Back to current affairs. After the second international break of the season, Kylian Mbappé and his little friends from PSG returned to training in Poissy this week. They have a meeting with Strasbourg this Saturday (5 p.m.), for the ninth day of Ligue 1. It will be without the Ultras Paris Collective, sanctioned after the homophobic chants sung against OM (4-0) ago a few weeks. Still, this is the first match in an intense series of six matches until mid-November and the last window dedicated to the selections of the year. After Racing, Paris has a meeting with Milan (10/15), Brest (10/29), Montpellier (11/03), Milan again (11/07) and finally Reims (11/11). Three matches at the Parc des Princes, three away.
Intense series and anything but devoid of issues. First of all, in the championship. Held in check three times (Lorient, Toulouse, Clermont) and beaten once (Nice), PSG only occupies third place in the standings, two points behind the Monegasque leader. “We can see it with the results, moreover not necessarily the results that we deserved in my opinion,” said Luis Enrique on the Parisian irregularity in recent weeks. You always have to improve everything, always work on everything, but I am very satisfied in terms of merit, with what the team is doing.
Mathematically, there is no fire in the lake, but the Rouge et Bleu, winners in Rennes (1-3) before the break, have every interest in stringing together good results and not letting go of points that they might regret it at the end of the season. “We had to get back up in the standings,” whispered Ousmane Dembélé after Rennes, who is still chasing his first Parisian goal. Note that PSG will face Monaco on November 26. A shock at the top that will be very expensive.
In the Champions League, on the other hand, the situation could quickly become worrying in the event of disappointment next Wednesday. “The objective is to go to the round of 16, it’s a difficult group but we are second in the standings,” Luis Enrique rightly noted after Newcastle (4-1 defeat). The last matches will be interesting, but we will have to manage them better. Attacking the return matches of this group stage behind Newcastle and Milan, with only one match at the Parc des Princes (Newcastle) would indeed be unfortunate. To see if “Lucho”, already deprived of Warren Zaire-Emery (foot), will decide to spare a few elements this Saturday against Patrick Vieira’s players. We think in particular of the South Americans, Manuel Ugarte and Marquinhos, as he did against Nice (2-3). In any case, the Spanish technician will have to work intelligently with his squad in order to avoid overheating in the weeks to come. “We need 23 players, not just 11,” he repeats over and over again.
Good news ? The infirmary is almost empty. Besides “WZE”, Nuno Mendes, Marco Asensio and Presnel Kimpembe are the only other injured. “Interesting player”, says Luis Enrique, Kang-in Lee is back from selection. “Lucho” will have to take all precautions with Lucas Hernandez: behind the French international, he doesn’t have many options on the left in defense…
However, some players are more essential than others, like a certain Mbappé. Although, the latter is not as radiant in Paris as with the French team. Usage question? “He’s not Superman when he scores eight goals (in his first five matches of the season) but he’s not a normal player when he doesn’t score either,” explained Luis Enrique recently, adding that his “the role is to ensure that we see our qualities, not our faults.” The ex-Barça coach, however, is not ready to cut corners on his philosophy and all his concepts to adapt to “KM”. He’s the boss. “With the freedom that I give him and that he needs, he was radiant,” judged Didier Deschamps after the gathering of the France team. Is “Lucho” giving him enough? To be refined.
In the meantime, Luis Enrique sees no problem with Mbappé. “All he lacked in the last matches with us were the goals, but he had very good matches, he had chances, he could have scored two or three,” insists the Asturian. With a player who has such statistics, we cannot think that he is not playing well just because he does not score in one or two matches (four in this case, Editor’s note). He plays very well with PSG and he plays very well with the France team. It’s a consistency in his career, he’s always good.”
More generally, Luis Enrique still needs time to find the right formula collectively and make his ideas and his football understand to the players. Normal. However, he no longer hesitates to take daring tactical directions, sometimes too much like at Newcastle. A match after which he did not have the same vision as many observers. “We lost him but I’m happy with what we did,” he said on Friday. He added: “The team is moving forward. We are progressing, I am very optimistic and very satisfied with what I see. That’s my perception.” The next few weeks should allow him to move the project forward and get everyone in tune with a squad that was turned upside down during the summer (11 arrivals). We could also see more clearly about the competition between Gonçalo Ramos (3 goals) and Randal Kolo Muani (2).
This sequence of matches also implies a regular presence of Luis Enrique in front of the journalists’ microphones. An exercise which is less and less to the Spaniard’s taste, more and more grating and nervous. Surprising, after only three and a half months at the head of the Parisian club… We’ll see if he continues on this path or if he puts a little water in his wine, remembering that he is primarily addressing the public through the media. Given his past experiences, particularly in selection, we would however be tempted to bet on the second option, even if he says he “loves” the media exercise. “If you ask me a question in a pleasant way I will answer the same way,” he slips.
The most important thing is obviously the results and the manner. This is what he will be judged on. And the coming weeks could largely influence the rest of the season, in particular the double confrontation against AC Milan in C1. This is why Luis Enrique is wary of this match against Strasbourg, which he imagines “much more difficult than against Milan” on Wednesday in terms of preparation, between the international window and the C1. Beyond the fact that Racing, 11th in the ranking, is “a very young team with a very good coach (Patrick Vieira), a highly motivated opponent, with many quality players who want to prove things”. It’s up to Parisians to make it easy.
