Thomas Tuchel challenged Angel Di Maria to rediscover his best form and regain a place in the Paris Saint-Germain starting XI after once more being left out on Wednesday.
PSG found little resistance at Parc des Princes as they coasted past Lorient in a 2-0 Ligue 1 victory.
Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring from the penalty spot just after half-time before Moise Kean made the win safe with his side's second nine minutes later.
Kean was chosen ahead of Di Maria to replace Neymar in the hosts' attack, with the Argentine restricted to just 20 minutes off the bench with PSG already two goals ahead.
And Tuchel admits that the forward has struggled to show his best in recent outings.
"I feel like Angel has lost some things that were easy for him before, but that's how it is," the coach explained to reporters after the final whistle.
"We changed the structure in the last minutes against Leipzig, in Manchester, against Basaksehir here, and in Montpellier.
"We were a little stronger in this structure, in 5-3-2. It's a little easier for Rafinha in this position, in the midfield, he is more decisive. But it is a decision of the moment. I'm never going to stop believing in Angel.
"It is in my head, it is in my heart, even if at the moment it is less easy. He tried again today, but lacks that click. It is more difficult but it does not matter."
Tuchel refused to confirm whether Neymar, who was carried off at the weekend against Lyon after taking a heavy blow to the ankle from Thiago Mendes, would be back in contention for PSG's next Ligue 1 match against Lille.
"I cannot say if he will be there, but we will do everything to," he added.
The German also clarified that Marco Verratti's absence from the starting XI owed to the midfielder's previous exertions: "It is clear that we are using him too much and we have decided to let him rest tonight. We saw against Lyon that for concentration and energy it was not easy for him in the last match.
"That's why we decided to start with Ander Herrera, Gana Gueye and Rafinha."
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