Analysis: How Javier Pastore found his swagger again
After three stop-start seasons at PSG, Javier Pastore has finally started to fulfil his potential. Marcus Raymond explores the Argentine’s meteoric rise.
Paris Saint-Germain recently secured their third consecutive Ligue 1 title with a 2-1 away win against Montpellier. It wasn’t exactly a shock, as, despite a good start from Marseille and a legitimate challenge from Lyon’s young guns, once Monaco sold James Rodriguez and Falcao without really replacing either of them, it seemed a matter of if, not when the Parisian giants would once again claim their place atop French football.
In fact, at least in the first half of the season, they seemed to know it, exuding an off-putting mixture of both laziness and arrogance as they dawdled behind firstly Marseille and then later Lyon. Since about February though, the team looked far more engaged and attentive, reeling in their less financially blessed rivals before eventually overtaking them in the last month or so.
However, the main catalyst in that turnaround hasn’t been one of the usual superstars – Zlatan and Thiago Silva having to contend with both injury and suspension throughout the season, while other supporting cast members such as Edison Cavani have been inconsistent season at best. Instead, it has been Javier Pastore who has played the biggest part in dragging this team to the top of the table, dictating play in the attacking third with a heady mix of gorgeously balanced dribbling, pinpoint passing and supernatural awareness.
Of course, Pastore is hardly a ‘nobody’; he cost PSG nearly €40m when they bought him from Palermo at just 21 years of age back in 2011 and was touted by many who watched him closely in his formative years in Argentina and Italy to have the potential to be the best player in the world. In Paris though, things have gotten a little more complicated and tortuous since the time when Pastore arrived. In his first year, he was the centrepiece of the team – the jewel in the crown. In that role he thrived for the most part, scoring 16 goals while laying on 7 assists. However, PSG didn’t win the title and bigger names were bought in, marginalising the Argentine to a supporting role, while on multiple occasions during the 2013/4 season, Pastore was simply dropped from the squad altogether.
He didn’t help himself at times either. His languid style can (and often does) make him appear disconnected and disinterested, which in turn can manifest itself in the game simply passing him by as he daintily jogs around the attacking third. This is a grudgingly accepted trait in a player if he is the star of the team, as the likes of Ronaldo and Messi have shown from time to time in the past, but isn’t so readily tolerated by fans and coaches alike in players who aren’t considered crucial to the first team, which aptly described Pastore after those big arrivals.
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Thus, he was limited to cameo appearances and while at times he did provide flashes of his inimitable talent (particularly a beautiful solo goal against Chelsea in the Champions League), that’s all they were; flashes.
In all sports, but particularly football it seems, there is a certain poignant glory that accompanies players who fail to live up to their potential. Whether it be Ricardo Quaresma, Ariel Ortega or Juan Riquelme (in European football at least), there is a nostalgic excitement gleaned from imagining all the “what ifs” of a world class talent who didn’t quite make it.
It seemed, after the 2013/14 season and a subsequent snub from Argentina’s World Cup campaign, that a similar fate could befall Pastore. As a youngster someone who was earmarked for stardom, after making the wrong move at the wrong time, looked like he was on a Robinho-esque path to near irrelevance to everyone bar those who were there for the rare flickers of inspiration. However last summer, Pastore got two big breaks that allowed him to regain both his confidence and his place in the PSG line-up.
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The first is that; had PSG not had Financial Fair Play sanctions hanging over their head, they probably would have bought Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid, effectively ending Pastore’s career in the capital and further stunting his growth. As it is, the very system that (had it been in place in 2011) would have stopped Pastore joining PSG, now not only saved his career at the highest level of football as a whole.
The second was actually not being picked for the World Cup, as it allowed him to stay in Paris and enjoy a full preseason at the club. This meant that, following good showing in some tour games, he was back in contention for a starting place at the beginning of the season. Like the rest of the team, he had an uneven first few months, a stretch of play that in previous years that may have brought about the end of his involvement. Therefore it is to Laurent Blanc’s credit that he stuck with the enigmatic playmaker and has been richly rewarded in the second half of the season.
In fact, Pastore has been something of a stalwart for this PSG side, appearing in 50 games and playing more minutes than any other outfield player this season in the league, while he is second only to Cavani in terms on minutes in all competitions. His performances since about mid-November have been consistently good, while he has been spectacular in the past two or three months, prompting Eric Cantona to call him the best player in the world at the moment.
While that statement may seem ludicrous while Messi and Ronaldo still walk the earth, is really isn’t as crazy as it seems if those two are removed from the conversation, such is the level Pastore has reached this calendar year.
He has found a home as the fulcrum of PSG’s attacking play, instead of trying to be the end product, which he was at times when he joined. He has always been a wonderfully creative player. But this season he has accentuated that part of his game further, racking up 15 assists in all competitions. In addition to those numbers, he has been involved in countless other goals without receiving any direct credit, including both of PSG’s goals in the weekend.
At his best, Pastore is able to combine the best of what previous Argentine playmakers have bought to the position with his own brilliance and elegant dribbling ability. The philosophy of La Pausa is a more traditional Argentine trait that Pastore is able to subconsciously embody. Described as “the moment what a number 10, poised to deliver a pass, delays a fraction, waiting for the player he is looking to feed to reach the ideal position”; it is an extraordinarily subtle and difficult skill, yet also one that Pastore has mastery over, as demonstrated in that Montpellier match when he freed Serge Aurier down the wing before the fullback crossed to set up their second goal.
Javier Pastore’s form of late has helped PSG win a 3rd consecutive Ligue 1 title. Source: Getty Images
He mixes that with his ability to simply glide through defences with the ball at his feet; shifting it with the feather-light touch and surreal balance of a young Zidane. That isn’t to say he is currently on the French maestro’s level (though at times he is truly awe-inspiring), but in the same way that Zidane didn’t need the lightening quick feet of Messi or the endless box of tricks Ronaldo can pull from to carve up a defence, so Pastore relies on a similar set of subtle turns and movements.
Despite, some early hiccups, Pastore appears to be fulfilling his sizeable potential in the French capital, and while one excellent season isn’t nearly enough to consider him a great player just yet, it does drag him away from the likes of Quaresma as players who failed to live up to their early career hype. That is, of course, objectively good for both him and football as a whole, as he gets a chance to express his talent more regularly on the biggest stage in the sport. However, at the same time, if he goes on to play at this level for the rest of his prime (and there’s little reason after this season to think he won’t), he will lose that odd sense of sentimental bliss that comes with those who promise so much and don’t quite make it. Either way, it’s gonna be a great ride.