2016 a Speed Bump on Paris Saint-Germain’s Road to the Top of European Football

The year 2016 has not been kind to Paris Saint-Germain. Attempts to usher in the next phase of the project at the Parc des Princes have been stifled as the club has been bedevilled by negative news stories.

Despite collecting another four domestic trophies this year, there is a sense of malaise creeping in. 

Serge Aurier’s disastrous Periscope session kicked off the year on a sour note, and things have only occasionally rebounded since. 

The Champions League exit at the hands of a listless Manchester City side that meekly rolled over in the semi-finals prompted the dismissal of manager Laurent Blanc. 

Javier Pastore has been so often injured that he felt compelled to apologise to the club’s supporters after suffering his latest problem (h/t L’Equipe)

The loss of iconic forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his subsequent replacement in the squad by free transfer and perennial underachiever Hatem Ben Arfa subtracted from the club’s sense of invincibility. 

Admittedly, Ben Arfa had produced career-best form at OGC Nice, but he has never been a sure thing; PSG should not be in a position to need to take such risks. 

The club’s identity―confident and unbeatable―has been undermined by an uncertain transfer window, and the unconvincing start to the season has only compounded that. 

The appointment of head coach Unai Emery, a far more drawn-out process than should be the case for a club of PSG’s stature, was aimed at remedying consistent European underperformance. 

Emery admitted as much in an interview with the Observer: “PSG signed me for my CV, for what I’ve achieved in the Europa League.”

And yet since his arrival, the club has failed to produce brilliance. 

Instead, seemingly relying on the inertia of a superior squad, they have given unconvincing performances at home and abroad. 

The 2-0 triumph―though to use such a word is stretching it almost beyond definition―over Nantes on Saturday was a case in point. 

Listless and lacking control for large periods, PSG were saved by goalkeeper Kevin Trapp on a number of occasions. Jese Rodriguez’s late penalty added an undeserved sheen, but there was no denying the unremarkable nature of both PSG’s display and their …

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