It will be the dream of many coaches but, today, it is only the day to day of one. Mauricio Pochettino has Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, Mauro Icardi and Ángel Di María at his command almost every day of the year (except for payrolls and holidays) for the task of scoring goals alongside two illustrious squires such as Pablo Sarabia and Moise Kean. A set of 'weapons' with which he continues to rehearse for Barcelona, the first big test.
Several weeks after having to face Koeman's men, the Argentine resolves the commitments effectively and in search of finding the right key. In the last match, against Angers, he took out all the ammunition with Moise Kean on the front, Mbappé on the left, Di María on the right and Neymar, in the lane of '10', a habitat in which the game focuses more and in which it feels more comfortable in its maturity. To compensate, Verratti and Paredes held the medium. The problem and the solution were the bands.
With Kurzawa and Florenzi in the rear, two more offensive full-backs, PSG opened their lanes and almost dropped two points along the way if not for Keylor Navas. There, too, the Frenchman ended up solving with a rebound, which he reached on a rise from behind. So much forward, but one side resolved a game that ended up winning by the minimum and without any goal from the quartet.
Thus, from Paris, they consider the usefulness of this formula in the face of more substantial appointments and its future looks complicated. The problem? The balance of the team and the defensive involvement of the attackers.
In the Angers coach, as Parisien picks up, he was already able to detect the problem. “When we switched from one band to another two or three times we felt like we could run around there. We knew there would be spaces in the band and that was especially the case in the first half. This scheme implies defensive efforts and, obviously, these players do not play for that, “he explained at a press conference. His approach, more than correct, was left without a prize.
A match as a reference
In the final of the Super Cup against Marseille, Pochettino initially bet on Paredes and Herrera in the middle with Verratti as the midfielder. Conditioned by a Neymar who was back, it is true, but propping up the center of the field, where Villas-Boas planted a trivote in addition to two 'liquid' attackers like Thauvin and Payet, who force the medium to act more.
Although it ended with four attackers, since Sarabia entered in 1990, it cannot be said that he applied this formula that is now being discussed.
Avalanche balance
Is it more likely to score if more forwards pile up? This is the big question. The context of the game and the profile of the players will mark the decision but no one assures that this is the case. As Moulin well indicated at a press conference, the idea depends on the defensive sacrifice that Mbappé, Neymar, Mauro Icardi and Ángel Di María are willing to make.
The latter, without a doubt, is the one who is most sacrificed. Although he started from the winger, Di Ma did shine as a midfielder in the last stage at Real Madrid alongside Ancelotti, where he had defensive implications.
From Neymar, Mbappé or Icardi, we can expect an important work of conviction from Mauricio if they want to reunite as the Fantastic Four on the green. If there is no commitment behind, the appearance of a midfielder with a different profile seems obliged and one of the four will go directly to the bench.