PSG 10-11 Season Update

It has been a while since I last blogged on Paris Saint-Germain and a lot has happened since mid-September. However, no sooner had I finished my article praising Antoine Kombouare for keeping the PSG squad together during this transfer window, Stephane Sessegnon left to join Sunderland throwing my finishing lines out the window.

Despite having lost a player of undoubted flair and ability, I think that the club have done some good business in letting the Benin international leave at this moment. Sessegnon has, for the best part of a year, been disrupting the team in his attempts to engineer a move away from the capital and, despite the club and the manager’s best efforts to keep him until the end of the season, it had become obvious over the last few weeks that he would not play for the club again in protest at being unable to move. After emancipating himself from the first team by refusing to train and falling out with Kombouare, Sessegnon had pulled out every stop to ensure that he would get his transfer. The move which sees PSG pocket seven million euros has come at the perfect time; the player has got his move and is one less headache for Kombouare, whilst the club get a good return on a player who has been out of the first team picture since November.

The transfer also comes as Saint-Etienne winger Dimitri Payet revealed that contract talks have broken down over an extended deal with Les Verts and that he would be keen to join the capital club after PSG officials enquired about the 23 year-old in the build-up to the Sessegnon transfer. This would be a considerable coup for Les Rouges-et-Bleu as Payet is a rising star on the domestic scene, an international and, having demonstrated his goalscoring prowess with an impressive 8 goals despite playing out wide; it would suggest that few will miss Sessegnon in the capital. However, PSG will have to wait until the summer to bring him in as the transfer failed to materialise before Monday’s deadline.

Otherwise, the squad is practically the same one that started the season. Siaka Tiene, bought from Valenciennes in August has yet to make any real impact, whilst Edel Apoula has ousted Gregory Coupet in goal, surely forcing the former French international into retirement. Guillaume Hoarau has overcome his difficulties in front of goal, establishing himself as first choice striker and centre-back Mamadou Sakho has earned rave reviews with some outstanding performances at the back.

On the pitch, Les Parisiens have been advancing strongly on three fronts and currently sit second in Ligue 1 having played just over half the season. Although currently four points behind surprise leaders Lille, they are three points clear of their closest rivals and have been in good form recently. They even looked set to reach another Coupe de la Ligue final before last week’s extra-time defeat to Montpellier, their second since late October when they succumbed to a home defeat to Auxerre.

Prior to that defeat, PSG endured consecutive, frustrating 0-0 draws with Rennes and Nice, whilst enjoying back-to-back 0-2 victories at Lens and Toulouse. Although the home draws were disappointing, the away victories maintained the capital club’s good league position as the early league table took shape. However, further disappointment at home followed as Auxerre claimed a 2-3 victory, leaving fans wondering if it was going to be a case of the same old story this season.

What happened next though proved to be a catalyst for Kombouare’s side. PSG travelled to Lyon for a Coupe de la Ligue tie that they managed to win 1-2 after extra-time and then went on a run that saw them draw 1-1 away to a difficult Montpellier side, win 2-1 at home against rivals Marseille in the Clasico, then pick up points at Lorient (1-1) and Lyon (2-2) either side of a home victory over Caen (2-1) followed by a Coupe de la Ligue victory at Valenciennes (1-3). They then registered victories over Brest (3-1) and Valenciennes (1-2) to briefly claim top stop from Rennes but a home draw against Monaco (2-2) and a surprise away defeat to Nancy (2-0) saw them slip to third going into the winter break.

Their form since returning has been impressive, with a 5-1 demolition of Lens at the Parc des Princes marking their return to the Coupe de France, followed by a 2-1 win over Sochaux in the league. However, the Coupe de la Ligue semi-final defeat in extra time (1-0) to Montpellier was a disappointment, but les Parisiens bounced back last weekend with a 2-3 victory over Agen in the Coupe de France, setting up a winnable quarter-final tie against lowly Martigues which they won 1-4 to reach the semi-final. They recorded a 1-2 victory at Arles Avignon on Saturday to maintain their league position.

These results see the club currently lying second in Ligue 1, but the real signs of progress have come in their Europa League performances. Drawn in a group containing Sevilla, Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund and minnows Karpaty Lviv, PSG were expected to finish third at best. However, they topped their group thanks to some outstanding results. Home (4-2) and away (0-1) triumphs over Sevilla and solid draws at home (0-0) and away (1-1) to Dortmund coupled with and an easy 2-0 home win over Karpaty saw Kombouare’s men qualify for the next round in top spot with a game to spare, where they fought out a 0-0 draw in Lviv with a second-string side. An impressive effort from PSG and their record of conceding only three goals in the group stages will give them great confidence as they head to Belarus to face BATE Borisov in February.

Kombouare will be thanking Nene in particular for their recent progress as he scored an impressive nine league goals, adding a number of other important strikes in Europe to cap a memorable end to 2010. Although 29, the Brazilian has never represented his country at the highest level, yet surely he must now be considered for future squads given his current form. His arrival has coincided with PSG’s resurgence as a force in French football after years of mediocrity and his impact on the team has been obvious as he has, at times, single-handedly kept the club in the title race. He has quickly become the face of the new PSG, as a playmaker and a scorer of simple and outrageous goals, also contributing sublime pieces of skill and assists that have rejuvenated players such as Hoarau and Ludovic Giuly who were stagnating in the capital. Whether he can maintain this form only time will tell, but if he does, then the club will face a tough task to keep hold of him as the bigger sides in Europe come calling.