A lot was expected of Paris Saint-Germain this season, despite a few key departures in the summer. After dominating Ligue 1 for many years, the Parisians lost their key talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Manchester United on a free transfer and felt that it was best to sack Laurent Blanc, who failed to take them forward in the Champions League.
Many PSG fans were optimistic heading into the season with former Sevilla boss Unai Emery taking over, but that optimism soon turned to embarrassment. Here are five reasons why Paris Saint-Germain have been the most disappointing club in Europe this season.
#5 Unai Emery wasn’t the right man for the job
After the sacking of Laurent Blanc, a big appointment was expected to take PSG to the next level. For so many years they had been stuck at the same stage of the Champions League and they needed a specialist to take them to where they needed to be.
Talks were held with Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger, but both turned PSG down. That left them with only one option left; the then Sevilla boss Unai Emery. He had done very well with Sevilla in the Europa League, winning it three years in a row with the Spanish club, but had never won a domestic league in his entire career. For Blanc’s many faults, he would never devalue Ligue 1, and whilst Emery tried his hardest, his lack of experience cost them throughout the season.
His inexperience at a club with huge expectations were shown in public for seemingly the first time, but at times he did have them playing very well. The first leg against Barcelona and away to Marseille sticks out as performances of the season, but he didn’t seem to know what to do when it really mattered.
#4 Failure to live up to expectations
As mentioned before, expectations were high heading into the current campaign. It was meant to signal a fresh new start for PSG, a post Zlatan Ibrahimovic era at the club. It was meant to be more of a “team” as opposed to passing it to Zlatan for the goals.
Early season stutters stopped any immediate progression, and the start to their Champions League campaign was much more of the same. A 1-1 draw to Arsenal in a game they dominated should have been the warning signs. They’ve fallen well short of their targets and whilst they had Edinson Cavani to replace the goals scored by the Ibrahimovic, they didn’t have anyone else to chip in.
A lot more was expected from PSG this season, and one of the reasons they have been so disappointing this season is because they haven’t really gotten close to their own high standards.
#3 Poor recruitment
Every summer you can almost guarantee that some of the world’s best players will be linked with Paris Saint-Germain. Whether that be Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar or most recently Alexis Sanchez and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, PSG will always be busy in the transfer window. However, last summer’s signings have proven to be questionable, to say the least.
With Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani’s move to the centre saw a gaping hole on the left-hand side of the front three. Angel Di Maria and Lucas Moura had been playing on the right wing for most of the previous season, but PSG decided to bring in a 29-year-old Hatem Ben Arfa on a free transfer. Sure, he’d come off the back of an incredible season at Nice, but was he really the answer?
Grzegorz Krychowiak has been plagued by injuries during his time in the French capital, so it is rather harsh to judge him on this season alone. Jese Rodriguez from Real Madrid didn’t even last a whole season after he was shipped out on loan to Las Palmas in January. Goncalo Guedes may prove to be a good player in the future, but is he really worth €30m?
The only two successes from this season will be Julian Draxler and Thomas Meunier, and for a club with ambitions as high as PSG’s, they seriously need to buck their ideas up.
#2 Below par Ligue 1 campaign
Before every season, it’s almost a given that PSG will finish the season as Ligue 1 champions. They had done it four years in a row, and most people had backed them to win it again (including myself and various other notable pundits). But this season, it’s been a completely different kettle of fish.
On one hand, Monaco have been outstanding throughout the season and will go down as deserving champions, but PSG dropped too many silly points across the season that probably would have won them the league. Home draws to St. Etienne, Marseille, Toulouse and Nice along with away defeats to Toulouse, Guingamp, Montpellier and a vital game a few weeks ago at Nice where they simply imploded; it has not been good enough for Paris Saint-Germain.
It’s easy to sit here now and say “they should have won here” but PSG do not drop points away to Montpellier. They even failed to beat Toulouse this season, and without being disrespectful to a good Toulouse side, PSG should have enough quality to put them away at least once.
Next season will be huge for PSG in Ligue 1 because they need to win it more than they ever have done in the QSI regime.
#1 Pathetic Champions League exit
It’s one thing to go out of the Champions League to Barcelona, but it’s a completely different thing to throw away a 4-0 lead and score an away goal and still go out! After being drawn in a group containing Arsenal, Basel and Ludogorets, it was almost a certainty that PSG would make it through to the last 16, but even they made it extremely hard for themselves.
A home draw against Arsenal wasn’t the end of the world, but they had more than enough chances to win the game, and in the next game they laboured to a 3-1 away win against minnows Ludogorets. After beating Basel home and away, followed by yet another draw against Arsenal at the Emirates, a home draw to Ludogorets meant that the Parisians finished 2nd and drew Barcelona in the next round.
In the first leg at the Parc des Princes, PSG were incredible. They were fast, direct and played some absolutely fantastic football. They had just blown away one of the best teams in Europe and didn’t even need to break a sweat. Was this the season where everyone’s conceptions on PSG changed and they established themselves as European powerhouses? Of course not, because they completely capitulated in the second leg at the Nou Camp.
The mentality of the squad was completely wrong and they left Spain embarrassed, being the laughing stock of European football. It was described as a disgrace and had set PSG back even further in their chase for European domination.
Everyone had expected so much more out of this season, but after multiple poor performances in big games, Unai Emery faces the sack and once again leaves Paris Saint-Germain wondering where on earth do they go from here.
