Paris Saint-Germain beat FC Nantes (2-1) during the 15th day of Ligue 1 at the Parc des Princes. And for the second consecutive time in the championship, Luis Enrique positioned Kylian Mbappé at the forefront of his attack in a 4-3-3.
PSG enjoyed another success in Ligue 1 this Saturday evening, against FC Nantes (2-1) on the 15th day. This is also the eighth consecutive victory in the championship for Paris, which represents the best current series in the European Top 5 and its longest personal since the May-September 2021 period under Mauricio Pochettino. And during this match won against the Canaries, the Spanish coach, Luis Enrique, made some surprising tactical choices, a few days before a fundamental trip against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. One of the points which questioned the most observers on Saturday evening was the tenure of Kylian Mbappé as number 9, alone at the forefront of the Parisian attack in the classic 4-3-3 of the Spanish tactician.
“Kylian has total freedom in attack. He has duties in defense, like all players, but he has the freedom to go on the wing, in the center or as a false nine. He played the last match (against Le Havre) like the others. Total freedom for Kylian and we compensate for this mobility ,” Luis Enrique first underlined to the press on Friday, the day before the clash against the Canaries. The former AS Monaco prodigy therefore has all the keys in hand to take on the role he wants in the Parisian collective - regardless of the system chosen by Luis Enrique, just like his announced positioning in the starting eleven. Some see it as a way of blurring the lines and making it more difficult to read the Parisian offensive tactics, others think that it spoils the qualities of Mbappé who would get lost on the field without a precisely defined role. An assumed imbalance which leads to numerous criticisms…
A complete first experience!
Already against Le Havre last weekend, the official compositions clearly announced the tenure of the captain of the French team at the forefront of the attack with two supporting wingers (Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé). But Gianluigi Donnarumma's red card pushed Luis Enrique to switch back to 4-3-2 with Dembélé and Mbappé in the axis of attack. Against Nantes, it was therefore the real first full experience of Kylian Mbappé in the number 9 position, alone at the forefront. A choice that the Spanish coach completely accepts since he prefers to put into perspective this placement which some consider curious or even inadequate with the qualities of the number 7 of PSG: “He did not play in the center. As in all matches, he had total freedom to go in the middle, on the sides, between the lines. It's been like this from the beginning, and it will continue. He has defensive tasks to fulfill but in attack he has total freedom. I repeat it a hundred times but it’s the truth ,” Luis Enrique explained at a press conference after the meeting on Saturday evening.
The first question that this positioning poses is the following: what about Gonçalo Ramos and Randal Kolo Muani ? A cumulative budget of 170 million on two real scorers to finally experience matches where the two professional number 9s of the Parisian squad remain seated on the bench to favor a Kylian Mbappé in dezoning mode. This first question would, in reality, pose very few concerns if the production and impact of PSG number 7 were at the level of his status. However, against FC Nantes, Mbappé was very far from achieving a great performance. A very complicated match for the captain of the Blues. After a first major opportunity, diverted by Lafont (2nd), he fished technically to find Kang-in Lee and Achraf Hakimi in particular. We also saw him on the ground a lot, calling for fouls and often looking for contact or even penalties. He had too few chances, only a long shot easily captured by Lafont (89th). The number 7 placed at number 9 still had difficulty finding a real standout place in the playing system proposed by Luis Enrique…