Month: February 2018

Toulouse struggling to address slide

Toulouse struggling to address slide

A 0-0 stalemate on Saturday evening at the Stade de la Licorne to fellow strugglers Amiens was damaging for Toulouse in the sense that they now sit just a solitary point above the relegation zone.  Despite playing against 10 men for the last quarter of the game, Toulouse were unable to muster any quality to earn a much-needed victory. The encounter was synonymous of their season as a whole thus far, as a rather ominous shadow hangs over the club from South West France.

Having sacked Pascal Dupraz a month ago, the club moved to appoint former player Mickaёl Debève as his successor. Despite narrow victories that were earned in somewhat fortuitous circumstances (against an injury-ravaged Nice and a 10-man Troyes side), an amalgam of negative tactics and a consistent penchant to select experience over youth in the first x11, is a direct concern for the supporters. Crashing out of the Coupe de France at the hands of Ligue 2 side Bourg-en-Bresse has certainly done nothing to improve the mood at the club.

The general consensus amongst the French media and the club’s supporters is that the management seem compelled to prefer established players, primarily due to a direct fear of relegation as a result of previous counterproductive transfer windows.

Since selling prized goal-scorers Martin Braithwaite and Wissam Ben Yedder in the summers of 2016 and 2017 respectively, the club have not re-invested in the forward line; instead signing established midfielders on substantial wages (for a club the size of Toulouse). Such recruits include the well-travelled Jimmy Durmaz, Yaya Sanogo, Ola Toivonen, Yannick Cahuzac, Giannelli Imbula and Max-Alain Gradel. Not only have the club failed to get the best out of their seasoned imports, but their transfer strategy has significantly stunted the growth of their promising youth products- midfield talents like Alexis Blin, Yann Bodiger and promising defenders Issa Diop and Kelvin Amian. Teenage goalkeeper Alban Lafont is a marked exception- recently displaying an outstanding performance against PSG in a 1-0 defeat.

Negligence in the transfer market is seemingly being exacerbated by an over-emphasis on negative tactics that is notably unsuited to numerous individuals in the side.  Debève’s arrival has come with a mindset to not concede rather than to score. Frequently deploying a 4-5-1 formation fails to make any use of attacking, pacey outlets like Gradel. That Toulouse are the second-lowest scorers in Ligue 1 reflects the predicament- in fact, only Caen have notched fewer goals this season.

A concurrent criticism of the club by large quarters of French media has been that the young talents within the side are not being allowed to grow or flourish in the current setup- particularly evident during the reign of Pascal Dupraz. After a miraculous escape from relegation in 2015/16, it was thought that highly touted players such as Diop, Blin, Bodiger, and Amian would develop with the club’s ambitions under such a fiery, driven manager. 18 months on and the individuals have not grown to the level that many had hoped or anticipated- hampered by inconsistent tactics and a concerning lack of discipline.

Immediate measures will be taken in the short-term by Debève to ensure Toulouse stay in Ligue 1 this season- an objective that should be attainable given the relative quality of the side. However, if the club’s youth prospects cannot be properly integrated into a structured and cohesive system that promotes their development- it will be a question of when, rather than, if, Toulouse drop out of Ligue 1.

Ligue 1- Battle for the Champions League places

Ligue 1- Battle for the Champions League places

Marseille hit Metz for 6

Marseille secured a huge three points over strugglers Metz on Friday evening, in a topsy-turvy encounter that produced nine goals and featured a hat-trick for the in-form Florian Thauvin.

The victory enabled Les Phocéens to move up to second in Ligue 1, overtaking Lyon in the process and currently sit eleven points behind imperious leaders PSG.

The tone was set for the evening in the first nine minutes, with Rudi Garcia’s side scoring two goals in quick succession to assume control of the game from the outset.

The first came courtesy of Morgan Sansom, who took advantage of some poor defending from Metz in the penalty area, giving the home side the lead in the sixth minute. Sansom was involved again just moments later, crossing to Thauvin- who was able to tuck away a tidy side-footed volley past Metz’s helpless goalkeeper, Eiji Kawashima.

The former Newcastle United winger has been directly involved in 18 goals of his last 19 appearances, scoring 10 and assisting 8. In such form, he was always likely to flourish in this encounter, duly notching his second just before half-time, despite Moussa Niakhate’s desperate attempts to clear.

The points were assured at the start of the second-half, Valere Germain delicately finishing via the post; and shortly after Thauvin completed his hat-trick (his second for the club), neatly converting a header from an exquisite Dimitri Payet cross, in a dominant spell for Marseille.

Defensive flaws were highlighted in the final quarter to slightly cloud a commanding Marseille display. Florent Mollett responded for Metz with a brace, either side of a sixth-goal from Kostas Mitroglou. Ibrahima Niane pulled a third back in stoppage-time to restore some respectability to the scoreline for Metz, who remain bottom and sit an ominous seven points away from a survival position.

Monaco complete unlikely comeback with 10-men

There was a thriller at the Stade Louis II between the other two clubs competing for Champions League places- Monaco and Lyon.

Bruno Génésio’s side made the perfect start in the South of France, acquiring a 2-0 lead within the first half-hour. The first from an audacious, deflected effort from Mariano Diaz, shortly followed by Bertrand Traoré’s close-range finish from Ferland Mendy’s cross.

Lyon held their lead for less than ten minutes. Keita Balde surged forward on a slaloming run and powered an unstoppable low drive past Anthony Lopes. Moments later, Mendy’s needless tug on Kamil Glik enabled Radamel Falcao to draw Monaco level from the penalty-spot, notching his 17th goal of the season in the process.

The Ligue 1 champions suffered another significant setback, as the goal-scorer Baldé was sent off shortly before half-time for a second bookable offence in the space of four minutes.

Leonardo Jardim’s side were not fazed by the numerical inferiority and completed a remarkable comeback in the 88th-minute. Stevan Jovetic combined with Rony Lopes, who fired in a rasping low shot past his namesake in the Lyon goal- moving the Champions into third position, one point behind Marseille.

PSG march on

It is 18 goals in 19 games for Neymar, who was on target at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in PSG’s commanding 3-0 win over Lille, to reassume their 11-point lead at the summit of Ligue 1.

The Brazilian scored with a superbly taken 77th-minute free-kick to seal all three points for Unai Emery’s title-charging side. This came after Yuri Berchiche had taken advantage of Lille’s failure to clear, netting a low shot on the stroke of half-time. Argentine Giovani La Celso delivered Les Parisiens’ coup de grâce, minutes from the end with a superb lob over Mike Maignan from the edge of the penalty area.