Ligue 1 Review | Is PSG’s sluggish form sign of creeping complacency? | OneFootball

It’s not often that you have to look at the bottom half of the table to find Paris Saint-Germain, but after a winless start to the season, that’s exactly where you’ll find the back-to-back UEFA Champions League winners. Following their opening two games, PSG occupy 11th after drawing 2-2 to Stade Rennais and Lille OSC, two of the league’s better sides, but opposition that Les Parisiens would usually expect to beat. 

It wasn’t only the scores that reflected one another; both matches followed a recognisable pattern. PSG would fall behind in the first half, Luis Enrique would make a change at the break to wake his side up, and a late comeback would be needed to rescue a point. If we go back a week further to before the start of the season, in the Trophée des Champions defeat to RC Lens, we could see a similar theme, only without the changes or rescue act. 

There are no signs of alarm coming from the PSG camp that this might be complacency settling in; after all, they’ve been through this before. It’s becoming somewhat of a feature of Luis Enrique’s time in the capital. PSG start the campaign slowly and then, after the winter break, come back renewed when the big prizes are on the table. And yet, this sense that we’ve seen it before and it all worked out fine feels in itself like complacency, which is the only real danger facing the club. 

PSG look for new solutions

Luis Enrique has done what none of his illustrious predecessors were able to achieve and built the club into the finest team in Europe. Perhaps outside of Arsenal, it seems like no other squad is in a position to come close to challenging that status. With this in mind, it becomes a question of self-motivation and the standards that Les Parisiens set for themselves; their desire to go again and win what they’ve already won comes purely from within. 

How do you keep a team like that hungry? PSG’s answer appears to be through the transfer market. The departures of Gonçalo Ramos, Kang-in Lee, and Randal Kolo Muani, as well as the expected sales of Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye, have led to the club’s renewal efforts. In attack, Maghnes Akliouche, Mika Godts, and Ferran Torres have arrived, while at left-back, Lucas Digne has also joined. 

PSG have prioritised creating competition for places within the squad this summer, as Luis Enrique admitted after the Rennes draw, “We’re constantly looking to find the best players for every match. It’s harder [to get into the team] than last year, and that’s our ambition. I think we had a very good transfer window, and we’re still open to different possibilities.” 

Cut-throat Luis Enrique

Within games, competition remains fluid. As mentioned earlier, at half-time in both of the draws, Luis Enrique has been fairly cut-throat with his substitutions. If a player hasn’t performed to the required standards, he’ll bring on one who will. Against Rennes, Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia made way for Torres and Godts at half-time, while against Lille, Désiré Doué was swapped for Kvaratskhelia. 

It feels like it’s meant to create this internal demand on a player to raise their standards, or they won’t get a second chance. And it has acted as a shot in the arm during their opening two league games, as Les Parisiens have come out in the second half looking like a completely different team. It’s likely this ruthless edge to the head coach that will keep PSG sharp across the campaign. 

From the outside, perhaps we’re more complacent, more expectant that this is just the rhythm of Luis Enrique’s slow-starting, strong-finishing Paris. However, within the club, the Spaniard looks to be fighting tooth and nail against that feeling. This is a team he demands more from, one he’s desperate not to allow to rest on its laurels. 

This week’s Ligue 1 sub-plots

GFFN | Nick Hartland