Looking-Ahead-For-PSG

They are very much the perennial powerhouse of French football. Backed by vast swathes of cash and host to some of the continent’s best footballers, Paris Saint Germain are truly a force to be reckoned with throughout Europe. However, with manager Laurent Blanc leaving, to be replaced by former Sevilla manager Unai Emery, changes will undoubtedly take place at the Parc des Princes.

The sales of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Manchester United and Lucas Digne to Barcelona can be forgotten about in light of Emery’s new acquisitions, with the likes of Krychowiak, the rejuvenated Hatem Ben Arfa, and Belgium’s star right-back Thomas Meunier, as well as the purchase of promising attacking midfielder Giovanni Lo Celso. Naturally, this will lead to a change in approach at the Parisian club.

Emery is lucky to have a squad with so many different options and solutions. In-depth strength is one of PSG’s greatest assets – the choice of so many different, excellent footballers to supplement the team.

In defence, for example, the prospect of an imminent David Luiz departure is unlikely to cause excessive fear, with the knowledge that Thiago Silva and Marquinhos are a formidable pair in the centre. Furthermore, rumours of Matuidi leaving are not going to be met with terror from the PSG camp, with new boy Krychowiak as well as Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti, a capable and powerful midfielder.

Emery favours midfield domination, so the aforementioned operators should have a major part to play ahead of the oncoming campaign. A high-energy, pressing-play approach is likely, explaining why hard-working individuals like Ben Arfa and Krychowiak will be so vital. Favouring the 4-2-3-1 formation, Emery expects his side to be fluid and quick, especially in the middle, which could lead to Javier Pastore dropping deep to enhance his creative role.

With Lucas Moura and Angel di Maria on the wings, the usual brand of trickery and pace on the flanks will be upheld. Presumably flanking Edinson Cavani as a central striker, the duo will provide the perfect solution to getting the most out of their Uruguayan forward.

Despite the departure of one of their most foremost stars in Ibrahimovic, and the seemingly imminent sale of Matuidi, and perhaps that of David Luiz, Lucas Moura and Edinson Cavani, PSG look, as always, capable of running riot in Ligue 1 and the Champions League this year.

Emery likes his players to be aerially-proficient, which goes to highlight Cavani’s importance in this team. While the presence of Ben Arfa, Lucas and Di Maria will assure goals, Cavani’s involvement is key. A recognised goalscorer, the talismanic striker mustered 19 Ligue 1 goals last season, despite playing, arguably, second fiddle to the preferred Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Should they keep their Uruguayan attacker, there’s little doubt that PSG’s three-pronged attack will be every bit as threatening as last season.

They ought to replicate last season’s success. Winning the Coupe de France, the Coupe de la Ligue and Ligue 1, as well as reaching the quarter-final stage of the Champions League is no mean feat, but the fact remains that they are a supreme footballing force in France; better than any other side in the same division. The club’s owners will be expecting another trophy haul to reward their investments, and Emery will surely be seeking – with some confidence – to do this.

About the author- Tomos Knox

Tomos is a football writer whose work mainly focuses on the Premier League, International and European football in general. He is an avid football fan and first turned to football blogging in 2014, and has since been published by the likes of The Guardian and FourFourTwo. He was shortlisted for ‘Young Blogger of the year’ in 2014 at the football blogging awards. You can follow Tomos here: tomosknox.wordpress.com

twitter: @TomosKnox

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David-Luiz-Thriving-as-PSG-Playmaker

When David Luiz completed his £50 million move to Paris Saint-Germain from Chelsea in the summer of 2014, the default reaction in England was to scoff. The Brazilian centre-back developed a reputation as something of a liability during his three years in the Premier League, derided as too instinctive and flamboyant to play in the heart of the backline.

Much of the criticism was fair: Luiz had a habit of making costly errors at Chelsea and, despite his undisputed natural ability, had been relegated to the substitutes’ bench by manager Jose Mourinho because he was perceived as too much of a risk.

There was, however, also a sense that Luiz was simply an unnatural fit with the English game, his manner of defending seen as incompatible with the values traditionally expounded on these shores. It was an issue highlighted by pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher in 2013, the pair suggesting that much of the criticism of Luiz in England came because his interpretation of the centre-back position – including playing on the front-foot, aggressively pushing up the pitch and a willingness to defend against a striker one-on-one – was so different to theirs and their countrymen’s.

£50 million is clearly an enormous fee – particularly for a defender – but Luiz has shown since making the move to PSG that he has a lot to offer. For a club owned by the extraordinary wealthy Qatar Sports Investments, moreover, such a sum is relatively insignificant.

Luiz was highly impressive last term, putting a disappointing World Cup behind him as PSG won their third consecutive Ligue 1 title and also reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the third year in a row. It is in the latter competition that Laurent Blanc’s side will be most tested this season: PSG are already five points clear at the top of the table in France’s top flight and will therefore be focusing the majority of their efforts on reaching the last four of Europe’s principal tournament for the first time.

In Ligue 1, though, Luiz has added an important dimension to the Parisians’ play. It was in evidence in the first Classique of the season with Marseille before the international break, when Luiz helped PSG secure a narrow 2-1 win.

Marseille were bold in their approach at the Parc des Princes, sending men forward to attack the hosts and deservedly taking the lead through Michy Batshuayi. Like many of PSG’s opponents this year, they pressed in midfield, looking to disrupt Thiago Motta, Blaise Matuidi and Marco Verratti in the engine room.

Michel’s outfit, however, were generally unwilling to close down too high up the pitch, which meant PSG’s centre-halves Luiz and Thiago Silva enjoyed plenty of time on the ball. It was here that Luiz’s ability in possession came into its own, with the 28-year-old assuming a playmaking role from the middle of his team’s defence.

Luiz’s vision is therefore vital for PSG, with his range of passing enabling the aforementioned midfielders to assume positions higher up the field and avoid dropping too deep and becoming ineffective. The Brazilian’s willingness to step into midfield and carry the ball forward also offers his side another attacking source from deep; with PSG usually utterly dominant in Ligue 1 encounters, furthermore, Blanc need not worry about Luiz coming under too much pressure defensively.

Whether or not the 1998 World Cup winner is concerned about Luiz’s position as a centre-back in the Champions League remains to be seen. A clash with Real Madrid next Wednesday, for example, would likely have seen Luiz challenged defensively by the likes of Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo had he not picked up a knee injury last week.

Domestically, however, Luiz has added a great deal to Blanc’s PSG. The former Chelsea man’s proactive and optimistic approach to defending was never likely to go down well in England but, over in the French capital, where PSG control most games and are tasked with breaking down compact and defensive units on an almost weekly basis, his superb technique and ability to pass and dribble with the ball solves more problems than it causes.

Formational shifts away from two strikers to one in the last couple of decades have seen the centre-back as a deep-lying playmaker become a more common phenomenon: with one defender marking the opposition forward, his partner is theoretically freer to focus on distributing the ball from the back. Louis van Gaal’s decision to field midfielder Daley Blind in the backline this year is likely motivated by such thinking, so too Barcelona’s redeployment of Javier Mascherano in their defence and Pep Guardiola’s use of Javi Martinez in the same role at Bayern Munich.

It is a function that Luiz is fulfilling in Paris, too. It may not have been Neville and Carragher’s favoured style of defending, but it is serving the Ligue 1 leaders extremely well at present.

About the Author – Greg Lea

Freelance football writer. Work published by FourFourTwo, The Guardian, World Soccer, Goal, The National, Squawka, Eurosport, The Blizzard + others.

Twitter @GregLeaFootball

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