Ligue 1 Review | PSG’s sluggish start rumbles on amid Parc des Princes concerns | OneFootball

Luis Enrique’s press conferences can often tow a surreal path, with the Paris Saint-Germain head coach acting as football’s very own answer to Salvador Dalí. This was plain to see in his first season, when he grew increasingly bored with the national press spending each presser asking about why Kylian Mbappé wasn’t starting for PSG, eventually explaining that his decision “Depended on the sun. Whether it’s hot or not.”

Another question that he might soon get tired of hearing is whether he is worried about the club’s performances, and if he believes that his team are suffering a hangover from last season. He was asked multiple times after the narrow 1-0 home victory over Angers SCO on Friday, if he was at all concerned by his team, and each time he replied: “[I’m] very positive. We had already talked about the difficulty of this match, because the opponent defends well in a low block… But the worst thing was the state of the pitch.”

Each time he was asked, his answer would inevitably come back to the condition of the Parc des Princes’ pitch. He was right, even if these kinds of complaints often fall on deaf ears, the grass was gnarled and pitted by the summer heatwave across Europe, and the team couldn’t play with the usual zip that accompanies their home field advantage. However, this answer can only last for so long; Autumn is approaching, and PSG have shown few signs of life.

PSG sleepwalking after dream season

Les Parisiens have sleepwalked through the first two weeks of the campaign, which is hardly surprising considering that the club only finished last season in mid-July due to reaching the final of the FIFA Club World Cup. The competition, which ended in a 3-0 loss to Chelsea, meant that the players had only a few weeks of holiday before they were back in training, and a week before they were back in competitive action on the 13th of August.

The squad kick-started their campaign by defeating Tottenham Hotspur (2-2; 4-3 on penalties) in the UEFA Super Cup before winning 1-0 in their Ligue 1 fixtures against FC Nantes and Angers. However, in none of these games have PSG looked anything like the team that coasted to a historic treble, winning Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, and a maiden UEFA Champions League title.

Against Tottenham, they suffered for the majority of the match, falling two goals behind before Luis Enrique’s substitutes mounted a late rescue act, with Lee Kang-in scoring in the 85th minute and Gonçalo Ramos in the fourth minute of injury time. Four days later, they would toil against Nantes, the deflection on Vitinha’s shot tricking Anthony Lopes into diving the wrong way. And five days after, Fabián Ruiz would come to the rescue in the 50th minute after Ousmane Dembélé blasted his first-half penalty over the bar.

Champions League football looms in packed calendar

Currently, they are a team that seem to be surviving on moments, on flashes of individual brilliance rather than as the collective force that was able to sweep their opponents aside. It is a testament to the levels that the squad were able to reach last season that they can look so lethargic now, but still find a way to grab the result. However, it doesn’t bode well for the future.

They likely have the talent and the resources to maintain this level and win Ligue 1, especially with their more immediate rivals, AS Monaco and Olympique de Marseille, looking incapable of mounting a challenge. However, the calendar will become far busier from mid-September, with the Champions League starting up. And they will soon be playing opponents in which current performances might not be enough.

If there is a manager who can shake this malaise, it would be Luis Enrique. The one man who was able to transform PSG into a team capable of conquering Europe, but from the first three games of the season, it looks as if it might prove to be one of the trickiest challenges that the head coach has faced since arriving at the Parc des Princes; far trickier at least than restoring the pitch to its usual standards.

This week’s Ligue 1 subplots

Olympique Lyonnais top the table on goal difference after sweeping aside FC Metz on Saturday evening. Malick Fofana, who has been rumoured to be on the way out with Premier League clubs circling the waters, was one of the stars of the show, helping to lead a 3-0 win. You can read the full match report HERE.

GFFN | Nick Hartland