PSG coach Tuchel searching for ‘answers’ after just two games
‘A lot of our players aren’t at 100 percent’
PARIS, Aug 22, (AP): Paris SaintGermain coach Thomas Tuchel is searching for answers just two games into the French league.
The problems which surfaced toward the end of last season – a lack of commitment from some players, loose defending, and tactical shortcomings from Tuchel – are still apparent. Dating to April, PSG have won only five of 13 matches, with 16 goals conceded in five away defeats.
In addition, Tuchel has to contend with an increasingly tense situation regarding Neymar.
So jovial with the media for most of last season, Tuchel now sounds irritated.
After a 2-1 loss at Rennes on Sunday, he wearily complained his players lacked fitness due to shorter preparation time. Some were involved in the Copa America, for example, which finished on July 7.
“It’s not an easy situation because a lot of our players aren’t at 100 percent,” Tuchel said. “There are players with (only) eight or nine training sessions behind them. We’re not at full strength.” His argument does not stand up.
PSG started with a staggering 14 straight league wins last season – following a World Cup which finished on July 15. PSG players Kylian Mbappé and Presnel Kimpembe were part of the victorious France squad, with Mbappé netting in the final.
PSG winger Angel Di Maria (Argentina), striker Edinson Cavani (Uruguay) and right back Thomas Meunier (Belgium) were involved in the competition’s knockout stages, with Meunier scoring in the thirdplace match on July 14.
The Rennes defeat was alarming, regardless of fitness. PSG lost the ball more than 100 times and the high number of fouls committed (19) showed a lack of control.
“(I have) never seen a PSG like that.
It was a fiasco,” former PSG center half Alain Roche, who made nearly 200 appearances for the club, said on Canal Plus television. “What’s more worrying is there’s no team spirit, collectively. This team quickly finds itself in trouble when it doesn’t have the ball.” PSG defended very poorly against Rennes. Center half Thiago Silva, once considered by some the best defender in the world, was caught badly out of position on the second goal. On the first, a passive Marquinhos was slow reacting to striker M’Baye Niang’s sharp turn.
The lack of fight after trailing 2-1 showed there is still a lack of leadership.