How PSG Must Adapt to Prosper Without Zlatan Ibrahimovic

At the start of the current season, Zlatan Ibrahimovic announced that he would be unlikely to continue his playing career beyond 2016, giving Paris Saint-Germain at least two seasons to begin their post-Zlatan preparations.

However, this season, Ibrahimovic has already picked up two separate injuries, meaning the Swedish forward has only been able to start five of PSG’s 11 games, one of them the 15 minutes he played against Bastia. For Laurent Blanc’s side to prosper, they need to find a way to be less Ibra-dependent this season rather than wait till 2016.

Since taking over from Carlo Ancelotti, Blanc has favoured playing with three up front. At their strongest, it has featured Ibrahimovic as the No. 9, Edinson Cavani starting to his right and either Ezequiel Lavezzi or Lucas Moura on the left.

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As he has matured, Ibrahimovic has preferred to come deep to receive the ball, making space for Cavani to take up more central positions, with the player on the left providing more natural width. It often suits Lavezzi to play this position, whereas Lucas likes to play with more freedom and get into areas of space created by the movement of the other two.

When Zlatan drops deep, it often takes away that pace for a playmaker and can leave the space outside the penalty area crowded and lacking cohesion.

It has been very noticeable in his absence that, although still playing with three attackers, the shape and system has looked more interchangeable without their Swedish talisman.

To be successful, Blanc needs to find a system that works when Ibrahimovic is both in and out of the squad. As he gets older, the injuries are coming more frequently. The current heel injury was only supposed to keep him out for two or three games, and it has now been a whole month since we saw him line up for the Parisians.

Playing with one fluid formation that can both accommodate and work without the 33-year-old would benefit everyone at the club.

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This current formation that Blanc has been using has the potential to suit everyone at the club. Javier Pastore has been able to play in the No. 10 role without the complication of Ibrahimovic dropping deep. He and Lucas have an understanding and can be seen to swap places, with the Argentine playmaker drifting wide and the Brazilian playing either left, right or centrally.

Without Ibrahimovic, Blanc has been able to get more out of his two South American stars, and it is going to be interesting to see how the former France coach reacts once the Swede is cleared to play again. It would seem like a backward step to revert back to the 4-3-3 that he played for most of last season.

Pastore has looked very adaptable this season, and this could be key. Ibrahimovic could partner Cavani up front, with Lucas given the free role behind the strikers. Pastore could play as part of the midfield trio that sits behind, especially at home where there is no real need to be as defensive.

One issue that PSG do currently face, and something that would hinder any move away from being dependent on Ibrahimovic, is once again finding the best from Uruguayan striker Cavani.

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Although he made noises about being PSG’s main striker this season, he has failed to capitalise on his chances and has looked a much better striker when playing beside Ibrahimovic.

Cavani’s recent form has scared away possible suitors if PSG were looking to cash in on the man they bought for €64 million from Napoli. Any post-Zlatan PSG side is going to feature Cavani, and it is up to the striker to step from beneath Ibra’s shadow and show that he can be the man to lead this attack.

Beside Pastore and Lucas, Cavani has been given ample opportunities to fire PSG to glory, but a lack of confidence and clinical finishing has made him look a poor imitation of the player that dominated Serie A.

It is hard not to depend on a player as good as Ibrahimovic, but if Blanc moves away from this current formation to one that suits the Swede more than the players that have blossomed away from it, he risks falling back into their early-season problems.

Any future planning without Ibrahimovic needs to start this season with the striker part of the squad. It’s time for Ibrahimovic to adapt to fit his teammates' strengths, rather than everything played around the talismanic forward.

Only then will PSG be prepared for life without Ibrahimovic, and the prospect of including the Swede in the new confident football that they have been playing in recent weeks could fire them back to the top of the table.