The Rumour Mill: Blanc ready to go apple-bobbing for Chelsea ace?

I’m not a fan of Halloween.

Round my way it usually involves vaguely menacing groups of teenagers, who have made minimum effort with their costumes, going door-to-door demanding sweets. Rarely are they grateful, though at least last year I wasn’t threatened with a knife or a gun, so I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies.

Halloween means it’s nearly bonfire night, which means it’s nearly Christmas, which means it’s nearly time for the January transfer window. Hurrah.

Speculation has already started about who will be going where, but Laurent Blanc refused to discuss whether he will be sticking his head into the apple bobbing pool and coming up with Chelsea’s Juan Mata clutched between his teeth.

“The winter window? We'll discuss the period when the transfer window opens,” said a helpful White yesterday.

PSG were linked with Mata in the summer, and with the playmaker still reportedly unhappy at Stamford Bridge, a €35million bid could be on the cards.

A creative midfielder type, preferably left-sided, is top of the club’s shopping list according to L’Equipe, who earlier this week reported than PSG will be trick-or-treating at the doors of German clubs Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 hoping to be given a handful of Haribo and at least one of Arjen Robben, Marco Reus and Julian Draxler.

Robben appeared to pour cold water on the idea of a move to Paris in typically vague fashion.

"It's always an honour when a rich big team [like PSG] show an interest in signing you," he told Bild.

"But everybody knows that I am feeling very well at Bayern at the moment. I don't know anything about the rumour and I only want to think about playing football."

Reus, meanwhile, is also thought to be dans le viseur of Barcelona. Lucky boy.

Not much to report in terms of potential outgoings. Thiago Motta insists he has no intention of dressing up as a slutty nurse and going to a Halloween party at Juventus’s place.

“Today, I'm good here, rumours don't interest me,” said the Brazilian Italian, who obviously won’t be reading this article.

He continued: “I've heard them [the rumours]. I've been told about it, but I'm not interested because I feel good at PSG and I'm concentrating on my work.”

Javier Pastore seems to have been wearing a particularly scary Halloween costume since the summer, when he first started sporting his awful mini-Zlatan ponytail hair cut.

However, this week El Flaco has revealed a new, more conservative barnet, one which may help him land a January move to Liverpool, AC Milan, or Fenerbache.

"Football is made of high and lows,” Pastore’s agent Marcelo Simonian told Le Parisien today, as if gearing up to deliver a lecture. “He (Pastore) has had a good time here. But it’s not the time for nostalgia. We'll see what happens in the coming months.”

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Saint-Etienne 2-2 PSG: Matuidi's late intervention saves heavy-legged Parisiens

Last season, Saint-Etienne came back from 2-0 down to claim a draw with Paris Saint-Germain in our match at the Stade Geoffrey-Guichard.

This year the roles were reversed, with PSG recovering from a two-goal deficit to leave ‘The Cauldron’ with a point thanks to Big Bad Blaise Matuidi’s last-gasp equaliser against his former club.

"The legs were heavy, and the heads weren't clear either,” said Laurent Blanc, who perhaps should have dispensed some alka-seltzer during his pre-match team-talk.

“I thought four days' recovery [after the Champions League game in Anderlecht] would be enough. But if PSG weren't good it's also because of Saint-Etienne.

“We'd already shown our unity and tenacity at Marseille, and we'll need to have that because not every game will be as easy as the one at Anderlecht or against Benfica. Those are qualities you need to be a great team."

PSG are now unbeaten in open play in 30 matches in all competitions, a run which stretches back to the defeat to Reims last March.

Last night was probably the first time this season where this impressive record looked seriously under threat; we enjoyed plenty of possession, but most of it was in front of the ASSE back four, and for the first hour of the match we rarely hit the kind of tempo which was going to cause Christophe Galtier’s men problems. And at the back, sloppy passing and a lack of communication characterised our play, with mistakes leading to both the Saint-Etienne goals.

Brandao had already gone close when Benjamin Corgnet netted the first goal in the 18th minute. Marquinhos completely miskicked as he attempted to clear a ball in from the right, and Romain Hamouma was able to intercept and pass to Corgnet, who smashed it into the net beyond the reach of the helpless Salvatore Sirigu. Quelle merde, 1-0.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who expected a PSG onslaught to follow this goal, but it never came. Ibra and Cavani were quiet as a pair of agoraphobic church mice, and Lavezzi ran around a lot to no great effect.

Indeed, Sainte could have added to their lead when Fabien Lemoine’s dipping effort beat Sirigu but came back off the cross bar.

PSG started the second half with more vigour, with Ibra driving a low free kick through the wall and just wide, and then winning a header from a Maxwell cross to find Thiago Motta, only for the midfielder to get his feet in a muddle as he was about to shoot.

And then we pressed the self-destruct button again. Sirigu's punch of Yohan Mollo’s cross was a weak one, but Marquinhos should still have had ample time to clear the danger. Sadly the young Brazilian could only kick the ball into the back of Motta, and it rebounded to Hamouma, who had the simple task of lifting the a shot into the unguarded goal, with Sirigu still out of position. Doubler merde, 2-0.

At this point PSG’s unbeaten record looked about as secure as a young tree wobbling about in the face of Storm St Jude, but they were handed a lifeline in the 59th minute when Lemoine was dismissed. Having been shown a yellow card in the first half for a cynical pull back of Lavezzi, Lemoine went in for a clumsy tackle on the same player and picked up a second booking. The midfielder stayed down following the challenge having sustained a cut to the head, but even the blood pouring from his skull could not save him from an early bath.

Blanc threw on Lucas Moura and Jeremy Menez, and Jezza’s direct running certainly gave us an added dimension. Crucially, we pulled one back within three minutes of the red card; a well-worked short corner routine saw Verratti find Maxwell, who got to the byline and delivered a low cross which was touched home by Cavani at the near post. 2-1.

Keeper Stephane Ruffier saved from Moura, while a goal-bound effort from Ibra was deflected wide, but PSG appeared to have run out of time when Matuidi intervened: four minutes of stoppage time had elapsed when the midfielder hoisted a ball into the box which went through Zlatan, Cavani and Ruffier and somehow found its way into the net. It initially looked as though El Matador had got a crucial touch, but replays showed it was Matuidi’s goal, 2-2.

All in all not PSG’s finest hour, but at least we got the point which keeps us ahead of Monaco on goal difference. Now our poor, weary, players have a Champions League-free week to rest their tired little legs before Friday’s meeting with Lorient at the Parc des Princes. Everybody say ahhhhh.

Man of the Match: Blaise Matuidi - Kept going for 90 minutes and was rewarded with the equaliser.

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Anderlecht 0-5 PSG: Belgians turned off by Ibra's fantastic four-play

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Anderlecht vs PSG: Blanc vows not to take Champions League opponents lightly

I've been to Belgium once in my life, on a school trip when we visited the battlefields at Ypres.

While we were of course reverent of the great sacrifices made by the soldiers in the trenches during World War One, like most groups of kids on a school trip we were more interested in buying large quantities of sweets and locking Steve Gignac (name changed for legal reasons) in the coach toilet.

Paris Saint-Germain are in Belgium today, but coach Larry White insists there will be no such larking about ahead of tonight's Champions League match with Anderlecht.

"There is always the risk that you might underestimate your opponents when you come off the back of a good match in your championship and you have won your first games in the Champions League," said Blanc.

"That can lead to complacency. But if I see that my players are too relaxed at the start of the match, I will try to make sure that doesn't last long. I have warned the players that every team wants to beat PSG. No match will be easy."

Be that as it may, some matches are easier than others, and PSG go into tonight’s clash with the Belgian champions as overwhelming favourites. I won’t profess to be a Belgian football expert, but I can read a league table, and it tells me that Anderlecht are fifth in the JPL standings, six points behind table-topping Standard Liege.

Having lost top scorer Brzi Mbokani to Dynamo Kyiv in the summer, John van der Brom’s side rely on Argentine striker Matias Suarez for goals, supported by promising midfielder Massimo Bruno and American Sacha Kljestan. In defence they may field Paris-born Fabrice N’Sakala, latterly of Troyes.

“We will play against a star team,” said Van der Brom. “That is an honour, but also a challenge for a young team like ours to try to achieve something. That is nice.”

Hope the Anderlecht players don’t get their autograph books out half-way through the match.

Van der Brom continued: “Before a match I always say you have to try to win, but in this case that obviously is not easy. This is a really tough task for us. On the other side, there is always a chance; if PSG think too lightly about it, and we have a super day, then we could spring a surprise, and that is what you hope for as a coach.”

Hoping to stop Anderlecht enjoying a super evening will be Ezequiel Lavezzi, who is set to start up front alongside Zlavani. PSG are without the injured Jallet and Pastore, but Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti are likely to return to midfield after serving domestic suspensions at the weekend.

Thiago Silva is back in training following his thigh injury, but not yet fit to return, so Marquinhos and Alex will continue in central defence.

Kick off at the Constant Vanden stadium is at 7.45pm.

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Development of Verratti and Rabiot key to PSG's future prospects

Much has made of the fact that Paris Saint-Germain started with a camion-load of young players in Saturday's 4-0 win over Bastia.

A cynic might say that coach Laurent Blanc's decision to play Digne, Ongenda, Rabiot et al was born out of a need to keep our big players fresh for tomorrow's Champions League match with Anderlecht, rather than a deep-rooted commitment to youth development, but nevertheless it's always nice to see young tyros charging around the pitch tearing shit up.

PSG's youthfulness would have been even greater if Marco Verratti had been available. The 19-year-old missed the game due to suspension, though he was at the Parc des Princes on Saturday to pick up his September player-of-the-month award.

The award reflects the flying start to the season made by the Italian playmaker. I've written about the importance of an in-form Verratti to the team before, and he's been instrumental in many of our best performances so far this term.

But there are two challenges facing the Verratti, and Blanc, if he is to make the transition from promising youngster to elite player; consistency and discipline.

Verratti started last season in sparkling form too, but he struggled to maintain his level of performances, and spent the second half of the campaign in and out of the team. Carlo Ancelotti usually opted for a midfield pair of Blaise Matuidi and Thiago Motta in his favoured 4-2-2-2 formation, and when Verratti did play, we didn't often see the best of him. Now he has a year of top-flight experience under his belt, and needs to show his best form on a more regular basis. Blanc's 4-3-3 system should help in that respect; we have more possession now which means there's less emphasis on Verratti to press and make tackles, and he should have more time to get on the ball and display his passing ability.

Discipline is the other problem. Verratti's yellow card habit stems back to his time at Pescara, and with one suspension already under his belt this season, you can be certain he'll be sidelined again before 2013/14 is out. We don't have another player like Verratti in the squad, so his regular absences are bad news for the team, especially if they coincide with bigger games where his creativity can be the difference.

"Verratti and Motta are in the habit of picking up yellow cards. I hope they lose that habit," said Blanc in his press conference on Friday. Larry was being flippant I'm sure, but I think it's down to Le President to try and help his players show a bit more discipline. Certainly Verratti is still young enough to change his ways if he puts his mind to it, though it may be too late to the teach the old Motta dog new tricks.

At least when Verratti and Motta are out, Blanc can call on the prodigiously talented Adrien Rabiot, 18, who seems to be happy with his lot at PSG after making noises about wanting to leave at the end of last season.

"In terms of playing time, a first step has been taken. I play more regularly. I am no longer the little kid who starts," he told Le Parisien.

"My loan at Toulouse did me a lot of good. I played 13 Ligue 1 matches. This experience gave me personal landmarks and I showed others what I can do, including my team-mates at PSG.

"In early August, Laurent Blanc took me aside to tell me that he was counting on me and that he was opposed to the idea of me leaving on loan."

We've yet to see Verratti and Rabiot play together regularly, but the pair can be the future of PSG's midfield, a potentially exciting combination of French elegance and Italian passion. Blanc's task is to help both continue their development so that we see them gracing the pitch at the Parc des Princes for years to come.

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PSG 4-0 Bastia: Andy Murray mesmerised by Ibra as Paris claim straight sets win

Anyone seen the ibrahimovic goal vs bastia? #talent
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) October 20, 2013

If Andy Murray says it kids, it must be true. Has the Wimbledon champion been outed as a secret Ligue 1 connoisseur? I'll be keeping an eye on his Twitter feed for mentions of Lyon's poor start to the season or Herve Renard's appointment at Sochaux.

Paris Saint-Germain continued their unbeaten start to the season with a straights sets demolition of Bastia at the Parc des Princes yesterday. Our 4-0 win, coupled with Monaco's draw at Renard's aforementioned Sochaux side earlier today, means we're now have a two-point lead at the top of the table. If we can keep this kind of form going there's no reason a second successive Grand Slam Ligue 1 title should be beyond our reach.

"When you see the names of the two scorers for them you can see what a gulf there is between our two sides," said dejected Bastia coach Frederic Hantz, having seen his side smashed by PSG aces Zlatan and Edinson Cavani, both of whom scored twice.

"We're disappointed by the margin even if financial logic would suggest we should have lost 20-0 and we only conceded four, so that's not so bad after all."

Of course football isn't quite as easy as that, but to be fair to Hantz there aren't many teams in world football, let alone Ligue 1, who would be able to withdraw a player of Ibra's talent at half-time and replace him with another world-class centre-forward.

Cavani started on the bench as Laurent Blanc, with an eye on Tuesday's Champions League game in Anderlecht, named a much-changed line-up.

Ibra was stationed up-front alongside Hevin Ongenda as PSG reverted to a 4-2-2-2ish formation, and took just 10 minutes to score the goal that had Murray mesmerised. Lucas delivered the cross which was helped on by Ongenda to Zlatan, who produced an overhead backheel flick of surprising power which zipped past ex-PSG keeper Mikael Landreau. Taekwondo-tastic, 1-0.

However much a team cost to put together, there's no excuse for the kind of shoddy marking displayed by the Corsicans as Ibra added a second three minutes later. The striker was completely unmarked to meet a Lucas free kick six yards out and head home. Game over, 2-0.

Not to be outdone, Cavani added an individual wondergoal of his own in the 62nd minute, receiving a pass from the recalled Jezza Menezza, tiptoeing round a couple of defenders and Landreau before stroking the ball home from the narrowest of angles. Lovely stuff from El Matador, 3-0.

The score-line could have been worse for the visitors were it not for the heroics of the silver-haired Landreau, who stopped Lucas and Ongenda from getting on the score-sheet with excellent saves.

Cavani hit the post before he added his second a minute from time, converting a penalty after he had been brought down by that man Landreau.

"Changes had been made to the team and there were young players in there," said Blanc, for whom Adrien Rabiot also excelled in the absence of the suspended Marco Verratti and Thiago Motta.

"I think our level was very good and we scored four goals and created a lot of chances. It proves everybody is motivated and up for the season, which will be long.

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Marseille 1-2 PSG: Team Paris triumph in the Turpinico

Team work, hard graft, and other such Tony Pulis-isms are not descriptors usually associated with Paris Saint-Germain.

But the team displayed plenty of grit, spirit and all that other dour-but-necessary stuff as they recovered from 1-0 down to beat Marseille 2-1 at the Velodrome last night.

We were also a player down after Thiago Motta's first half red card, and coach Laurent Blanc was understandably chuffed.

"Desire was a very important factor this evening, because, given the circumstances, we couldn't have achieved anything without it," said Blanc. "We showed incredible solidarity.

"We always believed we could win this match, even after the sending off. At half-time we all thought we could go on and win it. For the coaching staff and the players, it's immensely satisfying."

I can assure Larry and the boys that it was quite satisfying for us fans too, especially as we not only had to beat OM but also had to overcome the delightful arbitre Clement Turpin.

They say the best referees are the ones you don't notice, and by that reckoning Mssr Turpin must be really, really, bad. He'd shown 12 red cards in 12 games before last night, and ensured he would be in the headlines once more by making Thiago Motta his unlucky 13th victim.

Motta's boot was high as he challenged Mathieu Valbeuna for a loose ball in the 31st minute, though Valby's triple-roll-screaming-in-agony reaction was not particularly edifying. Probably a penalty, but quite what caused Turpin to issue the red card I have no idea. The PSG players were miffed, but Andre Ayew kept his cool to send Salvatore Sirigu the wrong way. 0-1.

Up to that point PSG had dominated possession, but the three clearest chances had fallen to the home side, with Sirigu pushing Valbeuna's free kick around the post, then making a smart double stop to foil Valby and Jordan Ayew.

Following the spot kick, Blanc made an immediate change, with Lavezzi sacrificed for Adrien Rabiot as we switched to a 4-3-2 formation. And the equaliser came on the stroke of half-time; Greg Van der Wiel floated in a cross and, as Steve Mandanda hesitated, Maxwell nipped in to flick a header over him and into the net. The teddy bear does it again, 1-1.

With a man advantage, the game seemed well set for Marseille to push on and try to get a win which would keep them firmly in the title race, but they showed a disappointing lack of attacking intent. Traditionally, French managers prefer to protect a point rather than going for a win, and it appears this is a trait which afflicts OM boss Elie Baup. It took an unconventional scooping block from Sirigu to stop a shot from the otherwise quiet Dimitri Payet, but the home side rarely threatened, and as the crowd began to get frustrated we delivered the killer blow.

The goal stemmed from a corner which wasn't dealt with properly by Mandanda. Marquinhos retrieved possession but was heading away from goal when Andre Ayew bundled him over. A stupid, unnecessary challenge, but a clear penalty which even Turpin couldn't fail to spot. With fireworks going off around him and a couple of lasers shining out from the crowd, Zlatan stepped up and sent Mandanda the wrong way. Six goals in four games against OM for the the ProblemBear, 2-1.

Marseille threw on Andre-Pierre Gignac and Florian Thauvin, but neither was able to make an impact, and the closing stages were only enlivened by the constant flow of bookings dished out by Turpin. Seven players were cautioned by Ligue 1's most card-happy official, though he bottled out of issuing a second booking to Marseille's Rod Fanni, initially pulling out his note-book when Fanni brought down Edinson Cavani, but then changing his mind when he realised who it was. Berk.

But Turpin's antics shouldn't take away from what was an outstanding team display from PSG. If Blanc still has any doubters within our fanbase, this impressive win against the old enemy should go some way to changing their minds.

Man of the Match: Blaise Matuidi - Having Big Bad Blaise in the side compensated for playing with ten men for so long. The midfielder put in a typically all-action display, and showed the much-hyped Giannelli Imbula exactly what he should be aspiring to.

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