring chances.
For Brazilian defender Marquinhos, he sees that at times there can be “balance” issues regarding this matter, but as he further noted to RMC Sport‘s “Rothen s’enflamme” program, there are stark positives when the three share the pitch together.
“It depends,” Marquinhos said. “These are choices, we know our team. If we put ten defenders on the field, it will be much easier to defend. But we would miss the offensive side. It’s important to have balance in the team. We have very strong offensive weapons, even exceptional.
“Against Real Madrid, we managed to find this balance point that allowed us to be comfortable and confident during the game. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. In Ligue 1, we often have the ball, we are very happy on the field but we are sometimes badly organized on the counter. These are small details that we have to correct and that make the difference in the result.”
The Brazilian international touched on PSG’s struggles in halting counter-attacking opportunities, which was on display in the side’s recent 3-1 Ligue 1 loss to Nantes.
This dilemma may be in the spotlight in PSG’s upcoming league fixture against an OGC Nice side that has orchestrated multiple promising counter-attacking sequences so far this season.
