Edinson Cavani's Struggles Highlight PSG's Need for a Centre-Forward
It was far from a classic, but Paris Saint-Germain kicked off their first home match of the 2016/17 Ligue 1 campaign with a 3-0 victory over FC Metz on Sunday night.
After a frustrating opening 45 minutes in which the Parisians dominated, Lucas Moura fired the hosts ahead in the second half. Layvin Kurzawa headed in the second, and Simon Falette deflected Marco Verratti's shot into his own net late in injury time.
Unai Emery told the club's official website after the game:
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"I’m very happy with my team and the 3-0 score-line. We are very happy to start with a win in our first home outing of the season. We created a lot of chances, opened the scoring, but then the game got away from us a little. Kevin Trapp made two very good saves before we got control back again and scored two more goals. It’s good for the confidence. It’s a positive night.
"
The Spanish boss will be happy to get the first victory at the Parc des Princes under his belt, but he knows one thing they will have to improve is the finishing.
As he commented, they did orchestrate a number of opportunities—according to WhoScored, they had 29 shots, with 22 of them from open play but just eight on target.
Seven of those shots were taken by returning forward Edinson Cavani. Although it was just his first league game of the season, his performance continued to raise doubts over whether he is the right man to lead this club forward.
In the 4-1 win over Lyon in the Trophee des Champions, PSG's movement in the final third was incredible—interchanging, intelligent and lethal.
Against Bastia, it had looked a little flat, with the team not playing with that same decisiveness. But as discussed in this column, the home side defended their penalty box very well, making it difficult to find space.
Cavani's return was going to be interesting, seeing how he was included in the attack and how having a real centre-forward changed the dynamic.
When you spend time concentrating on what the No. 9 brings to the attack, it's clear straight away that his movement is world class.
As soon as players like Angel Di Maria or Javier Pastore get the ball and lift their head, he's off on a run, looking to create separation between him and the defenders and knowing that his team-mates have the ability to find him regardless of where he is.
Against Metz, after 15 minutes, Cavani (yellow) was showing that he was ready for the new season. Pastore (blue) picked the ball up deep in his own midfield. As soon as the Argentinian collected the ball, Cavani was on his way, running off the shoulder of the last defender.
The pass was blocked, but it was clear that the combination of those two South Americans will be a huge issue for defences to stop this season.
Even the biggest Cavani doubters will find it hard to question his movement. However, while one problem lies in his ability to finish his chances, another is that last part of the run, as he lacks the instinct to put himself in the best position to punish the defence.
Again in the first half, Di Maria (red) got the ball wide on the right. Cavani (yellow) knew what was coming, and he bent his run to the back post. The cross came in, but the Uruguayan overcooked it, ending up under the ball, and Thomas Didillon was able to calmly collect the header.
Cavani's first big chance came in the 27th minute. The play developed through the middle, and he was alert, hungry and on the move as soon as Di Maria has the ball.
The former Napoli hitman started his run beautifully, placed between the right-back and the centre-back. Through on goal, there was very little pressure on the striker, but his right-foot finish lacked conviction and was easy saved low to Didillon's left.
Another chance fell his way five minutes later: Pastore and Di Maria combined again, but Guido Milan did well to contain Cavani and ushered the ball out for a corner.
PSG and Cavani should have made it 1-0 four minutes before half-time. Once again, his movement was outstanding, providing that spearhead to a wonderfully free-flowing, almost instinctive move.
It was an attack that provided a great insight into PSG's natural starting position.
There's two banks of two at the back, with Adrien Rabiot and Thiago Motta in front of David Luiz and Presnel Kimpembe. Then there's an attacking line of five, with Serge Aurier and Layvin Kurzawa pushed as high as Di Maria and Lucas, with Cavani the furthest forward.
Di Maria played the ball through to the onrushing Cavani. His first touch let him down, as the ball got stuck under his feet.
In contrast to Lucas Moura's opening goal in the second half, the Brazilian may not have the natural movement of the Uruguayan, but while still moving forward, he was able to rescue Aurier's pass, get the ball out of his feet and fire a low shot past Didillon.
Cavani still managed to fashion a shot on goal, though. Metz got a little lucky, as Falette deflected the ball off the post and denied the forward his first goal of the season. However, a better touch and a more convincing finish and the defender wouldn't have had a chance to get anything on the ball.
In the second half, Cavani didn't have as many opportunities, but he had by far his best of the game—one that will probably cause the forward a few sleepless nights.
With 23 minutes left in the game, Di Maria struck the crossbar. Cavani, following up the play well, took a wonderful touch of the ball with his chest. The goal was gaping, and Didillon was scrambling to recover, but El Matador could only shank his left-foot volley harmlessly wide. In all honesty, it was a terrible attempt.
Just 60 seconds later, he tried to shake that off with an audacious right-foot volley after a superb cross-field ball by Di Maria.
The ball would land about four yards wide of the far post, but you have to admire his continued attempts to find the target.
Again, it showcased his movement and concentration, but it highlighted his lack of clinical finishing. It was undoubtedly the toughest chance he had all game, but you never quite believed the ball was going to find the target, never mind the back of the net.
Regular watchers of Paris Saint-Germain will not be completely surprised by this, but his backers will say that it's early in the season and he will come good. That in itself is the problem.
"He is very demanding with himself, he has character," Emery told the press after the game, via Goal's Nicholas McGee. "If he gets so many opportunities in the future, I'm not worried about the fact that he did not score. The public is also demanding with Cavani, which is also good."
After five good chances to score, Cavani finished goalless, but the Uruguayan would have probably scored with a sixth attempt. PSG won, so it's not an issue this time.
If he did that in 20 of the 38 Ligue 1 game, it would be heralded as a fantastic return. Yet if you only score 20 from around 230 chances, is that really good enough at the highest level?
Scoring in Ligue 1, especially at home against newly promoted sides, is the easy part of Cavani's job. You are not going to get five or six good chances in the Champions League.
Emery will know that. Cavani knows that. It's early in the season, but if the Spanish boss can't rediscover the deadly forward that played for Napoli, PSG could have problems moving forward.
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