Defensive Weakness Forces Paris Into Draw With Ajax

What should have been a powerful opener at the Amsterdam ArenA for Paris St Germain, ended up being a mediocre attempt at establishing their champions status. In a final 1-1 draw with Ajax, Paris proved that much of their style, formation and tactics need rejuvenation. This is a club whose sole goal is surrounded by their success in the Champions League and on the note that they left with Ajax, this was not the case. Paris’ momentum began the game with a forceful push upon the Dutch side, penetrating the defense without any real threat of netting a goal.

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The young Ajax defense made a countless immature attempts at pushing their opponents away from their half, culminating in the first goal of the night by Edison Cavani in the 14th minute. A wonderful chip over the goalkeeper in a fury of Jasper Cillessen trying to retrieve the ball. After this, no enormous threat succeeded for the Parisens. A missed free kicks of Zlatan Ibrahimovic later, it was half time and Les Bleus could’ve impressed much more. Ajax coach, Frank de Boer seemed to have unloaded a heavy set of words on his youngsters during the half as the Eredivisie champions came out with more propulsion than the Parisiens. Although in the second half Ajax had 52 percent more possession than Paris, Les Bleus had more opportunities to score–some failed attempts, others rookie mistakes. Lucas Moura and Gregory Van Der Wiel are on the hot seat for these mistakes–but overall the teams attitude was defensive instead of offensive.

Source: Ligue 1

Although that attitude was effective from the midfield, the defense once again has exposed where Paris are weak. This again, highlights the dire need for Thiago Silva’s return. The central defense of David Luiz and Brazilian partner, Marquinho’s was far from impressive– some credit should be given to the display of courage Marquinho’s has given to the team upon filling Silva’s shoes. But in the Champions League not alot can be forgiven. Lessons must be learned or the further points of this tournament will not be reached. Most of the defensive work was cleaned up under the pressures of Blaise Matuidi and Thiago Motta. Matuidi proved that his presence on the pitch is not only an asset but an absolute must. His penetration of the left wing was outstanding, gathering chances for the middle attack in Ibra and Cavani, as well as his partnership with Marco Verrati who is always valuable. Yet the midfield’s job should not become more difficult if the defense cannot keep up with their work rate. Thus, any free balls were taken full advantage of by the Ajax attack which finally culminated in a brilliant free kick from Lasse Schöne and a few threats only minutes after their equalization. The dutch side were impressive at home, and put up more momentum than their giant counter parts.

Overall, the tactics of Blanc are becoming heavily exposed in Europe and in Ligue 1. A reconstruction of their strength is a must, not a option.

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Defensive Weakness’ Force Paris Into Draw With Ajax

By Lauren Maharaj | Sep 17, 2014