Neymar, who came out of injury, returned to the starting line-up of Paris Saint-Germain. Because of Mbappe's absence, manager Galti put him in front of the striker, which obviously did not benefit Neymar's performance.
With 1 assist, 3 brilliant passes, 2 passes, 6 wins in one-on-one confrontations and 3 fouls, Neymar did his best, lost 1-2 away to arch-rival Marseille, and said goodbye to the French Cup.
01. Make Neymar a striker: Galti's tactical arrangement is problematic
a. Tactical problems: Neymar burst forward + midfield advance is very average
The biggest defeat in Paris was to let Neymar break forward while the team arranged for Vitinha to play forward. In this way, Messi stayed in the second line to wait for opportunities, and the forward line against the central defender is Neymar and the diminutive Portuguese.
The midfield has a high error rate during the advance, and there are no wingers on either wing, completely handed over to the full-backs, but if they accelerate directly forward, and because there is no one in the middle to grab points, it is impossible to choose crosses.
The key problem is that when the full-back dominates the ball, the ribs cannot be effectively used except for Neymar who can withdraw to receive.
And once Neymar retreats to ask for the ball, only Vitinha is the one who inserts back, because of his physical disadvantage, his back does not have the ability to hold the ball and do the ball, and he lacks speed, and the tactical value after going to the front line is minimal.
This time it was Vitinha who stepped forward and stayed with Neymar in front of the line to prepare Messi for the ball into the attacking area.
This time on the counter-attack, Ashraf crossed Messi in the middle, Vitinha and Neymar to cover in front.
However, Marseille still understood Paris' attacking routine, so they blocked Messi's shot this time.
b. Compared to Mbappe: Neymar is also currently more suitable for a retracement of the second line
Neymar's numbers have been very good this season and he is one of only two players in Europe's top five leagues to have a double-double in both goals and assists.
However, Neymar is 31 years old after all, and his current core competencies are passing, dribbling, combined with no-ball interspersion. Purely placed at the front of the front, in terms of confrontation and explosiveness, with the young Mbappe, on the contrary, it is downwind.
Paris' position in positional warfare is also comical, as the distribution of personnel between midfield and forward is blurred. Except for Neymar, who is relatively high, everyone else is like a midfielder.
If Neymar withdraws, it seems that there will be no one in the striker. So as Marseille gradually adapted, they would also spread the defensive line relatively apart, limiting the Parisian full-back to get the ball on the inside.
In this wave of attack, Neymar's style of play is somewhat similar to Mbappe. Although not as explosive as that of young people, Neymar is clearly more capable at his feet.
Receiving the ball and turning, Neymar took a direct shot with a step, but unfortunately the ball smashed on the goal post and popped up, passing by the goal.
Looking at this round, Paris hopes to hit the front with a long pass on the counter-attack and let Neymar rush directly at speed.
But this time the pass did not land very well, and Neymar was not ready to charge. After all, for Neymar to replicate Mbappe's work exactly, the two are very different in style and obviously inappropriate.
02. Neymar's core competencies: passing, dribbling and moving
a. The biggest threat in the Paris team: Neymar
Despite being placed in a very unsuitable position, Neymar was the most threatening player in the Paris squad: three brilliant passes, one assist and one shot on target.
His strengths are passing, dribbling and breaking through the ball without the ball, pulling back to get the ball appropriately and then inserting back into the striker, which can unleash Neymar's characteristics.
At the beginning, Marseille did not understand the logic of Paris' attack, and once neglected to guard against the Paris wing-back's inward sprint.
Neymar's brilliant pass this time gave Mendes a solo chance and was also the most successful counter-attack case in the first half of Paris.
As an attacker, Neymar has excellent ball control and passing skills. Especially when it comes to counter-attacking opportunities, Neymar can bring and attract defenders on his own, and he can also send a good pass.
This time, Mendes picked up Neymar's straight and went straight into the box to face the goalkeeper. It's a pity that defenders often don't shoot reliably after a long sprint (after all, even Mbappe has good chances to fly from time to time).
However, before the end of the first half, Neymar took the corner kick this time and assisted Ramos' header goal.
Neymar's pass landed excellently, giving the opposing defense a vacuum, and Ramos also completed an unmarked header under the cover of his teammates.
b. After 1-2, Neymar tried to force out: his body was not at his best
Neymar played 177 games in Paris, contributing 123 goals and 77 assists, averaging 1.13 goals per game and just in time to reach a small integer milestone.
Neymar has just returned from injury and is not in good form, but he still tried to create chances with his individual ability when he was 2-1 down.
This time he forcibly broke through into the penalty area, but unfortunately Ekitik did not take the initiative to move sideways to respond, and was finally relieved by the other party.
Let's look at this chance, the first shot on goal after a full 35 minutes in the second half.
Neymar burst into the box to create chaos, and his split ball gave Messi another open chance, but unfortunately the step was not adjusted and the shot flew away.
03. 1-2 down and even hard to shoot: the Paris losing coach is responsible
a. The overall poor form of the team: the error rate is alarmingly high
Paris fell behind again in the second half, and Marseille began to reclaim formation, resulting in a full 35 minutes with Paris Saint-Germain 0 shots on goal. It was not until the 80th minute that Neymar's forced breakthrough created a great opportunity for Messi.
The team's tactical failure is obvious. I have to say that Paris, which is falling into backwardness, still has too few solutions.
A very failed arrangement in Paris was to make Vitinha the forward back. He inserted himself forward to the front of the middle and could not complete the collision with the wall because of his lack of strength.
This time Neymar passed the ball under the three-man bag, and Vitinha only needed to flick to Neymar who inserted in the open space on the right side, which was a great opportunity to break the defense.
Helpless Vitinha just can't do this move, Neymar sees the opportunity, but can only accept the result of Vitinha being broken.
Marseille instantly countered and turned back, and Yundale shot into the Paris penalty area, forming no small threat.
Looking at the attack this time, with centre-forward Ekitik coming on, Neymar can pull back more to get the ball.
However, this time, the teammate returned the pass error under little pressure, and Neymar had no choice but to choose a foul.
To let Emery play is to see his good skills. But this time Emery's pass was still wrong, Neymar failed after hitting the wall many times in a row, and fouled frequently on the spot, somewhat helpless.
b. Exit from the French Cup: The team plays the Champions League with peace of mind
For Marseille, the home derby against arch-rivals Paris Saint-Germain is the match they care about the most.
It is really difficult for Paris to win away from home. This time after a 2-1 defeat, the team can also focus on the Champions League.
Neymar can stay fit after such a fierce match, which is also good news, after all, the French Cup is not a must for Paris.
Conclusion:
Neymar's most suitable positioning is still between midfield and striker. So after Mbappe's injury, Paris need to arrange a striker. Team manager Galti should be trying to test whether the two-striker of Messi and Neymar can play well through the defensive intensity of Marseille, which is obviously not a satisfactory result.
However, adding another striker will weaken the defense, Neymar still needs to take on a heavy defensive task, his physical consumption is too fast, will also affect the efficiency of Paris offensive and defensive conversion, which has also become a dead knot for the team.