PSG put together a dream team in summer whose goal was to achieve the long-awaited Champions League how much you resist Al Khelaifi. Keeping Mbappé was, with the signing of Messi, the best possible news for the Parisians, especially when it comes to forming a magical trio with Neymar that converted Paris at the epicenter of European football this season.
Nevertheless, the promises of happiness that overwhelmed Paris during the month of August have been transformed into doubts during the last month and a half. To date, PSG’s offensive trio is not performing according to expectations and both Neymar and Messi have received the first criticism from the always demanding French press. On Sunday, L’Équipe scored a 3 for the Brazilian’s performance in the Clásico against Marseille, underlining that, this season, he has not yet seen the door and has only been able to achieve two assists in all competitions.
Neymar’s irregularity, in the midst of a difficult period for the player, stating in an interview that Qatar could be his last World Cup, is approaching with the “isolation” of Messi. In Henry’s words, the Argentine star is playing isolated in Paris and with a system that does not recognize its characteristics well. Since making his debut in Reims at the end of August, Messi has played quite a few games on the right wing in France, reducing his degree of influence in the rival field and still unable to make his debut as a scorer in French football.
Statistics away from Barcelona
If we look at the statistics of Messi in their first matches in League 1, the former player of the Barcelona is a far cry from the extraordinary numbers it has averaged over so many years in the Camp Nou. He has barely shot four times and has barely tried four crosses in the four games he has played in France. If we compare his last season in Barcelona with the current in Paris, Rosario clearly loses. On matchday 11 of La Liga 2020/2021, Messi already had four goals, while in Ligue 1 2021/2022 he has not yet been released.
As indicated The Parisian, Messi had never been so many consecutive days without scoring a goal. You have to go back to the 2005/2006 season to see such insipid numbers of the six-time winner of the Golden Ball. Back then, his first goal had to wait until matchday 13, while throughout his long and successful career, only last season did he have to wait until matchday 8 to see the door for the first time and it was due to exceptional circumstances. , as La Liga started injured. On average, Messi touches 30 balls less than in Barcelona, in a clear example that the position of extreme right does not benefit him at all.
“Seeing him on the right wing is a bit weird, he would do better in a centered position. But it is a decision of the coach for the balance of the team. I would see him better from behind the striker, in the heart of the game, as he already did at Barcelona. On the right it is complicated. Leo has to serve as a player who brings vision of the game to the team. It is less dangerous playing on the right than in the heart of the game “, Giuly emphasizes in an interview with Le Parisien.
Messi’s position, misplaced for many in France, has not been able to give us, so far, the best version of the Argentine in Ligue 1. In Paris, the new signing of PSG has not been able to shine as if he did in the national team or as he already did in Barcelona and Pochettino must find a solution as soon as possible for his star. On Friday, against Lille, Messi has another opportunity to continue adapting to his new team with the aim of integrating faster and faster in the French capital.
Only Messi and Mbappé understand each other
If something has become clear in the first months of competition, it is that Messi and Mbappé are the players who have understood the best of the magical trio of PSG, although only in the Champions. Before him City, in which it was Messi’s first goal with his new team, the Argentine star combined with Bondy’s talent to make the final 2-0 on an extraordinary wall that caused the noisy stands of the Parc des Princes to vibrate for the first time with Messi.
Last week, against Leipzig, Messi and Mbappé met again, both being decisive to consummate the comeback against the German team. In the tie at 2, the French international found Rosario and, at 3-2, he signed Messi on the penalty spot, Mbappé was involved again to force the momentous penalty that gave the capital team victory. The only one that seems to work, for the moment, both in Ligue 1 and in the Champions League is Mbappé. The forward is pulling the car in the decisive moments without needing the help of Messi or Neymar a few months after his contract expires in Paris.
If PSG wants to aspire to the Champions League, Pochettino has to find before the qualifying rounds a system that enhances his three most differential pieces. At the moment, the puzzle is being very complicated for the Argentine coach, who has based his entire game on individual talent, being unable to find a system that generates automatisms or synergies favorable to the magical attack trio. At the moment, the results are accompanying the former coach of the Tottenham, but criticism begins to mount in Paris.