Pacho stays solid, it’s PSG who have cracked

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·11 March 2026

Pacho stays solid, it’s PSG who have cracked

Willian Pacho, 24 years old, central defender for Paris Saint-Germain, is going through a period where his performance is under more scrutiny after a very high-level first season. In L’Equipe, Alain Roche mainly attributes this apparent decline to a less solid PSG around him, where the defensive balance offers much less protection to the Ecuadorian defender.

Roche "He may be less dominant but he hasn't lost his touch either"

"People are very demanding with Pacho, and that's normal given his last season. He may be less dominant but he hasn't lost his touch either. He can't plug all the gaps either. You have to manage less impactful midfielders, a Nuno Mendes who loses duels, and a Marquinhos who is more in difficulty. He is very exposed. But he is capable of stepping up in a match like against Chelsea."

Alain Roche's analysis has the merit of calming a somewhat hasty judgment. Pacho seems less dominant, yes, but that doesn't mean he has suddenly collapsed. The problem is broader: when the midfield filters less, Nuno Mendes loses more duels, and Marquinhos also goes through more difficult phases, the central defender finds himself more often exposed, lower, and in more dangerous situations.

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Obviously, the margin for error shrinks. This type of context changes the perception of a player: what looked like control yesterday may seem like difficulty today. The decline is therefore less about a single man than about a collective structure that leaves him to plug too many gaps. In this context, Pacho remains a rather cruel indicator of PSG's current defensive level.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.