Frustrating. This is how we could qualify the draw of PSG this Saturday evening on the lawn of Toulouse (2-2). After a generally controlled first period on their part, the Parisians moved up a gear during the second act following the entries of Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé. Precisely, it is the second city which offered the opener from the penalty spot for its long-awaited return to the team of Luis Enrique. However, the capital club was finally taken over following a logical penalty awarded to Téfécé and converted by Zakaria Aboukhlal.
With this second draw in as many games at the start of the season, Paris is treading water. A meeting that leaves regrets for the Parisian players and the new recruit Ousmane Dembélé: “It’s nice for my debut with PSG, even if it’s frustrating to take only one point, because I think we had control of the match. We lost stupid balls that we shouldn’t lose at 1-0 and the penalty comes from there. My failed action? Next time, I put the screwed because I often slip on this kind of occasion. It is on this kind of small details that we can have the 2-0 and win. The referee? I don’t know about the penalty, but in the last 10 minutes, he was too nice, but it didn’t come from the referee, but from us. It’s frustrating, we had control of the game. Coming back from Toulouse with only one point is infuriating.»
Small details to quickly correct
The details therefore tipped the meeting according to the former Rennais. An observation shared by his new coach Luis Enrique. The Spanish technician, who is still chasing after his first success in an official match with PSG, targeted the details that his people missed to pocket a victory that stretched out their arms: “it’s a game we have to win. We had a quality first half. In the second half, we lost control. We started to be less good in transition. Then conceding this penalty is a disgrace. (…) The objective is not to go from one goal to another. I didn’t create this team for that. Of the three chances we had to make it 2-0, we were unlucky. I’m not worried, it’s the start of the season. The team is still far from what I want to offer, and especially offensively. In the second half, we lost balls and left details on the way. You can’t do that if you want to be competitive. Why were Mbappé and Dembélé left on the bench in the first half? I’m the coach, it’s me who decides who I line up.»
Same story for Marquinhos. Back in the Parisian eleven after being on the bench against Lorient on the first day (1-1), the Brazilian captain also pointed out these details which were lacking in the reigning French champions. Nevertheless, he thinks his team is going in the right direction and does not seem worried about the future of PSG: “it’s the details that make the difference. We had to hold the ball longer. We must continue like this with this ambitious game idea. Little by little, we are moving in the right direction. We are always looking to improve things. Of course it’s better to start the championship with two wins, but hey, that’s not the case. You have to go little by little. As we have a lot of possession, I think the teams will fall back. We have to work on that and on the opportunities to be created in this system. After that, these are details. I think we will still improve. The coach told us to get used to these system changes. We need to adapt as quickly as possible. We have very good things in place, we must continue on this path.It remains to be seen whether all these faulty details will be quickly corrected by Paris. And they have an interest in being because the Parisians face a Lens which can clearly cause them problems next Saturday at the Parc des Princes.
