Sounds like a league for eating competitions.
PSG - 2021/22 | French Spurs?
- Thread starter iKnowNothing
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I think just a left back will do it.
Whilst there's no superstar there, Gueye/Verratti/Wijnaldum is a very hard-working midfield which will make up for the front three. di Maria too can add a lot of industry there, haven't seen enough of Paredes to comment.
Whilst there's no superstar there, Gueye/Verratti/Wijnaldum is a very hard-working midfield which will make up for the front three. di Maria too can add a lot of industry there, haven't seen enough of Paredes to comment.
He'd barely get the ball.
It's a crime that Messi is stuck in that crappy league. That is all.
On paper it's one of the most incredible teams ever assembled, certainly in the modern era. How this will translate into performances on the pitch is going to be really fun to watch. What a total waste in that league however.
Would be hilarious if they failed to win the league yet again.
I was under the impression that Neymar left Barca to be the main man and to no longer be in Messi's shadow. Now not only is he sharing the limelight with Mbappe, but the same Messi who's shadow he tried to escape from is also joining him 
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Ramos injured but too soon to judge if it was a good decision by PSG or not imo
Really smart signings from the board this window, solves a lot of problem areas for them and creates an incredibly balanced squad:
Donnaruma/Navas
Hakimi Ramos/Kimpembe Marquinhos Bernat
Gueye Verrati Gini
Mbappe Messi Neymar
CM and RB were problem areas for them last season but with Gini and Hakimi there, they have some good players. A midfield 3 of Verrati-Gini-Gueye provides defensive prowess, a box to box threat and lastly a classly playmaker in Verrati. All to supplement the attacking trio of Neymar-Messi-Mbappe, who ofcourse won't do a lot of defending and therefore it's paramount that PSG have 3 energetic midfielders to cover ground.
Bernat sticks out obviously as he isn't at the level of the other players, but he's still a decent player. Would be interesting to see how Hakimi plays because I'm still not convinced he's a high class right back, though world class as a RWB. If PSG choose to play 5 at the back, with Ramos-Kimpembe-Marquinhos and then a midfield three of Gini-Verrati-Messi, that could work too and gives Bernat and Hakimi the license to push forward and play at their best as well.
This doesn't take into account the bench strength they have now, with Paredes, Draxler, Icardi etc (though their performances have not been as good as in their previous clubs).
Overall, a very good first XI I would say. Arguably the best in Europe.
Donnaruma/Navas
Hakimi Ramos/Kimpembe Marquinhos Bernat
Gueye Verrati Gini
Mbappe Messi Neymar
CM and RB were problem areas for them last season but with Gini and Hakimi there, they have some good players. A midfield 3 of Verrati-Gini-Gueye provides defensive prowess, a box to box threat and lastly a classly playmaker in Verrati. All to supplement the attacking trio of Neymar-Messi-Mbappe, who ofcourse won't do a lot of defending and therefore it's paramount that PSG have 3 energetic midfielders to cover ground.
Bernat sticks out obviously as he isn't at the level of the other players, but he's still a decent player. Would be interesting to see how Hakimi plays because I'm still not convinced he's a high class right back, though world class as a RWB. If PSG choose to play 5 at the back, with Ramos-Kimpembe-Marquinhos and then a midfield three of Gini-Verrati-Messi, that could work too and gives Bernat and Hakimi the license to push forward and play at their best as well.
This doesn't take into account the bench strength they have now, with Paredes, Draxler, Icardi etc (though their performances have not been as good as in their previous clubs).
Overall, a very good first XI I would say. Arguably the best in Europe.
That's funny but they had Mbappe and Neymar last year and still lost the league. Sure they got Messi now but..
They kept Ancelotti and Emery when they same happened. Managers there in last decade tend to get two chances to win CL and then owners lose confidence in them so really Poch has no excuses with Donnarumma and Ramos coming in to improve defence as they did miss Thiago Silva experience in the Man. City games.
Midfield still workmanlike if Verratti isn't around but they'll need that with Messi coming into the front 3.
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Yawn! i can't get excited about Messi joining PSG...watching him play in the French league will be utterly meh!
A squad full of old glories, without balance and with shameless wages, a real disgusting disaster
Not surprised if they fail again in champions league
Failed miserably again last season, in ligue and champions league, still ballin’
Not surprised if they fail again in champions league
Failed miserably again last season, in ligue and champions league, still ballin’
It's OK, nobody will be watching, generally speaking. Loads will follow the scores, but very few are going to start watching Ligue 1 regularly just because of Messi.
They are balanced enough with the addition of Wijnaldum in the midfield and being able to shift Marquinhos as a DM if need be once Ramos is back to healthy. Hakimi and Messi on the right wing will cause tons of problems, and defenders will have to slack off either Mbappe, Neymar, or Messi which is a death wish. Only injuries can derail this team and as far as the pressure, PSG is past that at this point. They've been under pressure to win for the last four years and have gone through a level or two since that time, after countless disappointments, by making the final four of the CL twice in a row. I'm just curious how the Navas/Donnarumma scenario is going to play out, and I'm extremely excited to see how this team shapes up, because I think we will only see it for one season unless Mbappe suddenly decides to extend.
Pochettino must thank his lucky star that he got fired from Spurs to end up in this situation, if anybody is under pressure it's him more than anyone else at the club.
Pochettino must thank his lucky star that he got fired from Spurs to end up in this situation, if anybody is under pressure it's him more than anyone else at the club.
Marquinhos is one of the most underrated CB in the world, and Kimpembe is usually good to very good in the CL. And I'm not even mentionning Ramos if he gets fit. So "mediocre at best" doesn't stick imo.
Marquinhos is very good, but there's a decent chance he plays in midfield. Ramos is past it imo, Hakimi can't defend and who even is your left back? Not much depth in these positions, either.
As I said, the front three is incredible and in comparison the defence/midfield just look very undercooked. It won't matter in Ligue 1, but might cost you in the CL (where you'll admittedly still be among the favourites by virtue of that front line).
I agree with the fact that the team is far from being an all star team, guaranteed CL winner or blabla because it's still pretty unbalenced. And your totally right, we need a decent left back since Bernat might be cooked. I'd go for a cheap, balanced left back like Tagliafico if i was PSG. We need to sell players first though.
Hakimi is fast, he'll be fine most of the time, even if he's not a great defender (he got better under Conte though even if he was playing with 3 CBs) he'll be able to catch most attackers. Wijnaldum or Gueye can also be used as waterboys to help on the side.
You also right about the fact that we have no depth. If Hakimi is injured or when he leaves for the CAF (african cup), we'll be stuck with Dagba or Kehrer.
It'll depend on Ramos' shape but I'd go with a back 3 with 1 of the 3 free to help the midfield depending on the situation. Marquinhos and Ramos are very good at that, they read the game fast enough.
This is not how Football works.
City has been tested in EPL, still can't win the UCL, and they completely dominated England for a while, last season was the first UCL final they reached since oil money came in, they have the same UCL finals as PSG.
Winning UCL is hard, having the best squad doesn't mean shit, you need a bit of luck to win knockout tournaments.
Its exactly how it works. There is a balance to be struck, and the Premier League has been too competitive for its own good at times, but generally the teams in the best leagues win the CL.
PSG always look to do things half a second too slowly in the CL because they can't step it up quickly enough, they play to the speed of Ligue 1. City's problem is Pep can't help tinkering. They would have won at least one by now if not for that.
You are exaggerating way too much.
PSG literally played a final and semifinal in the last 2 years, and dominated Bayern in the final, the german squad just managed to score one of the few that they had, while PSG wasted their chances and Neuer was immense.
You talk as if PSG can't even past UCL group stage or something like that, or as if playing football in France is another sport....
I don't expect people to praise France in an anglo forum, but chill a bit with the exaggerations.
What? PSG had the easiest possible route to the final and Bayern were the first decent team they faced, and they were easily outplayed by them. 61% possession and more shots. PSG's gameplan was give it Mbappe/Neymar and let them do everything. That's fine in Ligue 1 but for a team like Bayern it was easy to manage, it played straight into their hands. It makes PSG look good on a highlight reel but in reality it was a fairly comfortable evening for Bayern.
PSG's tactic of give the ball to Neymar and Mbappe works well in Ligue 1 but it's all too predictable for top teams. Neither of them pass when they should and will always try to take on one man too many, they don't play as a team. Every now and then one of them has an unplayable night (Mbappe v Barcelona last year for example) but they're not going to do that across every game in a Champions League campaign.
Did you miss the part when PSG eliminated Bayern last year in a 2 legs game?
And thinking Psg won 4-1 against Barcelona because Mbappe had an unplayable night shows you either didnt watch the game or don't know how to analyse. PSG totally controlled the game, Verratti and Paredes had a field day, Mbappe was just the tip of the iceberg.
You mean the game where Mbappe scored 2 of the 3 goals and Bayern absolutely dominated them but had to play a Stoke City reject as their main striker? I remember that game well. Bayern had 31 shots to PSG's 6.
And then subsequently got comfortably beaten in both legs by City?
It's simple. Every time they face a current top European team, that's actually at near to full strength, they lose. They can't play to the same pace as their opponents and if Neymar or Mbappe can't run the game on their own, they are a very average side. They've added Messi which might just be enough to give him the ball and let him do his thing, but the same fundamental issues are still there.
Yeah that one, when PSG had to play with players like Bakker, Danilo as a CB, Diallo or Dagba, how convenient of you to forget that part.
Also, funny that you consider that missing a player is an excuse for Bayern but not for PSG when they loose. It's not as if we didn't miss Verratti in the final against Bayern.
PSG‘s main problem will be that none of their 3 strikers has a great workrate. You can get away with 1 or 2 lazy forwards, but 3 is more than pushing it.
They'll have to turn the switch on for big CL games, that's for sure, at least 2 of them will need to. We've seen Neymar doing it, Mbappe rarely and it's going to be hard for Messi.
Having watched Messi play in the last few years, the contract on / off the ball is massive. On the ball he continues to be a genius but off the ball, you are more or less defending with 10 men.
Now, in French football, you can get away with it because almost every team will be more scared of what happens when Messi gets the ball.
Mbappe and Neymar are not the greatest either defensively, so Poch will not be able to play the pressing game that he is used to.
I see this as a big issue in the CL, PSG are just not used to coming up against the likes of Bayern, City, Liverpool so when they do face them, they almost need to switch up all their tactics for that one game.
Messi won’t be doing it. Neymar seems to be more willing then Mbappe but overall it will be an issue against better teams. Maybe you get „lucky“ and there are never all three available at the same time.
slick comment that
Messi can press high a bit but yeah, he won't do match.
It means we'd be in a "score one more goal than the opponent" situation and that's rarely good.
Not even Bayern fans think that it was a comfortable win, as they were thanking Neuer for the saves and Mbappé for missing two sitters.
Seems like you didn't even watch the game, just went to SofaScore to see the result.
In no way PSG got outplayed by Bayern in the final, Bayern won but that's it.
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Seeing as Lille were thumped at home today, I fully anticipate PSG walking the league again.
Is that the worst opening round home loss by a defending champion in any league history?
Is that the worst opening round home loss by a defending champion in any league history?
I think I it was Lille’s 2nd game, they drew their 1st. But awful start
3-0 after 30 minutes. PSG going to make a mockery of Ligue 1 as a competition.
They're gonna win the league in december
Its the SPL with more money, a lot more money basically
Not just thumped, but thumped by the manager that led them to the title last year. Such a weird story, Galtier leaving them for Nice. Maybe he just fancied living on the Côte d’Azur..