PSG Continue to Win Despite Their Predictable Tactics and Performances

In life, there are only two things that are certain: death and taxes. However, when it comes to football and Paris Saint-Germain, you can almost guarantee there will be an Edinson Cavani debate after every game. On Friday night, despite the 1-0 victory over Lille, his performance asked more questions than it answered.

The Uruguayan may be the top scorer in Ligue 1, but the 29-year-old has become such a polarising figure that it's something he may never escape from.

Yes, the former Napoli forward scored the only goal of the game, getting on the end of Angel Di Maria's cross, chesting the ball down and blasting high past Vincent Enyeama.

That's one part of the story; the truth is that it was another disappointing and frustrating night from the PSG No. 9.

Blaise Matuidi told the media after the game: "We played very well, we dominated the game. We had possession and created opportunities. We're aware we can do better. This evening, our performance was in a similar vein to that we produced against Marseille. We had a lot of chances, and we gave them very few. The difference was that we scored.

Chances came and went—a left-foot effort from the former Napoli forward may have left the stadium had the roof not had been closed pre-match at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.

Another was closer but still blazed over the bar from inside the box. Then it happened, and you could see it coming a mile away.

Lille were getting sloppy, giving the ball away too easily. Julian Palmieri failed to clear the danger with any conviction, the move went down the left and Cavani applied the finish. That's his 10th Ligue 1 goal of the season, and everyone will see the clip and rave about how great a striker he is.

It should be obvious when you look at the analysis from PSG fans, media who watch him regularly and just people with eyes. He's far from convincing, he's not clinical and he benefits from the league he plays in and the amount of talent around him.

Regardless of who PSG started up front, you would back them to score at least 15 goals a season.

No one is saying he is a bad player. His movement is superb, he gets himself in the right positions, and it's not just that he misses chances—every striker does—it's the way he misses and the types of chances.

If he's given a flash of a half-chance—ignoring the game against Olympique de Marseille—he usually scores, and it's even better if the chance comes on his head. But if he's given time to think, use his feet and debate with his inner monologue, Cavani often finds a way to miss when it looks easier to score.

The balance to the argument is that Cavani's goal gave PSG all three points in a tough away fixture, and that's true, but all it does is deflect the attention to his coach Unai Emery, the other man to pick up a lot of criticism this season.

PSG played 4-3-3 against Marseille in the previous league game, and OM were in Paris for a draw. Playing 5-3-2, they got it. Plugging up the midfield and frustrating the attack, they limited the space and put in a performance that deserved the point.

Frederic Antonetti had a similar plan in mind. He sent out his team playing 4-5-1, but with Palmieri on the left of the midfield and Sebastien Corchia on the right, it was almost a 6-3-1.

Adama Soumaoro was tasked with marking Lucas Moura, following the Brazilian winger wherever he went. Franck Beria did a similar job on Di Maria.

The Argentinian winger had a couple of chances, too, including a goal wrongly disallowed for handball.

One saving grace for PSG is that they were playing away from home. Spurred on by the partisan crowd, LOSC would try to attack, leaving space in behind and helping PSG hit on the break.

However, the Parisians' best chances came from Lille mistakes.

Even after the goal, Lille really should have levelled the game late on, with former midfielder Younousse Sankhare failing to head in at the back post after strong work from Eder.

Emery said after the win: "It was not an easy game against a Lille side that defended well. Even if we created numerous chances in the first half, we didn't manage to put them away. But we maintained the same rhythm after the interval. Though we lacked a clinical edge, I'm happy, because we created a lot of chances. It's important for our confidence to reclaim second place."

One issue for Emery has to be the predictability when it comes to his team. You know it's going to be 4-3-3, you almost know the midfield is going to be three of the same four players and the philosophy and tactics fail to alter from game to game.

Marseille knew that, so did Lille, and if those two teams can go so far and limit PSG to just one goal in two games, then what's to stop a much more talented team doing the same?

One answer for Emery will be the way he uses Adrien Rabiot. The young Frenchman came on with 29 minutes to go and made a huge difference to the team.

No one made more passes than the 21-year-old as soon as he entered the game. His long runs, defensive awareness and quality on the ball stood out a mile. His game-changing ability should clearly be a more major part of Emery's plans, not just off the bench.

If the Spanish boss is going to continue with his limited 4-3-3, Rabiot needs to be part of it and, hopefully, not in place of Marco Verratti. The young Italian and French midfielders need to be utilised together. That is the exciting future PSG could have, rather than the stale, boring, snoozefest they are putting out at the moment.

Something has to change, we keep saying it, but there's no way the players or Emery can be watching the current performances convinced they are playing a brand of football that is going to go on and dominate Europe, of that you can be sure.

If they are convinced, then that's a much bigger, much more worrying problem, one that might not be solved this season.