Paris St Germain: A Year In Review

Paris St Germain, The Qatari owned and financially confident Capital club has had a magnificent year domestically, but still faces the same struggles with old demons like complacency. Laurent Blanc had a very edgy year, knowing that the club’s ultimate purpose under Qatari ownership was to win trophies, most importantly become a hefty challenger for the Champions League.

Luckily, Blanc has surely lead the team to greater place than they have been in the past, but he has also made the team victim to redundant tactics, exposing their inner weaknesses along the way. At the beginning of the year, Ezequiel Lavezzi had been one of the club’s greatest assets, especially with his step up in Zlatan’s absence during injury.

The Argentine was not only assisting heavily, but becoming a confident goal scorer as well. His influences extended into the Champions League quarter final against Chelsea where he helped lead the team, defensively, on the attacking front and athletically to a 3-1 victory at the Parc des Princes.

As Lavezzi’s importance grew, Edinson Cavani’s confidence dwindled, the Uruguayan struggled to attain the central set piece Zlatan left behind during his injury.

After the summer break, with a semi successful (in his own right, perhaps not for the nation) World Cup in hand, Cavani moved into the 2014/2015 season with momentum and power, especially because of his demands to stay as a central striker in order to complete his happiness at the club.

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Blanc took his value seriously, offered him the opportunity and once again, in the absence of a injured Zlatan, Cavani finally engraved his mark. Cavani began to secure fine finishes, evolve his chemistry with the rest of the squad as a whole and began to grow immensely while Ibra recovered on the sidelines.

Included in this ascendancy was Lucas Moura, the reckless and athletic Brazilian youngster finally began to unveil himself from the shadows he played behind. In Ibra’s absence, penalty duties became his, allowing him to begin a tally of personal goals in Ligue 1 and the Champions League. His dominance of the flanks started to flourish and help the threat of Lavezzi and Cavani become even more dangerous.

C.gavelle psg.fr credit

With goals coming from so many places, including the midfield, Paris had almost went into the Christmas season undefeated in all competitions. The problem was the break in chemistry when Zlatan arrived once again. The talisman had a frustrating year, missing out on some of the club’s most important moments, including their narrow loss to Chelsea in the Champions League quarter finals.

Zlatan also missed his opportunity to re attain his glory by leading Sweden to the World Cup, in a disappointing play off against Portugal. Going into the 2014/2015 season, Zlatan’s form looked to be sharp and precise as an extended rest period sought him advantage over his teammates. Zlatan went to Beijing in August to help Paris win their 4th Trophee des Champions, displaying his artistry and well known magic along the way.

It’s unfortunate that his form became short lived as not long into a season which looked fruitful with hope for the Swede, came to a halt with a serious heel injury. So far the injury has kept Zlatan out for 7 weeks, finally making his return at Paris’ first round of Le Classique. Since then his presence has still been afloat, of course influential, as he lifts the spirits of the team and fans, but careful.

Because of Zlatan’s long absence, Paris had to reconstruct itself into a club that could function well without him and they were successful — this is why during his return, the pieces had trouble falling back into place, including the inter-weaved relationship in attack between Cavani and Ibra. Paris have gone into the winter break and end of the year on a negative note.

Blanc’s men suffered serious vengeance from Barcelona in the Champions League, and then a dreary performance and loss against EAG Guingamp in France. In the follow, Paris also showed their worst demon still had a grip on them against Montpellier, the inconsistent side with weakness written across the squad, in a 0-0 draw.

In the dip of form across the board, Paris sit in 3rd and Blanc once again finds himself in a very fragile position. This also ignites lack of inspiration from the team and will not provide them the right force and momentum to dominate during times where it matters most. We await what 2015 will bring.

Revons Plus Grand!