PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique could only crouch down and watch as Monaco’s attacks kept coming in waves, his players powerless to stop them.
After weeks of saying his team is attacking and defending better than last season, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, Luis Enrique’s body language spoke for itself.
And afterward he simply could not gloss over Friday’s 3-1 home defeat to Monaco in Ligue 1, which could have been far heavier given how easily the visitors’ swift counterattacks pierced PSG’s midfield and flanks.
“We were very imprecise for many parts of the match, we made some unusual mistakes. We made mistakes, a lot of mistakes,” he said. “This is a crucial moment in the season, but it’s up to us to turn things around, to regain our confidence. I want to be optimistic.”
It was PSG’s seventh defeat of the season in all competitions, and fourth in the past 13 games. Next up is Chelsea at home on Wednesday in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 game.
“What I want to say is that I don’t want to lose faith in this team,” said Luis Enrique, who sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as his players. “It’s not the best result to arrive in the Champions League, we’re aware of that.”
PSG’s run to a first Champions League trophy last season surprised many observers, and PSG almost followed up with another trophy only to lose the Club World Cup final to Chelsea on July 13.
An exhausting season saw some players having around 60 games, and then getting scant recovery time before facing Tottenham in the UEFA Super Cup one month later.
Key players like Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, forward Désiré Doué and midfield schemer João Neves have had persistent muscle injuries this season, which suggests they did not have enough of a break over the summer.
Dembélé and Vitinha, for example, played the whole game against Tottenham. Three weeks later, Dembélé and Doué — who started the match against Tottenham — both picked up muscle-related injuries playing for France.
Physical and mental fatigue
PSG’s high-octane play requires constant mobility, with speedy players darting all over the field, while the counter-pressing from the forwards requires Dembélé to harry defenders — like he did so efficiently when PSG routed Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final.
But this style of play is hugely demanding physically, and some of PSG’s players — notably Vitinha, who is well below his best — are looking exhausted.
This has translated into clumsy mistakes on the field from midfielders like Vitinha and Warren Zaïre-Emery, who gave the first goal away against Monaco after failing to dribble out of the the penalty area. Lee Kang-in lost possession in midfield leading up to Monaco’s third goal.
“It’s one of the things we need to improve. We clumsily gave the ball away,” PSG left back Nuno Mendes said. “Running toward our goal (defending) is not what we like. We like to run at the opponents’ goal.”
Luis Enrique acknowledge that mental fatigue is creeping in and affecting confidence.
“When there are problems it’s the mind that shuts down first. It’s a strange, unpleasant feeling,” he said. “Confidence isn’t something you buy at Monoprix (the supermarket), you have to build it day after day. We’re having some difficulties, but we have to keep hoping we can turn things around.”
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