Why the PSG Attack Is Actually Worse Than Last Season

Paris Saint-Germain are nearly one-third of the way through the 2015/16 Ligue 1 campaign, and for Laurent Blanc and his players, it couldn’t have gone much better.

However, when analysing the performances and the squad, to pick an area that the team has actually regressed, it may seem strange to suggest that it is in the final third—more specifically the attack.

With a 10-point lead at the top of the league, you could realistically crown PSG as champions before Christmas. This is down to a mixture of the club’s dominance and the lack of consistency from the competition to mount a serious challenge.

When you compare the statistics to last season, on paper it's hard to see how the attack has gotten worse, but the figures don’t always truly represent the performances on the field.

At this time last season, PSG were sitting in third and had only scored 25 goals, that's up to 31 this campaign. Yet, you can’t help but feel that Blanc should be expecting more from his forward line.

Xavier Laine/Getty Images

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored nine goals in eight games, but there is a sense that none of his games or goals has contained that same "Ibracadabra" magic that made him the footballing icon he is today.

The majority of his goals have come from being in the right place, at the right time. Something which has to be commended on its own merit, but that’s not the Zlatan that PSG signed from AC Milan.

Perhaps it is because he doesn’t have to—due to the way he and his team-mates dominate games—but we haven’t seen him take games by the scruff of the neck, leading his team to victory, or putting a team to the sword.

His performances in the Champions League—one assist in four games—give more weight to this argument. Blanc and the PSG owners would rather Swedish talisman saved himself for the big European nights, rather than scoring a double in a 5-0 win over Toulouse.

This is not to say Zlatan is the worst culprit this season. That falls to his Uruguayan team-mate, Edinson Cavani.

Let’s be clear, the former Napoli man will score goals. However, you sometimes feel that is in spite of Cavani being on the pitch, rather than his influence on it.

Languid league performances, missed chances in the Champions League and Blanc’s reluctance to bench Cavani has started to raise some eyebrows.

"

.@Gibney_A was right. Edinson Cavani in the Champions League: 👎🏻

— Peter Galindo (@GalindoPW) November 3, 2015"

For every goal the striker has scored this season—seven in 12 games—you get the feeling that Cavani needs three of four chances to find the back of the net. Not the ratio you would expect from a top-class striker.

"

Surprisingly, Blanc sticks with Cavani alongside Ibrahimovic & ADM. Was expected to start Lucas &/or Lavezzi. #PSGTFC

— Jonathan Johnson (@Jon_LeGossip) November 7, 2015"

Now, Brazilian Lucas Moura is putting pressure on Blanc to drop Cavani, especially after this weekend’s performance. Brought off after 62 minutes, Lucas then scored within minutes of being on the pitch and did all the work with a wonderful run to hand Ibrahimovic his second.

The 23-year-old scored the winner in the league opener against Lille. He too has had his own problems, losing form when given the chance to impress when Ibrahimovic was out and Angel Di Maria was still short of fitness. Over the last few fixtures, Lucas has impressed, pressing Blanc into making a decision and handing the winger a run in the team at Cavani’s expense.

"

Lucas could score a hat-trick, wash Blanc' car & win a Nobel Peace Prize in the rest of this game, Cavani will still be picked ahead of him!

— Rich Allen (@rich_allen85) November 7, 2015"

Di Maria has been a great addition. Adding goals, assists, movement and another dimension to the attack. If it wasn’t the regression of his two regular partners you could argue that the attack had improved. He definitely has upped PSG’s quality, it’s just that Ibrahimovic and Cavani aren’t playing to their own high level.

The attack is still very good. However, with the defence and midfield improving, it does shine a light on the fact that the attack, in its current form, is certainly not as dominant as it should, or indeed could be.