Paris Saint-Germain: Laurent Blanc's Fragile Midfield Needs a Makeover

Months ago, when I began to consider the tactical implications of Laurent Blanc's appointment, one thing that struck me was his seeming distaste for PSG's typical formation, 4-4-2.

As manager of France's Euro 2012 team, Blanc insisted on a 4-2-3-1 formation and regularly stressed the need for numbers in midfield to both establish dominant spells of possession and snuff out opposing counter attacks. Speaking about his position as national team coach:

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I told the players a few of my principles: I like passing the ball around and I like to keep the ball. I like it when the ball is played out from the back.

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Most teams set on passing and keeping the ball these days do so from a single-striker formation—either 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3—and as the latest Ligue 1 campaign inched closer I wondered how Blanc would address the seeming gap between his tastes and that of predecessor Carlo Ancelotti.

For the time being, Blanc looks set to give 4-4-2 variants the old college try, having twice gone with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ezequiel Lavezzi up front with Javier Pastore and Lucas Moura on the wings. 

So far, it has played out precisely as Blanc should have expected: PSG is getting carved up on the counter and finding it difficult to penetrate opposing defenses, despite great spells of possession. In their opening encounter with Montpellier, they could have been down 2-0 at the half had striker Emanuel Herrera not blasted his shot just over the crossbar. 

Blanc managed to turn things around, first by switching to the 4-2-3-1 formation he prefers and then by dropping Pastore deeper to accommodate Hervin Ongenda, who came on for the thoroughly unfocused Marco Verratti. 

Pastore's shift had a marked impact on his play. B/R Featured Columnist Jonathan Johnson had this to say:

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Playing in a deeper role, Pastore looked more calm, composed and purposeful on the ball.

He also saw more of it, unable to get cut off from play as he does sometimes when played out wide on the left.

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In fact, Pastore will often drop deep into central midfield to find the ball regardless of the formation, in many ways invalidating the purpose of there being an attacking player on the left wing. B/R Featured Columnist Max Towle observed this during PSG's recent friendly with Real Madrid:

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5'- Some early possession for PSG in the opening stages. Javier Pastore drops back to get some touches of the ball.

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Now, aside from favoring possession and numbers in midfield, Blanc is also known for being a firm proponent of generating width from the back. Attacking fullback, wingback...call them what you will, Blanc wants them joining the attack. 

Former France and Marseille manager Didier Deschamps had this to say back in 2010, as Blanc was tearing up Ligue 1 with Bordeaux:

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The really big difference is that their full-backs are really involved in their attacks. [Mathieu] Chalmé and [Benoît] Trémoulinas play really high up the pitch. Bordeaux, even putting to one side their set-piece ability, score 50 percent of their goals from crosses from their full-backs.

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With that in mind, I propose a tactical synthesis that ought to solve Blanc's midfield numbers issue while keeping his best players on the pitch: a 4-3-1-2 formation.

Blanc should encourage Pastore's comfort in distributing from a deep position by lining him up alongside Blaise Matuidi and Verratti, while putting Lucas in the No. 10 position behind Ibrahimovic and Cavani.

Rather than send a natural playmaker like Lucas out wide where he can get cut off in the same manner described in the above quote, Blanc ought to embrace his talents and put him in the proper playmaker's position.

With Pastore distributing and Matuidi holding, Verratti would be free to play box to box to his heart's content, knowing that two central midfielders remain should he lose the ball on one of his many barreling runs forward.

Should Pastore choose to shuttle the ball forward himself, Verratti slots in alongside Matuidi and everything stays secure. And the whole time, Lucas stays right in the middle of the action.

If a whole change in shape is too much, Blanc still ought to consider Pastore alongside Matuidi. A 4-2-3-1 with Ibrahimovic at No. 10, Cavani No. 9, and Pastore alongside Matuidi is still awfully dangerous, even if it leaves Lucas on the wing.

Either way, it's clear that Blanc is being offered little evidence to support continued use of the 4-4-2 he inherited. PSG can and must do better—with Monaco back in Ligue 1 and showing few weaknesses, dropping points is a luxury PSG just cannot afford.