5 Things Learned from PSG's 2015/16 Ligue 1 Season
It has been an all-conquering season for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1. In charging to a fourth consecutive league title, they have scored 102 goals and conceded just 19 on the way to winning 96 points. On Saturday, they will have the chance to secure a second-straight domestic quadruple.
PSG are the dominant force in the league, and they only appear to be growing stronger. However, to do that, they'll need to look inward and assess where things went right and where they went wrong.
Change is going to come. Players are set to move on, youngsters made their mark and new signings blossomed at the club. To succeed you always need to evolve, and that’s what will happen this summer.
Here are five things we learned from PSG's 2015/16 Ligue 1 season.
Zlatan Still Had It
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Maybe he never lost it, but the big Swede showed everyone during his final season in Paris that he is undoubtedly the best player this club has ever had. No one is going to dispute that for a long time.
Last season he was poor. The stats may not have shown it, but his performances did. Struggling with injuries, he was rushed back too quickly, and his quality on the pitch suffered.
This season, he has looked stronger and sharper. He seems to have reached a level we perhaps hadn’t seen during his time in Paris.
At 34 years old, he played over 500 minutes more than last season, scored 38 goals and had a hand in another 13 goals. Those are huge boots to fill, but it is the right time to move on.
Deeper Midfield Issues
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With Marco Verratti out for huge parts of the season (he only started three games since November), Blaise Matuidi dealing with a drop in form and Father Time catching up to Thiago Motta, pressure was heaped on PSG’s substitute midfielders.
Adrien Rabiot answered the call. His performances throughout the season were one of the highlights, but the other backup midfielders were not up to the mark.
Benjamin Stambouli had fleeting moments, but not enough that you could trust him in bigger games. The midfield needs strengthening, and manager Laurent Blanc now knows what can happen without that strength in depth.
The Youth Is Alright
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PSG’s under-19 side reached the final of the UEFA Youth Cup, giving hope to the local fans that they still might see a Parisian influence in this team.
Christopher Nkunku broke into the first team from the under-19 squad, Presnel Kimpembe gained more minutes and Jean-Kevin Augustin provided glimpses of what he is capable of in the final third.
Blanc needs to hand the youngsters a few more opportunities next season, but overall, the kids will have impressed the PSG boss.
Form Is Temporary, Class Is Permanent
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Manchester United fans may have occasionally scoffed at the plaudits Angel Di Maria received at various points during this campaign. Yes, Ligue 1 is not as difficult a competition, but he didn’t just play at a high level, at times he was exceptional.
At the midway point of the season, before Ibrahimovic took his goalscoring to another level, you could have made a case that he was PSG’s player of the year.
He finished the campaign with 10 goals and an incredible 18 assists, proving that form is temporary and class is permanent. His vision, skill and invention on the ball took PSG’s attacking play to another level at times.
Yes, he saw a dip in form during the second half of the campaign, and he didn’t rise to the occasion when he made his return to Manchester. However, he was superb overall, and there is room for him to get even better.
The End of the Current Era
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Once PSG were eliminated from the Champions League by Manchester City, there was a clear sense that this current squad had reached the end of its cycle.
Ibrahimovic has confirmed that with his looming departure, and others will likely follow. We could see a much different team at the start of the next campaign.
When you compare the players who were present at the start of the Qatar Sports Investments era to the team that will play against Marseille at the weekend, there is a stark contrast in quality. Now, the job is to keep that level high and continue to grow the club.
There are many issues that need to be addressed this summer, starting with the hole in the attack that Ibrahimovic will leave behind. The idea is not to replace Zlatan—that’s impossible—but to complement Di Maria and perhaps Edinson Cavani.
