Javier Pastore

What’s the Best Paris Saint-Germain Lineup?

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The keys to Paris Saint-Germain’s lineup for the 2015-2016 campaign will be starting Javier Pastore as a No.10, starting David Luiz as a defensive midfielder so that Marquinhos can start with Thiago Silva at center back, and starting the active Edinson Cavani as the center forward over Swedish legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Pastore along with Blaise Matuidi and Marco Verratti is the key to PSG’s Front Six, and the lineup should be built around him as there are so few playmakers in today’s game like him that can truly decide matches.

The toughest decision for Laurent Blanc will be deciding whether to start Lucas Moura or Ángel Di María with Cavani up top.

Moving David Luiz out of the defense and into the anchor role of the PSG midfield allows Marquinhos to start alongside Thiago Silva at center back, and make no mistake, Marquinhos is a better central defender than David Luiz.

With David Luiz in front of Thiago Silva and Marquinhos, PSG has arguably the toughest defense to break down in world football. If you factor in Verratti and Matuidi roaming around the midfield as well, PSG has a squad that will be very difficult for even the elite Champions League teams to penetrate.

With Pastore, Cavani, and Lucas or Di María in the attack, PSG has the best attacking trident in the world after Barcelona’s trio of Lionel Messi, Luís Suárez, and Neymar.

The level of passing and attacking creativity that PSG’s Front Six will be able to showcase this season will be a sight to behold. PSG will just have to come to terms with having more superstars than starting spots, and the group will have to buy into the team concept.

Lucas and Di María will need to accept sometimes starting and sometimes not, and at times PSG’s midfield will be rotated and tweaked. Even Pastore might have to occasionally play just part of games if that is needed, but Lucas or Di María should be sacrificed first as Pastore is the orchestrator of the attack and the creator of goals.

Rounding out the lineup, Serge Aurier looks like the go-to starting right back with Maxwell at left back. Kevin Trapp is the clear first-choice goalkeeper for Blanc, but Salvatore Sirigu shouldn’t be taken lightly.

With this lineup as well as with some of its variations, Paris Saint-Germain is clearly amongst the top four club sides in the world with Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich.

Below is the lineup discussed above (4-3-1-2 Formation):

Goalkeeper- Kevin TRAPP

Right Back- Serge AURIER

Center Back- THIAGO SILVA

Center Back- MARQUINHOS

Left Back- MAXWELL

Right Midfielder- Marco VERRATTI

Center Midfielder- DAVID LUIZ

Left Midfielder- Blaise MATUIDI

Attacking Midfielder: Javier PASTORE

Forward- Edinson CAVANI

Forward- LUCAS Moura / Ángel DI MARÍA

 

Why Javier Pastore Should Remain an Indispensable PSG Starter

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Javier Pastore is not only the key playmaker for Paris Saint-Germain, but he is also the player that connects PSG’s midfield to its attack. No matter what formation PSG uses, the Argentine virtuoso should remain a reference point in the squad.

All of the passing, industry, and defending of PSG’s central midfielders is fruitless if Pastore isn’t included in the starting lineup to be the key linking player to create scoring opportunities.

Paris Saint-Germain under Laurent Blanc has regularly used a 4-3-3 formation with Javier Pastore often lining up out left in the Front Three, but with the arrival of Ángel Di María, it’s key that Pastore keeps his starting spot.

Blanc and PSG have many ways to accommodate Pastore’s unique genius, and one controversial but wise way is to pick either Edinson Cavani or Zlatan Ibrahimovic but not both for the starting lineup. This is assuming Ibrahimovic doesn’t switch clubs.

Rather than forcing Cavani out to the right or left wing in the attacking trident, Cavani should be deployed in his natural position as a center forward with Pastore either lining up as a trequartista or as a right or left wing.

Keeping three center midfielders is crucial to PSG winning the battle for the midfield against top opponents, so Pastore must be used either as a forward or as a Number 10.

Di María can play as a wing on either side or as a second striker. Playing out left gives PSG a left-footed attacker on the left side of the field, but starting out right allows Di María to cut inside onto his stronger left foot. Either way, Di María is a deadly and decisive attacker.

Pastore plays like a Number 10 no matter where his position is on paper, so it makes little difference if Pastore is listed as part of an attacking trident or as an attacking midfielder sitting just behind the two strikers.

Blanc will have a problem deciding whether to start Lucas Moura or Di María or both, but no matter what he decides, Pastore shouldn’t be sacrificed.

Both Cavani and Ibrahimovic can score with the best of them, and if both players are still playing for PSG, then starting Pastore is more important than starting both Cavani and Ibrahimovic. The argument can even be made that PSG played its best soccer when Ibrahimovic wasn’t in the lineup.

Instead of starting Pastore in a thee-man midfield, a strong PSG midfield could consist of Marco Verratti, David Luiz, and Blaise Matuidi with Pastore as a Number 10 or part of an attacking trident.

If PSG wants to have a 50/50 balance between ball recovery and attacking play, then Pastore should be deployed in a more advanced position than those three midfielders.

In fact, despite the tactical point made previously, a strong argument can be made that just Verratti and Matuidi without a third central midfielder is enough defensive firepower for PSG’s midfield to boss the battle of the midfield, as Pastore has become a two-way midfielder in his own right that provides lots of running and even defending.

During this summer’s Copa America, the Argentine attacking midfielder was even dropping back deep into the midfield to influence the game.

El Flaco can play in front of Verratti and Matuidi as an attacking midfielder in a three-man midfield, and this formation allows both Lucas Moura and Di María to start. Assuming both provide plenty of high pressing, PSG’s lineup shouldn’t be too heavily tilted toward the offensive.

In order for PSG to go even deeper in the Champions League in 2015-2016, Pastore needs to not be viewed as something of a luxury player that is not key to PSG’s success.

Pastore proved his worth last season for PSG, and he was arguably the best player at the 2015 Copa America.

Looking over all of the lineup options available to Blanc, perhaps a 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-1-3 formation would better utilize PSG’s cluster of stars. In those formations, Pastore would play as the center attacking midfielder with Verratti and Matudi behind him and Di María and Lucas to his left and right.

Blanc will have plenty of 50/50 lineup decisions to make this campaign, but Pastore shouldn’t be one of them.

 

Javier Pastore, Proof of Number 10s

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If you thought all of world soccer’s Number 10s were gone, then have no such fears. Jorge Valdivia isn’t the last of the 10s.

Javier Pastore is carrying the torch. Someone will take it up after him.

El Flaco is a pure Number 10, and he not only creates and keeps possession, but he’s also full of running and defense. At the peak of his powers Zinedine Zidane was all over the field, constantly involved with everything.

Alternating between Paris Saint-Germain’s Midfield Three and Front Three, the Argentina playmaker has become a key component of the Albiceleste.

The increased running and defending adopted by Pastore has made the Argentine more indispensable, and these improvements in his play have made him more influential all over the field.

Pastore also has a level of speed and quickness that is quite uncommon amongst pure 10s, and this allows him to burst into the penalty box to score and set up goals.

After Argentina’s Copa America semifinal goleada over Paraguay, the Argentine publication, Canchallena, gave Pastore an extremely high rating of 9, an almost unheard of rating.

On the Argentinean National Team and for Barcelona, Lionel Messi essentially plays as an attacking midfielder, forward, and wing at the same time, but Pastore knows how to play with Messi, which makes him not superfluous alongside Messi.

This ability to thrive with Messi was one of the reasons for Pastore’s amazing rating of 9 for the Copa America semifinal.

The Córdoba, Argentina native has done what more playmaking magicians need to do to not be kept out of the starting line-up: run all game and win back possession.

Pastore’s now two-way play hasn’t resulted in a dip in his creativity in his passing and dribbling, and this quiver of qualities has him now fulfilling his promise.

The Argentine knew that coaches, fans, and the media would criticize him if he didn’t change his style of play, and luckily this change didn’t mean that he was no longer the technical genius that made him special.

Many have lamented the disappearance of world soccer’s Number 10s in the style of Zinedine Zidane, Juan Roman Riquelme, and Jorge Valdivia, but Pastore plays in this style, which has delighted the likes of Eric Cantona and Thiago Silva.

With the 2014-2015 season with Paris Saint-Germain and this Copa America, Javier Pastore has officially arrived as an elite attacking midfielder.

Long Live Javier Pastore, and in a world where Number 10s are being pushed out of line-ups and off rosters, may there be more creative midfielders like him.