For a club with all the money, Paris Saint-Germain are too reliant on one player

“When one is at PSG, one plays matches to win,” said a disappointed Blaise Matuidi after Paris Saint-Germain’s 1-1 draw with Monaco on Sunday night, a result that leaves the defending champions in third place after 22 matches. Paris Saint-Germain are only three points behind Monaco and Nice but it was the fourth time in 11 home matches they had failed to win. At this stage last season, Paris Saint-Germain had taken 28 of a possible 30 points at home and led the league by 21 points.

Paris Saint-Germain are not running away with the league but, when it comes to finances, there has been no real change in the power balance in Ligue 1. The club has shelled out close to £60m this winter on two players, Julian Draxler and Gonçalo Guedes, who play in a positions where the club was not desperate for reinforcements. Of the other teams chasing Champions League football next season, only Lyon, who are lagging behind in fourth, have made any sort of similar purchase, bringing in Memphis Depay from Manchester United. Leaders Monaco have signed the Ajax youngster Franco Antonucci for a paltry €3m, while Nice have added the veteran midfielder Mounir Obbadi on a free. Monaco spent freely last summer on the likes of Djibril Sidibé and Kamil Glik but a marked gap in financial resources remains firmly in effect.

However, the other sides have started to close the gap on the pitch. Monaco were good at the Parc de Princes, if not at their best, but they still managed to expose the champions’ tactical limitations and lack of depth. Injuries and suspensions have handicapped PSG since throughout the Qatari era, with Javier Pastore becoming something of a punchline, but he is far from alone. Layvin Kurzawa, Adrien Rabiot and Thiago Silva have all missed significant chunks of this season.

Rabiot’s form has improved dramatically this season but he is replaceable – as are Kurzawa and Silva, with Maxwell and Presnel Kimpembé effective replacements. Marco Verratti, though, is a different story. The Italian is well-known for his combative style and penchant for bookings, but more than that, his intelligent passing and dribbling ability allow Les Parisiens to play their preferred style more effectively.

Relying on an almost hypnotic rhythm, Paris Saint-Germain comfortably lead the league in possession, with Verratti and Thiago Motta regularly recording 100 touches in a match. Not only does Verratti’s precise movement and passing help his team retain the ball, but his vision – be it a pass over the top for a pacey winger or a through ball for Matuidi – allows the team to maximise their talents. With the side missing Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s match-winning ability, the little Italian has become perhaps their most important player, and certainly the one who is most difficult to replace.

Verratti missed the Monaco match with a calf injury and Paris Saint-Germain were a different animal without him, relying more on directness than a carefully crafted approach. Manager Unai Emery had experimented early in the season with a 4-2-3-1 formation similar to the one he used at Sevilla, but he has long since given up on that idea and persisted with the same 4-3-3 employed by his predecessors, Laurent Blanc and Carlo Ancelotti. Against Monaco he played Motta, Matuidi and Rabiot in midfield, with the Italian sitting deepest. As usual they had the majority of the ball but, with only 55% possession, they were well off their usual mark. Moreover, their possession was often sterile, amounting to little more than short passes between Motta and the defence, with their fear of being caught on the counter manifesting itself as a paralysing lack of imagination.

One would not expect any club, even one as moneyed as the champions, to thoroughly dominate against the league leaders, but Verratti’s absence underscored Paris Saint-Germain’s inability to assert themselves on the match. Lacking his ingenuity, the midfield three’s contribution to attack consisted mostly of aimless runs, hoping to latch on to a ball over the top from Motta or one of the centre-backs, or to get on the end of a cross. Rabiot and Matuidi score the odd goal, but much of their attacking contributions are down to their physicality or graft, and against Monaco’s midfielders, Fabinho and Tiemoué Bakayoko, they faced those attributes in spades.

With the usual tactics producing diminishing results, might Emery have missed a trick by not making his mark on the team? Last summer he appeared to be buying players who would suit a 4-2-3-1: Grzegorz Krychowiak could rotate with Rabiot and Verratti in midfield, with the Italian potentially an option as a playmaker as well. Motta and Matuidi looked to be on their way out – with Matuidi almost moving to Juventus – but, when Krychowiak failed to settle and Rabiot’s form improved, Emery ceded to the players’ preferred 4-3-3.

Would his original formation have worked better? Lucas Moura has a propensity to cut inside from the right wing, often taking up a position at the edge of the area to link play with an overlapping full-back or play a through ball to Cavani. He could have played as a No10, with Ángel Di María and Draxler on the wings. Hatem Ben Arfa has been no favourite of Emery’s but likewise he could do a job. In midfield, we saw in the summer with France that Matuidi is never part of a 4-2-3-1, but Rabiot’s blend of mobility and physical presence would have made him an ideal partner for Motta in front of the defence.

Playing like this, Paris Saint-Germain would not only have had all of their most dangerous attackers on the pitch, but they would also have benefited from more natural width, which would have stopped Monaco from exploiting the space left on the wings. Changing his formation might have failed miserably, of course, but Emery’s lack of courage speaks volumes about the mentality of the manager and the club.

Paris Saint-Germain have been in cracking form of late – they had won their six previous matches – and they had a chance to claw back some points on the leaders, but they failed to respond to the situation, either tactically or in terms of individual performances. Verratti is a top-drawer player who would be welcome on any side in the world but, given the disparity in financial realities between Paris Saint-Germain and the rest of the league, his absence should not have been felt as keenly as it was. They should not be making excuses, not even against an opponent of Monaco’s calibre. As Matuidi says, they should be playing to win.

Ligue 1 talking points

• Marseille had no issues eviscerating a hapless Montpellier at the Vélodrome on Friday evening, winning 5-1. Bafétimbi Gomis scored a hat-trick but the real stars were the wide players, Rémy Cabella and Florian Thauvin, one of whom will have to make way for new signing Dimitri Payet in the starting XI. Payet will probably not feature in the Coupe de France match against Lyon on Tuesday but the performances of Cabella and Thauvin should give Marseille fans hope for revenge against Les Gones.

• Lyon dominated the early proceedings against Lille on Saturday afternoon at the Parc OL but were unable to find a response after the visitors had gone ahead through a deflected goal. Memphis Depay played in Lyon’s 4-2-3-1, with Nabil Fékir behind Alexandre Lacazette, but Fékir, the winner of the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award in 2015, was a muted presence. Depay and Mathieu Valbuena have always been more effective playing in a 4-3-3, likewise Corentin Tolisso. A tactical change, with Fékir being dropped, might provide Lyon with a more coherent attack.
  

• Pierre Lees-Melou scored at the death to give Dijon a vital win over Lorient and the club now sit 13th. Still only three points clear of second-bottom Metz, Olivier Dall’Oglio’s team are hardly clear of the relegation scrap but they are unbeaten in five matches in all competitions. With the best goal difference in the bottom half of the table, at just –2, Dijon’s early-season struggles seemed to be down to bad luck, but the team persisted in playing attractive, attacking football and are now closer to a place in the table that befits their style.

• When thinking about Ligue 1 teams with poor discipline, SC Bastia and Toulouse are likely to come to mind, but Metz lead the way this season, having had six players sent off in the league. In a massive match against fellow strugglers Angers this weekend, Renaud Cohade and Fallou Diagné were both sent off as their team lost 2-1 and ended their three-match unbeaten run. Both players had been in good form, but could face longer bans, further hurting Metz’s already tenuous chances of survival.
  

• Bordeaux continued apace in their new-look 4-3-3 on Saturday, handing Nancy a first home defeat since October, 2-0. Bordeaux now sit seventh, just a point off fifth place and European football. Manager Jocelyn Gourvennec took his time finding the best system and personnel, but with every team below the top three struggling for consistency, a European return could be on the cards.
  

• Nantes manager Sergio Concieção has rarely changed his starting XI but that looked set to change when he brought in Felipe Pardo on loan from Olympiakos. The Colombian, who had worked with Concieção at Braga, seemed certain to become a starter on the right side of midfield, but Jules Iloki has managed to keep his place. A goal against derby rival Rennes will not have hurt his chances, either, the academy product showing there is more than just pace to his game.

• Saint-Étienne benefited from two dubious penalties against Toulouse on Sunday to win 3-0, recording consecutive league victories for the first time this season. The win follows a similarly specious result against Angers, but merely scoring goals will give them some badly needed confidence before their derby against Lyon next weekend.
  

Ligue 1 results

Marseille 5-1 Montpellier
Lyon 1-2 Lille
Angers 2-1 Metz
Bastia 1-1 Caen
Lorient 2-3 Dijon
Nancy 0-2 Bordeaux
Rennes 1-1 Nantes
Nice 3-1 Guingamp
Toulouse 0-3 St Étienne
Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Monaco