Paris Saint-Germain’s game away at Lille OSC next Wednesday meant that coach Laurent Blanc was obliged to rotate his squad for Saturday’s visit of OGC Nice. Although the French champions secured a narrow 1-0 win, thanks to Zlatan Ibrahimovic ’s first half penalty, the changes made by the Frenchman did not have the desired impact.
After a promising first half, it was a poor second 45, which made it an average overall performance from PSG. The hosts took their foot off the gas at half-time and Claude Puel’s Nice side were unlucky not to find a way back into the game.
Among the changes made by Blanc, captain Thiago Silva was restored to the starting XI along with Thiago Motta and Lucas Moura, while Serge Aurier and Lucas Digne were give rare chances to impress from the start.
The latter pair failed to grasp their opportunities.
I will take a closer look at Digne tomorrow, but Aurier I will look at now. Both were disappointing, but at least the Ivorian showed a few glimpses of quality during the match.
Starting in place of Gregory van der Wiel, Aurier looked as if he would enjoy plenty of the ball on the right early on and would be able to overlap and aid Lucas in giving Nice left-back Jordan Amavi a torrid time. It did not work out that way though, with the 21-year-old given more of a test defensively than was expected.
While Van der Wiel is by no means an outstanding player in terms of his tracking back and general defensive play, Aurier’s performance meant that the Dutchman was sorely missed. PSG were susceptible to Nice’s wide threats on both sides and neither the former Toulouse man, nor Digne, looked comfortable enough to adequately deal with Les Aiglons’ attackers.
Too often Aurier’s lack of concentration was exposed and almost led to sloppy mistakes. In fact, had Silva not been present in defence once more, perhaps the PSG No. 19’s lapses would have led to a goal in the same way they did in his return to face former side Toulouse earlier this season.
Going forward, the African was slightly better and did offer a small threat on that flank. However, compared with the constant danger that Van der Wiel proves to opponents, Aurier did not do enough to put the Netherlands international’s place under threat with his performance.
Had the team collectively not let their heads drop during the game, the summer signing might have found it a little easier to make an impression. That is where Aurier should come into his own, though.
At Toulouse, the Ivory Coast international was a dynamic right-back, capable of getting forward and scoring goals. So far, his all-action approach has not come through in Paris, and Blanc is still waiting to regularly see the same player that he thought the team were getting over the summer.
Handed a chance to stake his claim for regular starts with Van der Wiel’s recent red card, Aurier did well against Olympique de Marseille . He will be disappointed at his inability to truly seize a great chance to build on that promise after a slow start to life at the Parc des Princes.
Overall though, Aurier was not the biggest concern on the day for PSG.
The result was good enough to move Les Parisiens to within one point of Marseille at the top of the Ligue 1 table and is a ninth consecutive win in all competitions. Blanc’s squad rotation won’t stop there and Aurier will get other chances in the future.
However, he must start taking them if he is to avoid being a full-time substitute to Van der Wiel.
from Bleacher Report http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Bleacherreport/~3/wajJVU7qMyo/2283578-lack-of-serge-aurier-progress-a-concern-as-zlatan-seals-psg-win-over-nice
via IFTTT November 29, 2014 at 10:56AM
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