Paris Saint-Germain got absolutely roasted by the French press after another genuinely disappointing performance in Ligue 1, losing 2-1 to Monaco on Friday. The Parisians put up a lacklustre display that earned them some truly brutal player ratings, making it another game gone by without a win to kick off their season.
The Monaco Mess & The Brutal Report Card
That 2-1 defeat to Monaco was ugly, and L’Equipe’s marks out of ten tell you everything you need to know about how bad it was. Seriously, if you want a picture of disappointment, just look at those scores. Goalie Safonov got a low mark, and he wasn’t alone. Pacho, Vitinha, and Joao Neves were right there with him, barely getting anything to their name. And it didn’t get much better for Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Warren Zaire-Emery, Fabian Ruiz, or Desire Doue. The only guys who came away with any shred of credit were Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Magnes Akliouche. What’s even wilder is that all the starters on Friday, except for Akliouche, were on the squad last season. You’d think there would be way more familiarity and cohesion by now, but apparently not.
Safonov’s Struggles & The Deeper Worries
Look, the team can definitely get a lot better, and to be fair, nobody in Paris is actually panicking despite this winless start. The official word is that PSG are slow starters by design, aiming to peak in May, and that strategy has worked for them in recent years. But still, complacency has been flagged as the big enemy this season, and guess what? The struggles in overcoming it have been “entirely predictable.” On top of the team’s overall form, Matvey Safonov’s individual performance has been a massive concern. The dude has conceded 6 goals from just 9 shots on target. He’s just not been at his best, and that’s putting it mildly. And as if that’s not enough to chew on, the situation around summer signing Lucas Digne is somehow “much more concerning” than the current results, with Chelsea reportedly linked to some “very ambitious ideas” about signing a “key PSG player.”
So, Luis Enrique has his hands full. Yeah, nobody’s panicking in Paris right now, which is the official line, right? But with Safonov’s form, the Digne rumors, and that totally predictable complacency rearing its head, the squad has a lot to sort out if they still want to be peaking in May. This winless start isn’t ideal, even for a team that designs itself to be slow.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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