PSG can do better. PSG must do better. It is obvious. Held in check (0-0) by FC Lorient on Saturday evening, during the first day of Ligue 1, the capital club should gradually gain strength over the weeks. In the meantime, Luis Enrique’s men were playing their first official meeting of this 2023-2024 season. Opposed to the Hakes, the Parisians have certainly shown some shortcomings on the offensive level but not everything is to be thrown away. Far from there. Organized in 4-3-3 at the start of this meeting, the reigning French champions, deprived of Marco Verratti, Neymar or Kylian Mbappé – present in the stands and still excluded from the group of holders – have, in fact, showed some great things at the Parc des Princes. The opportunity to highlight the Luis Enrique paw, already present…
The first tactical lessons…
With this in mind and even before the start of this match, the former coach of La Roja made some strong choices for his starting line-up. In the midfield, the young Warren Zaire-Emery started alongside Vitinha and Manuel Ugarte. Even more surprisingly, Danilo, evening captain, was preferred to Marquinhos. Asked about this after the meeting, the new architect of PSG assumed completely, warning in passing that a large rotation will exist under his orders. “Marquinhos on the bench? He had physical problems at the beginning of the week and Danilo is an excellent player, very reliable. You will have to get used to seeing the team change between each match, I always do it this way. If we want to win all the trophies, we have to rely on 20 players..
On the ground, the philosophy of someone who does not hesitate to gain height for tactical training was also there. Under the eyes of their supporters, Achraf Hakimi’s teammates thus followed the instructions of the Iberian coach to the letter, at least on the defensive level. Result ? Constant involvement, incessant activity when the ball is lost, coordinated pressing, a very compact block, players close to each other and an irreproachable state of mind. To the great misfortune of the Lorient residents since after 20 minutes of play, the Hakes had still not crossed the middle line… “I think we deserved a little more. He failed to score a goal. When we have such a compact opponent. We managed to create goalscoring opportunities. I think our position can be improved. We had a very impressive game defensively. I appreciated the attitude of the players and the behavior of the defense.declared the architect of this excellent defensive performance.
A coach very close to his players…
Very active in his technical area, Luis Enrique has multiplied the instructions to his new protégés. From the permutations requested from Vitinha to his desire to see Marco Asensio stick his line, the former Barça technician fully lived this first evening in Ligue 1. Without being fully satisfied with the service offered by his players: “He lacked more intense off-the-ball play, diagonal and range play and efficiency. But we deserved to win.”, admitted, as such, the Spaniard in a press conference. Struggling offensively (only 4 shots on target out of 20 attempts), Luis Enrique’s PSG – who must be impatiently awaiting Ousmane Dembélé’s first minutes and dreaming of a Kylian Mbappé return – however showed a glimpse of his new face.
A game based on possession (after ten minutes of play, the Parisians already point to 97% possession, 78% at the end of the meeting), regular permutations and control at all times. Note, in this regard, that PSG finished the meeting with… 1002 passes made. According to the statistician Opta, the capital club is even the first team to achieve such a performance in a Ligue 1 match. What confirms, a little more, the wishes of its new coach. Aware, despite everything, of the offensive difficulties encountered against Lorient, despite an outrageous domination, Luis Enrique recalled the importance of working on these teams positioned in a low block. “It’s the phase of the game that I know best. It’s something I’m used to and we’ll get through those big boulders, I have no doubt. We will find solutions and it will depend on the players that we will have available..
Controlled communication
Determined to put his tactical precepts in place, Luis Enrique also seems to bring a very different mentality to that too often seen last season. At the final whistle, all the Parisian players went to thank the supporters present in the stands. A certain uprightness also perceptible in his communication. Relaunched on the Kylian Mbappé case, the native of Gijón did not lose the thread there either, and invited the journalists to refer to the statements already made during the pre-match conference. “Is that really weird? I have nothing to say on that. I have already said what I had to say the previous days”. Certainly, the Luis Enrique touch is already clearly visible in the French capital…
