a key match against Lille

Under the leadership of Rudi Garcia, Lille have enjoyed a superb start to the Ligue 1 campaign and proving that they are very capable of a run at the European spot. They have shown to be have an efficient attacking force while able to limit scoring opportunities. However on the road, they have had problems garnering a victory although their consistent play has them unbeaten in nine matches. As they travel to Parc des Princes they will be looking to prey upon PSG's inconsistent play. While Lille has not been able to win at Parc des Princes in over ten matches, that will provide little solace to PSG. dropped successive 1 - nil matches to Nice and Toulouse after their triumphant victory over Olympique Marseille. The only absentee for the match is Tulio De Melo of Lille and they will likely employ Nicolas Fauvergue as a lone striker in a 4-5-1. PSG has given little indication of their attacking force however based upon last weeks match a combination of Mateja Kežman, Ludovic Giuly and Guillaume Hoarau up-front is most likely.

I will report on the match as it concludes.

"no fighting spirit"

Following PSG's loss to Nice, Paul Le Guen summarized the match perfectly when he stated they had "no fighting spirit." That may have been kind in-fact as it appears that following the triumphant victory over l'OM many of the players have been spending their time reading press reports of how brilliant they are playing. While two consecutive losses is not a nail-in-the-coffin, gutless, half-hearted attempts are not worthy of crest and an embarrassment.

Heading into the match, PSG had a difficult task and while their is no shame in losing, the 1-0 loss to the Niçois at Stade du Ray lacked effort and inspiration. That being said both Stéphane Sessegnon and Guillaume Hoarau had early opportunities to score but their efforts were no match to veteran 'keeper and a former fixture at PSG, Lionel Letizi. However Nice would take the lead five minutes before the break when set plays once again created havoc for PSG as David Hellebuyck was nodded-in by Eric Mouloungui with marking best phrased as pathétique. After the break, Paul Le Guen summoned Mateja Kežman and Ludovic Giuly from the bench to replace Clément Chantôme and Guillaume Hoarau up-front but unfortunately mid-field play lacked creativity, work-rate and intent. Opportunities to score were few and far between and PSG fell rather lifelessly 1-0.



With the match aside, PSG returns to Ligue 1 action against Lille next Sunday sitting eleventh in the table. Between then and now, Paul Le Guen must address the fight of the club. After the match he commented:

"I gave them a right tongue-lashing because they needed it. I can't explain why we played the first half like that.

"I'm incredibly frustrated and the players know it. We won at Marseille because we worked hard for it, but here, I didn't feel the players had any desire to go out and look for the win.

"It wasn't a physical problem. The players were just lacking aggression and determination. It was in their heads."

"This team has to work if it wants to live up to its own ambitions. I don't ever want to see my players head out looking so soft and hope that things are just going to work out.

"What angers me, is that there was no fighting spirit which needs to be present all the time. It worried me that I tell myself: 'How can the players be incapable of measuring the importance of a game against Nice?'."

It is important to mention that the inclusion of Mateja Kežman and Ludovic Giuly after the break, increased that "fighting" spirit. While Ludovic's injury has kept him off the pitch, Mateja has inexplicably never seen his role never truly materialize with the club and for the betterment of the club hopefully this is start of seeing these two paired on a regular basis.





PSG
Mickaël Landreau,Mamadou Sakho,Zoumana Camara,Sylvain Armand,Ceará (Jérémy Clément 78')
Claude Makélélé,Jérôme Rothen,Stéphane Sessegnon,Péguy Luyindula,Guillaume Hoarau (Mateja Kežman 45'),Clément Chantôme (Ludovic Giuly 45')

Nice
Lionel Letizi,Cedric Kante,Onyekachi Apam,Cyril Rool,Drissa Diakite,Olivier Echouafni,David Hellebuyck,Cyril Jeunechamp,Habib Bamogo(Mahamane Traore 76'),Loïc Remy (Eric Mouloungui 10', Anthony Modeste 85'),Emerse Fae

PSG travels to the Côte d'Azur to face Nice

With the mid-week stumble against Toulouse off-setting the triumph over l'OM, PSG travels to the Côte d'Azur to face Nice at Stade du Ray. Over the last three years, Nice has consistently out-performed PSG at home, winning all three matches.

Nice, like PSG, is locked in the mid-table of Ligue 1 but showing signs of extreme promise in a very balanced team. They are riding a four match unbeaten streak, including a victory over les Rouge et Blanc and a stunning draw against Bordeaux in which they scored twice in the final six minutes. Frédéric Antonetti has named the following squad for Niçois with Kafoumba Coulibaly notably absent:

Lionel Letizi, David Ospina - Onyekachi Apam, Gérald Cid, Drissa Diakité, Vincent Hognon, Cyril Jeunechamp, Cédric Kanté, Cyril Rool - Olivier Echouafni, Emerse Faé, David Hellebuyck, Mahamane Traoré - Habib Bamogo, Chaouki Ben Saada, Anthony Modeste, Eric Mouloungui, Loïc Rémy

Paul Le Guen made the surprise choice of replacing injured Fabrice Pancrate with Jean-Eudes Maurice in naming the following squad to the lineup:

Mickaël Landreau, Edel, Armand, Grégory Bourillon, Camara, Ceará, Traoré, Mamadou Sakho, Clément Chantôme, Jérémy Clément, Claude Makélélé, Ludovic Giuly, Jérôme Rothen, Stéphane Sessegnon, Guillaume Hoarau, Péguy Luyindula, Mateja Kežman , Jean-Eudes Maurice

I will report on the match as it concludes.