After a string of poor results and league leaders OGC Nice visiting the Parc des Princes on Sunday, one would think Paris Saint-Germain had all the motivation they needed to get their season back on track. You would be wrong.
It took an Edinson Cavani brace to rescue a 2-2 draw against Nice but it was yet another disappointing start for the reigning French champions. Wylan Cyprien’s free kick in the 32nd minute was a thing of beauty and Alphonse Areola, who has had his troubles of late, was powerless trying to save it. It was a nightmare start for Unai Emery’s men and it only got worse.
In stoppage time of the first half, Alassane Plea added to Nice’s lead with a calm finish after terrible defending from Thiago Silva and Marquinhos. To PSG’s credit though, they played well in attack and probably should have scored at least one if not two goals themselves. They had most of the possession and recorded 11 total shots. Unfortunately for Les Parisiens, Nice took advantage of their 32 percent possession and three total shots on goal and they did not. It should also be noted that Nice sprinted out to their comfortable lead with Mario Balotelli on the bench.
In the second half, PSG showed “some heart,” as Emery described it, and battled back to secure the point. Cavani’s goal in the 46th minute came off a Serge Aurier cross and as usual, the Uruguayan was perfectly placed to tap it into the back of the net.
Cavani’s second goal came down to a bit of luck but it was a goal nonetheless and an all-important one. A loss would have put PSG seven points behind Nice and there’s no telling whether Emery would keep his job through the holidays or not.
After the final whistle there was plenty to analyze. The midfield hasn’t been the same since Adrien Rabiot went down with an injury, Cavani continues to be the only player capable of scoring with any regularity, Angel Di Maria continues to disappoint, Marquinhos is in the worst form of his career, and why the hell is Areola still starting? The only solution to these problems that I can think of come down to the manager.
Emery must find another player capable of scoring in the January transfer window to give Cavani some help. He also needs to solidify the center of the park and bring in a defensive midfielder that can shield the defense so they’re not scrambling when teams launch a counterattack. Lastly, his loyalty to Di Maria and Areola has to change. Neither have earned their place in the starting lineup and it’s time for Emery to replace them with hungrier players.
What’s most alarming is this match against Nice was billed as the biggest league game for PSG in a number of years and they went down 0-2 in the first half. After losing out on finishing first in their UEFA Champions League group prior, I expected them to come out flying and to make up for that shocker against PFC Ludogorets Razgrad. There’s something wrong at PSG and with the transfer window approaching, Qatar Sports Investments need to decide if the problem is the players or the man managing them.
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Photograph by FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images
Jesé should be given a chance on the left flank. We have one creative winger in Di Maria and Jesé would certainly give us more consistent goal scoring than Lucas. Off the top of my head I can’t remember when Lucas last scored, and the goal at Arsenal was an OG. Jesé and Di Maria have a good repoire on the pitch going back to their RM days, also since it seems ADM will never loose his place.
And please don’t start Matuidi on the wing in domestic play. If Emery does that again I will be tempted to fly to Paris and drop kick him.
Trapp NEEDS a run-out. We’ve all been saying this for AWHILE now!
As much as I’d like to see Jese, he hasn’t done anything on the pitch that makes him worthy of a chance IMO. It can be argued that he hasn’t proved himself cos he’s not had enough time on the pitch but we have to remember that we don’t see what goes on in the training sessions and we can’t fully judge. He has softened his stance on HBA even if he is clearly not at the fitness levels Emery demands yet, so tells you something about why the problems could be from Jese’s end than anything.
But yea Lucas is clearly suffering on the left, he looks really restricted there and was doing much better when he was on the right at the beginning of the season. Given that ADM hasn’t been so impactful to our play recently, Emery may want to consider swapping them back as well.
On the Trapp case, I’m definitely confused as to what Emery is doing with that one.
The main problem isn’t Emery buying players. It’s him actually using the players bought. If he didn’t start players like Kimpembe, Jese, Ikone or Trapp in games where others players needed rest, I don’t see him starting any of his new transfers. I think it will be very unfair to Augustin to sign another striker when he hasn’t really been given much chance. Emery has to start playing the youth academy graduates and summer transfers.
I still doubt the problem is Emery. PSG played relatively well and both goals were largely against the run of play, even if TS and Marqi should have been caned for the second goal.
Like Verratti said, the problem isn’t exactly, tactics or lack of quality. It’s more mental. There’s just been this inability to rise to the occasion from the team lately. We need more leaders to rise in this team, especially in attack where we’re very much lacking of it.
I agree with Daniel but a coach has to be sound both tactically and mentally. Some coaches like Zidane lean more towards the mental aspect of the game. I don’t believe our consistency will marginally improve merely by signing a high profile player. We had the incredible Zlatan and still fell to man city during their run of bad results last season. Emery may need to start using the hair dryer treatment on high hierarchy players too.
I think that there should be a leader in the team. Someone who could step up and motivate everyone in the squad. I don’t see that players like Thiago Silva, Matuidi, or Motta are doing stuff like this. I’m guessing that Cavani would be the one who steps up and tells everyone that they would need to wrok hard.
But now that we’re going to face Barca, maybe the team will wake up as they would want a win vs Barca