Lucas Moura Chief Among Those Struggling to Impress at PSG After Big Nantes Win
After being substituted 25 minutes from the end of Paris Saint-Germain’s 4-1 come-from-behind win away at FC Nantes on Saturday, Lucas Moura must have been silently cursing to himself on the substitutes bench for the remainder of the game.
After the Brazilian left the pitch at Stade de la Beaujoire, Edinson Cavani, Angel Di Maria and Serge Aurier all managed to find the back of the net, turning a dismal first-half performance into—on paper at least—a comprehensive victory.
Once again, Lucas had allowed a chance to impress coach Laurent Blanc from the start of a Ligue 1 match pass him by. It is something that has happened all too often so far this season and something that the 23-year-old cannot continue to let happen.
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Moura was as good as invisible against Nantes; the Brazil international contributed very little to the attack and failed to offer the injection of pace or direct threat that is expected of him. In fact, such was the level of his anonymity, his substitution after 65 minutes reminded most people that he had been on the pitch.
It is not the first time he has put in a disappointing performance either, with the majority of the South American’s seven starts in Le Championnat so far more or less all resulting in underwhelming displays.
Lucas scored a well-taken goal in PSG’s 1-0 win away at Lille OSC on opening day, but since then he has produced next to nothing on the pitch that is putting Blanc under pressure to keep selecting the Selecao star.
In fact, it is arguably Le President’s rotation policy that is keeping the capital club’s No. 7 in the picture at present. Of the eight games the French champions have played so far this season, Moura has started seven of them, so he can have no complaints over a lack of opportunities.
Prior to the Nantes clash, Blanc was questioned by the press about Lucas in his traditional pregame conference and responded, per the club’s official website, PSG.fr.
"We expect a lot of him, and rightly so because he has a lot of great qualities. He's still a young lad, who definitely needs to do more, because he has a lot of talent. He's bursting at the seams with talent. He's important for the future of Paris Saint-Germain and it's up to him to live up to that expectation. We have to encourage him. He has played his way into his national team, which is very important to him.
"
Indeed, Blanc mentioned that Lucas has played his way back into the Brazilian national team. It is actually with Dunga’s men, back in September, that he has played his best football so far this season.
During the last international break, Moura came on as a substitute in the friendly wins over Costa Rica and the USA. The PSG man was only given 12 minutes in the 1-0 win over Los Ticos, but a more substantial 27-minute window against the Americans in a 4-1 success.
That period of time enabled him to provide two good assists—which he actually registered in the first four minutes of his cameo—sufficiently impressed Dunga and Lucas have kept his place in the Brazil squad for the upcoming games against Chile and Venezuela.
It is that sort of form that Moura needs to be showing more of in France and considering the calibre of player he lines up alongside, he should be producing better—even if PSG are collectively capable of putting in underwhelming domestic displays.
Lucas will feel that luck has been cruel to him since he arrived at Parc des Princes back in early 2013. The youngster missed out on a place in the Brazil squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup on home soil largely because of injury, and fitness issues once again deprived him of a place in the Selecao group for this summer’s Copa America in Chile.
Last season was particularly galling for Moura. He started the 2014-15 season extremely well and was arguably the team’s best player over the first half of the campaign, before injury prevented him from making a return to the Brazil squad in late 2014 and then completely derailed the remainder of the term for him early this year.
Lucas has been unable to replicate the same form that we saw from him early last season and his performance against Nantes showed a player who is a shadow of his real self right now. His display at Stade de la Beaujoire was arguably his worst since arriving at the club.
Moura is playing with little confidence at present and perhaps that has something to do with Di Maria's arrival. Since the Argentina international has been fit, it has been clear who is Blanc’s preferred option in the front three with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cavani.
However, El Fideo’s rise above Lucas in the pecking order is not without merit. In just six appearances across all competitions for PSG, Di Maria has three goals and three assists. Conversely, the Brazilian has just one goal to show for his seven starts—all of which have come in Ligue 1.
Lucas must do more to pressure his rivals for starting roles in attack. It may seem futile with Ibrahimovic, Cavani and Di Maria all seemingly automatic starters ahead of the Selecao star when fit, but the Swede’s injury struggles should mean more chances come his way as well as those he gets as part of a fairer rotation system this season.
PSG’s decision to hand Moura a two-year contract extension back in June shows the faith that the club has in the player. It also suggests that he will play a greater role next season, once Ibrahimovic has likely moved on with his contract expiring in the summer of 2016.
What Lucas must do now is use each and every opportunity he gets to start making telling contributions—scoring goals or creating them—and utilising his searing pace to help Les Parisiens unlock their opponents.
Moura was not the only one to disappoint in Nantes. Summer signing Layvin Kurzawa, making his second full Ligue 1 start for the club, endured another tough afternoon after a difficult full debut in the draw away at Stade de Reims last weekend.
The France international made a series of mistakes, gifting Les Canaris two chances to add to their one-goal lead. It was only when his teammates started to kick into gear going forward that the pressure was taken off the former Monaco man.
Kurzawa has not done much to have Maxwell worried for his place in Blanc’s starting XI yet. However, like Lucas, he will get more chances to put his positional rival under pressure with squad rotation ensuring everyone will get more opportunities and match practice.
Javier Pastore and Serge Aurier find themselves in the same boat as Lucas and Kurzawa at the moment, although the Brazilian, the Argentinian and the Ivorian are more involved in the starting XI than the Frenchman.
El Flaco and Aurier made up for their disappointing performances with telling late contributions in Nantes. Pastore grabbed two assists, while Aurier added gloss to the 4-1 with a spectacular late effort from the former’s pinpoint corner.
Those are the sort of contributions Lucas needs to be making if he is to get more and more chances for PSG this season and in order to be closer to Blanc’s starting XI in the bigger games.
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