PSG effective not flashy in Tuchel’s debut against Caen

Thomas Tuchel got off to a winning start as PSG manager on Sunday with a  3-0 victory over Caen in a match where several of the club’s big stars were absent.

At first glance, PSG and Thomas Tuchel don’t necessarily seem like an ideal match. Paris is a glamor city and PSG, at least since Qatar Sports Investments’ takeover of the club in 2011, have put forth all efforts to present themselves as a glamor club. And Tuchel, in his time with Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, hasn’t exactly come off as a man who has much time for glamor.

The German’s glaring intensity (recent Pharrell sing-a-long notwithstanding) would at least appear to be at odds with the effervescent flash that has been cultivated at the Parc des Princes in recent years. PSG’s May appointment of Tuchel as manager has the air of a move that will either fail as the result of an awkward clash of styles or succeed with both parties providing the other with something crucial that has been lacking in their prior endeavors. PSG’s expensive project has never featured a manager possessing the hardline disciplinarian reputation that Tuchel has, and Tuchel has never overseen a team this overstuffed with flashy, talented superstars.

Much of the flash Tuchel will ultimately have at his disposal for the highest profile managerial appointment of his career to this point wasn’t available for selection for PSG’s first Ligue 1 match of the 2018-19 season. The Parisian side’s lengthy list of absentees would largely prove irrelevant however, because their first Ligue 1 match of the 2108-19 season was at the Parc des Princes against lowly Caen, whose mistake-riddled play suggested their “relegation candidate” expectations are not unfounded.

PSG and Caen each deployed 4-3-3 formations, with Caen’s functioning as more of a 4-5-1 with wingers Casimir Ninga and Jessy Deminguet each withdrawn into wide midfield positions to help out defensively. Without Edinson Cavani (due to a calf injury) and Kylian Mbappe (due to being incredibly awesome at the World Cup, which ended just a bit too recently for him to feature in the match), PSG started with a front three of Angel Di Maria, Neymar (playing centrally) and Christopher Nkunku.

The central role Neymar occupied didn’t suit him. His 10th minute goal will do little to silence those posting memes of him rolling through various parts of the world, as it was primarily the result of a calamitous error from Caen goalkeeper Brice Samba.  Under no pressure, Samba inexplicably played the ball to directly Nkunku, who then slid a pass to Neymar for a simple finish.

Aside from being the fortunate beneficiary of Samba’s blunder, Neymar struggled to have much influence on the match. Caen set up in a low-medium block and did well to limit the distance between their backline and midfield. Anytime Neymar did get on the ball, Caen’s center-backs or central midfielders were able to quickly close him down. Neymar averaged 7.1 successful dribbles in Ligue 1 play last season, but was only able to complete one against Caen, per WhoScored. The Brazilian desperately missed the more spacious wide areas he generally operates in, and his sharp cuts and dribbles from those positions were noticeably missing on Sunday.

Also absent from PSG’s regular starting XI were midfield maestro Marco Verratti and full-backs Dani Alves and Alphonse Areola. Without Verratti’s line-splitting passes and Alves’ attacking contributions, PSG lacked dynamism in possession. Young full-backs Stanley N’Soki and Colin Dagba hugged the touchline and were defensively sound when called upon (which, to be fair, was not frequently), but offered little going forward. Wingers Di Maria and Nkunku were PSG’s liveliest players on the ball (Nkunku was especially active, accruing 77 touches, per WhoScored), but without incisive overlapping supporting runs being made by N’Soki and Dagba, they often found themselves isolated when on the ball.

Shaggy-haired malcontent Adrien Rabiot was tasked with getting into advanced areas from midfield, but his most effective moments came in transition. During the rare occasions that Caen did have possession of the ball, they attempted to build play from the back with side-to-side circulation. This approach was admirable, but admirable and successful are not synonyms.

After Samba’s errant pass gifted PSG their first goal, Caen’s ambitions with the ball again got the better of them for PSG’s second. Caen were unconvincingly moving the ball through their midfield when Rabiot intercepted a weak Prince Oniangue pass and pushed the ball out wide to Di Maria. The Argentine surged forward toward the end line, where he squared the ball back to the onrushing Rabiot, who converted the easy chance.

Another Samba howler generously allowed American Timothy Weah to score his first ever Ligue 1 goal, meaning all three of PSG’s goals were the direct result of dispossessing Caen in dangerous areas (in the case of Weah’s goal, a very dangerous area: the Caen goalmouth). Don’t let that give the impression PSG’s new German boss was having his team put on a gegenpressing clinic, however. PSG didn’t seek to aggressively regain possession during the sporadic periods Caen had the ball, and generally played the match at a tempo that could best be described as “appropriate for a summer friendly.”

It’s safe to say Tuchel wasn’t hired solely to manage PSG to victory over lower table Ligue 1 fodder. Tougher challenges lie ahead, and not just in terms of the opposition PSG will face. PSG’s lineup against Caen was largely comprised of the young, quality players Tuchel has been successful at managing thus far in his career, and he was unsurprisingly able to coax adequate performances from his youngsters on Sunday. When the stars (and their egos) return, we’ll get a better idea of just how good of a match Tuchel and PSG are.