Monday 16 January 2012

PSG 3-1 Toulouse - Ancelotti makes a striking difference



So far so good. Carlo Ancelotti's first league game at the helm of Paris St Germain ended in a 3-1 victory over Toulouse on Saturday night, a result which cements the PSG's position atop Ligue 1.

"We started the match a bit timidly but after Nene's goal and during the second half I think we played well with some good counter-attacks and a good attitude displayed by the players," said a happy Carletto afterwards.


"All of the players worked really hard. We attacked together and defended together and had numerous chances."

The Italian sprung a surprise before kick off, naming a side with no recognised front man. With Kevin Gameiro on the bench ("It was a medical decision, we did not want to take risks," explained Ancelotti) alongside Hoarau, and Erding nowhere to be seen, Jezza Menezza was employed as a "false nine" ahead of Pastore and Nene.

This seemed like a slightly bizarre idea to me, but perhaps that's why CA gets paid €5million a year and I don't. Nene opened the scoring, seeing his shot deflect in after collecting a Milan Bisevac cross. Menez then put Pastore in for the second, before a solo third from Nene confirmed the points. Daniel Brattan's late consolation will have been little, er, consolation for the visiting fans.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this morning's papers are speculating that the future doesn't look bright for either Hoarau or Erding, with the latter once again being linked with Rennes, Lille, Bordeaux and anyone else who'll have him. Erding would be no great loss, but even if we do add another striker to the squad I'd be inclined to keep Hoarau. I guess CA is thinking that with Gameiro, a.n. other, and the Menez option we would have enough different combinations, but two proper strikers doesn't seem enough to me, and it's not like we're need to save money. Hoarau's height gives us a different dimension, particularly as in the first half of the season we've struggled against teams with big, strong, defences.

It's also noticable that our list of targets is dwindling on an almost daily basis. Ancelotti admitted after Saturday's match that he likes Carlos Tevez, but even though the Argentinian's move to Meelan appears to have fallen through I don't think he'll end up in Paris. There's no point getting shot of Hoarau and ending up with someone who's no better, or worse Marouane Chamakh.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More

 
Design by Free WordPress Themes | Bloggerized by Lasantha - Premium Blogger Themes | Grants For Single Moms