Blanc with Work to Do over Break After Toothless Display in Montpellier Draw

Paris Saint-Germain signed off for 2014 with a tame 0-0 draw against Montpellier HSC at Parc des Princes on Saturday. The point earned means that, unless results go their way in the Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais fixtures on Sunday, PSG will not top the Ligue 1 table going into the winter break for the first time since Qatar Sports Investments took over in the French capital.

The draw leaves coach Laurent Blanc with plenty to consider and work on over the winter break and the PSG tactician admitted that the pause will do them good to PSG.fr shortly after the final whistle.

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There were positives in our play, even if our transition was too slow and we lacked a little determination in front of goal. It wasn't enough to beat Montpellier. The match was not complete, much like our first half of the campaign. Offensively, we didn't do enough to win this match.We needed to make it happen, and we didn't do it. Now we need to recharge the batteries. The winter break will be good for us, both mentally and physically.

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First and foremost for Le President, he must address PSG’s sudden loss of form in front of goal, as the Montpellier stalemate means that the French champions have only scored four times in their last five league games. Not since 2012, when they failed to score against AC Ajaccio and Girondins de Bordeaux, have Les Parisiens been unable to score in consecutive Ligue 1 matches.

Edinson Cavani was substituted to a chorus of boos after a particularly anaemic performance in front of goal, but the Uruguayan should not be given any more blame than Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede was equally as poor as El Matador, and neither was able to profit from the vibrant Lucas Moura on the day.

Francois Mori/Associated Press

That was largely down to some excellent defending from Montpellier, who let nothing through at the back. Perhaps motivated by a 4-0 pasting on their last visit to Parc des Princes, Rolland Courbis’ men were solid, and remembering that comprehensive victory back on the final day of last season also provides a good point of comparison.

PSG are not scoring as freely at present and therefore look less convincing.

Open up those Ligue 1 scoring statistics from all competitions—PSG have nine goals in seven games. This is not exactly low, but it is also not as high as you would expect from Blanc’s men.

Francois Mori/Associated Press

This time last season, the champions elect had scored 12 more times. When you consider that they have shipped seven goals in the last seven games, PSG’s struggles become less of a surprise.

Defence is another area that Blanc needs to work on. As a former world-class defender, this should be less difficult than solving his team’s struggles in front of goal.

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PSG have conceded the same number of goals that they had last season, but those goals have been spread over more games and therefore have lost the team more points than last term. Thiago Silva's and David Luiz’s recent performances have not been as authoritative as they were just a couple of weeks ago; Blanc must get to the bottom of this.

Maxwell was very good against Montpellier, while Gregory van der Wiel got forward, wherever possible, to provide crosses for the attackers. Montpellier’s superb defence prevented the Dutchman from really attacking with his usual intensity, though.

Part of the reason for this was the largely ineffective midfield.

Thiago Motta, Marco Verratti and Blaise Matuidi all had poor games. However, while that is not a regular thing for the latter pair, it has become the norm for Motta. Blanc must consider taking the ineffective Italian out of the starting XI in the new year.

David Vincent/Associated Press

With Motta looking a shadow of the player we saw last season, PSG need greater dynamism in the midfield. One solution, which would also go some way toward solving the defensive headache as well, is to move Luiz forward from defence and replace Motta with Marquinhos.

The latter has been excellent when called upon so far this season, and Luiz would likely thrive if his defensive responsibilities were lessened.

Overall, it was a poor performance from PSG, but Montpellier deserve credit for the way that they did not hand their hosts any soft chances.

Blanc has problems to work on this winter break, but he would have had the same issues to resolve regardless of the result against La Paillade. The draw simply underlined the fact that the French champions cannot afford to start 2015 without taking care of these areas.