Why Ezequiel Lavezzi Is the Most Frustrating Player in the PSG Squad
Since his arrival in the French capital back in the summer of 2012, Ezequiel Lavezzi has struggled to truly impress for Paris Saint-Germain. Expectations were high after a fruitful spell with SSC Napoli in Serie A, but the Argentina international has never quite hit the same heights in Ligue 1.
Blessed with great pace, strength and a hard-working approach on the pitch, Lavezzi could and should have been lethal in a PSG starting XI boasting the creative talents of Javier Pastore and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
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However, El Pocho’s time in Paris has been frustrating so far, and the player is now into the final 12 months of his contract and is yet to really leave a strong impression.
Lavezzi is a lovable character because of his larger-than-life personality on and off the pitch, but that affection often buys him patience that he does not necessarily deserve from supporters of both PSG and Argentina.
An attacking player, the 30-year-old usually plays in a wide role, although he is capable of playing through the middle too.
With his speed, strength and application to task, in theory he makes a formidable third option in attack along with Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Javier Pastore or Lucas Moura. However, Lavezzi, in reality, is one of the weak points of this current PSG squad, and the Argentinian is no longer even considered an automatic starter by Les Parisiens coach Laurent Blanc.
The South American’s biggest flaw is his inconsistency in front of goal, and that makes him arguably the most frustrating player in the French champions’ squad.
Lavezzi will occasionally have a very good day and score multiple goals, like when he bagged himself a treble in the 6-1 mauling of Lille OSC back in April. However, he will also endure long barren runs of games without goals and will regularly miss big chances in low-scoring games that often make the difference between winning or not.
A wasteful showing in the 0-0 draw away at AS Monaco back in March is a good example of that.
Since arriving in the summer of 2012, Lavezzi’s best tally in a season was the nine Ligue 1 goals he managed in 2013-14. Those goals were almost exclusively scored during the second half of the campaign.
Last term he notched eight goals and laid on two more, while only mustering three goals and four assists in his debut 2012-13 season.
Lavezzi has to be breaking into double figures considering PSG paid around €30 million to prise him away from Napoli. If not scoring, then he should be at least providing his team-mates with a stream of chances from which to score.
El Pocho does neither of those things on a regular basis, and when the big chances come his way in games, he almost invariably contrives to pass up the opportunity.
Lavezzi has had some great moments with PSG, and his hat-trick against Lille, as well as putting the finishing touch on a sublime team goal in a 1-0 home win over Stade Rennais back in January, are just two of the most recent.
That is what makes Lavezzi so frustrating, though. Those rare clinical moments are largely the exception to the rule, and that makes the PSG No. 22 a liability in the big games, even if for every miss against Barcelona back in 2013 there is a chest-and-volleyed goal against Chelsea one year later.
The bottom line is that Lavezzi’s goal return is just not good enough for someone Les Parisiens have invested so handsomely in. By not even providing regular assists, it is no surprise that Blanc feels that he cannot fully rely on El Pocho and therefore does not see him as a key player anymore.
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