A big week after his arrival, Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had his first start with PSG, for what was also his first match against Reims (1-1). If his best action was obviously his decisive pass, let's take a look at the Georgian's overall performance.
PSG's only winter recruit so far, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia debuted her number 7 this Saturday evening during a match against Reims which will only be remembered for… her debut. Unlike most of his rookies, Luis Enrique thrust him straight into the starting lineup and Kvara even played 83 minutes, a lot of playing time for someone who hadn't played since on December 29.
A player who was able to rely on his technique, not on his physique
This was also visible: Kvara is not 100% physically and sorely lacks rhythm. The Georgian thus managed two fairly similar halves which seem to point to this physical lack: good starts then a player who gradually seems to lack energy and juice. Kvara's dribbling and ability to outflank his direct opponents show quite well the player's current low autonomy since, the more the minutes passed, the less Kvara managed to pass, his accelerations being less sharp. And in a championship as intense and tough as the L1, you also need punch to overwhelm a defender.
But the Georgian is not a player who only relies on his explosiveness to overwhelm an opponent. His very fine ball handling has already been demonstrated on several occasions and the muscular Aurélio Buta to whom he was opposed was sometimes unable to do anything against the soft touch of the Parisian winger. Kvara also tasted this situation that Parisian wingers regularly encounter, namely being isolated one against two or even three opponents. A complicated situation for any player, and even more so without legs.
After a month without playing, and barely training with Napoli at the end, it's completely logical and it will come back little by little. But if he was qualified for the Champions League for Wednesday's match in Stuttgart, it is also not certain that he would have started. Kvara simply needs time and matches to find his best level, well above what he was able to show this Saturday evening.
After the game, the Georgian did not say the opposite: “I felt good but it’s just that I hadn’t played in a month. I think that's why it was a little difficult for me but the coach and the staff members will make me work harder to get back into optimal shape. I will continue to work to be in great shape. »
Collective integration to be perfected
He will also need time to get along better with his partners because, in this area of collective integration, there is also, and just as logically, a lot of work. On certain sequences such as Dembélé's goal which he largely created by a diagonal breakthrough totally in his style, his partners were able to offer him particularly interesting relays at the heart of the game, especially Désiré Doué who was able to put him back in the race and the right tempo the ball.
The Parisian torchbearer of the evening also showed great complicity at this level in general, the other Lee torchbearer a little less so. Left back, Nuno Mendes also alternated the good and the bad in his combinations with the Georgian and it will take time for the two men to understand each other better. But there were scraps of intention to highlight, notably through races that continue to offer solutions in the movement. In another sequence, we also saw Lucas Hernandez try to throw it deep when Kvara was waiting for the ball at his feet, hence a ball returned to Reims.
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The left wing was assigned to him, but not only
If Kvara looked for his place in the Parisian team game on a regular basis, he also looked for his own a little on the pitch. He was the Parisian left winger and therefore had to alternately hold the width to provoke one-on-one duels or take the half-space to combine. Two roles that he knows well but in which he will have to find benchmarks within the Parisian scheme, made up of spaces to occupy and compensate via positions that are as fixed as they are interchangeable with his partners.
Kvara's heatmap against Reims, via Whoscored.com
In the mixed zone, he also commented on this new tactical specificity: “The permutations of the team mean that we can play in all positions (in the same match). It's very nice when you feel free, when you are close to the goal. The team has a strategy and it must be implemented. » This very controlled freedom which is dear to Luis Enrique has manifested itself on several occasions and his adaptation will probably be measured as best as possible in this way.
In the meantime, Luis Enrique has clearly taken all pressure off his player, making this first match a very small step in a long-term journey: “It’s always complicated for a player to play his first match in a team. He only had four training sessions with his teammates. We barely know him and he doesn't know us either. I think he was good. As soon as he touches the ball, you feel he is different. It's his first match, but it's the first of a long series within the club and I think the results are positive. […] Kvaratskhelia will be at the level and is a very interesting reinforcement for us. But we have to wait to judge his performance, he has only just arrived. »
