Heads bowed, most of the Paris FC players did not linger and quickly left the locker room this Saturday evening. In the depths of Jean-Bouin, there reigned an atmosphere of bad evening. Almost defeat.
The Parisians certainly did not lose. But this draw against the red lantern Auxerre (1-1), extending the poor accounting series (5 points out of 21), is clearly a poor performance. Beyond the numbers (11 shots including only 2 on target), Paris FC certainly delivered their worst performance this season. “We had the ambition to take three points but we don’t deserve anything better today,” said captain Ilan Kebbal after the match. We had a match… (he blows). Technically speaking, in the duels, we had a non-match, we didn’t deserve anything better. »
Since the start of the season, the capital club has often lost by putting on a show and producing play. On this rainy November evening, in front of stands less full than usual (15,007 spectators), the PFC almost came close to nothingness.
“I didn’t recognize my team,” sighs Stéphane Gilli. We were below in almost all areas. There were too many gaps to hope for better. Unlike often this season after matches, tonight I have no frustration. To feel frustration, you have to create things and add intensity. This was not the case. It’s been several home matches that we haven’t been able to get the right start tempo, like against Metz, Strasbourg or Lorient. »
Too dependent on Maxime Lopez
“We lack aggressiveness, technical accuracy, we lack too many things to hope for better,” confirms Ilan Kebbal. We’re a nice team and when you’re a nice team, you can’t hope for better than a point tonight. »
As against Nantes (1-2 defeat), Paris FC did not manage to free itself against a direct opponent for maintenance even though it often played without complexes against the big guys. 12th after this match, it can even slip to 14th place in the event of a victory for Le Havre and Brest this Sunday. The midfield absences of Pierre Lees-Melou and Maxime Lopez, his two launching pads, were certainly detrimental by forcing Stéphane Gilli to modify his system.
“When he is there and when he is not there it is not at all the same face,” said Kebbal about the second named. But they cannot alone explain such a failed performance.
Two crucial matches against Le Havre and Toulouse before Christmas
Apart from Ilan Kebbal (6th goal) who ran a lot and finished the match tired, the other attackers did not weigh. The observation is not new. Defensively, Obed Nkambadio, at fault in Auxerre’s equalizer but saved twice afterwards, was undoubtedly not put in the best psychological conditions. This week, he had in fact learned that he had to give up his starting place to Kevin Trapp. The sign that the German goalkeeper had taken control. But his blow on the foot received during an action with Olivier Giroud in Lille, woke up after the last session on Friday. This Saturday morning, Trapp was in pain and as “he was not 100%”, the staff decided to put Nkambadio back in goal. “We talk too much about the goalkeepers, it’s collectively that we haven’t been fair,” Gilli evaded.
But this bad series and the shortages observed among certain players will undoubtedly push Parisian decision-makers to revise upwards their purchase list for the January transfer window. In the meantime, we should not miss Le Havre next Sunday and December 13 against Toulouse with the uncertainty for this last championship match of the year, on the presence or not of the African internationals.
“There is no worry,” Gilli wants to insist. In a season, each team goes through it once or twice. We were hoping to have a few more points but 15 points is still OK. We have to analyze all of this cold and take points, to reach the barrier of points that we have set but which I will not reveal. » But it would be better for it to be closer to 20 than to 16 on the evening of December 13.
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