Lyon 3- 2 Nimes: So the 4-3-3…Yeah

By: Inara | July 12th, 2008

Lyon had their first summer friendly this afternoon against Nimes in Albertville. Goals were scored by Juninho (10), Yannis Tafer (40), and Anthony Mounier (63). This was Claude Puel’s first match in charge, and for many of the players, their first match in an OL jersey. And speaking of jerseys, as you can see, Lyon busted out their new away kit.

Not as bad as I first feared.

First of all, Juninho was given the captain’s armband. It’s not really a surprise because he was the captain during the last two seasons, and he’s also the most senior and most experienced player on the squad. Still, I was concerned because Juninho and Puel got off on the wrong foot at first.

Going into the match, there was a lot of speculation about what players would be aligned for this game.

Still on vacation: Karim Benzema, Sidney Govou, Jeremy Toulalan, Kim Kallstrom, Jean II Makoun, Francois Clerc, Sebastien Squillaci, Fabio Grosso
Injured: Fred, Fabio Santos, Anthony Reveillere, Hugo Lloris
Transfered/Out of Contract: Hatem Ben Arfa, Frederic Roux, Patrick Muller, Gregory Coupet, Loic Remy, Marc Crosas

FYI, that’s nine of the usual starters missing. For any coach, it’s always a challenge to come up with a competitive team when such a huge chunk of the senior squad is missing, so to compensate, Puel used many of Lyon’s younger players, some of whom are in the reserves and some of whom play in even younger divisions. I seriously doubt Puel had any idea what sort of team he wanted until ten minutes before the game started.

For this game, Puel basically aligned two different teams in each half. In the first half, it was basically Lyon’s “B” team, and in the second, it was the “C” team (with an average age of 12). What surprised me was that he elected to use a 4-3-3. I was ~~hoping~~ expecting that he’d try something different - that’s the point of friendlies, right? Anyway, here’s how it looked:

First half:

Vercoutre
Gassama - Paillot - Cris - Fontaine
Bodmer - Juninho
Ederson
Keita - Tafer - Delgado

Second half:

Hartock
Gassama - Faure - Seguin - Valdivia
Beynié - Mehamha
Pjanic
Pied - Grenier - Mounier

Typically of these types of friendlies, Puel was more concerned with easing his players back into the season than anything, so it’s important not to take the result too seriously. It’s also difficult to form a solid opinion on performances since most players were on the pitch for 45 minutes. Plus you could definitely tell that some of the guys were taking it a little too easy (*points at B team*).

Still, I do have some comments. First of all, it’s so obvious that Remy Vercoutre hasn’t played in a while. The first goal he conceded was absolutely cringe worthy and something my fourteen year old sister could have prevented with ease. On the second, he was way off his line and looked clueless as a Nimes player chipped a ball over his head. His replacement in the second half, Joan Hartock, didn’t have anything to do, though the one time Nimes threatened, he was saved by the post (also, this was the first time I’ve ever seen Hartock play…he’s very loud for a keeper).

The backline was hard to evaluate. Cris looked okay while Sandy Paillot (who is so tall) showed signs of the experience he got last season at Grenoble. He also had a rocket of a shot that the Nimes keeper barely saved. The two fullbacks in the first half, Thomas Fontaine and Lamine Gassama, were really solid. Gassama in particular impressed (he was the only one who played the entire match) and has made a very strong case for making it into the senior team (it also helps that Lyon are really short of fullbacks at the moment). The CB pair in the second half, Nicolas Seguin and Sebastien Faure, looked alright, but they weren’t really tested.

Mathieu Bodmer and Ederson looked good in midfield, Bodmer especially. Ederson needs to get used to playing with his new teammates some more, but he looked promising. Juninho didn’t really do much, but the little he did do was the most crucial - he got Lyon back into the game. In the second half, the midfield was less active, with both Romain Beynie and Said Mehamha rather lukewarm (but then again, they were played slightly out of position). Miralem Pjanic took a while to get settled, but once he did, he was terrific, creating chances for both himself and his teammates. He was unlucky not to have scored.

Up front, Kader Keita did his usual Houdini routine. I was hoping that Puel would immediately get Keita back into his Lille-form, but I guess he’ll need more time. Cesar Delgado played well technically though he really needs to work on his fitness and physical strength. It’s obvious that he’s having trouble coping with the more physical aspect of the French game, but this is something that will improve over time. I thought Yannis Tafer (the top scorer in the Euro U17 Championship this spring) did really well considering he’s only 17. He might not be the “new Benzema,” but he’s a special player that will grow into his own as he gets older.

In the second half, I was a little surprised to see Clement Grenier used as a striker since he’s actually an attacking midfielder. But he showed a lot of complicity with Pjanic and looked good on the ball. At his side, Jeremy Pied was pretty much invisible, but Anthony Mounier was IMO the best player in the second half and possibly the best Lyonnais over all. He looked really good and should definitely be on the senior team for next season. Then again, this is what happened last season too - Mounier impressed in all the friendlies and subsequently vanished at the start of the season.

I’m trying to hunt down the entire match, but for those of you looking for highlights, you can download then here (courtesy of the fantastic Jejeinho).

Pictures (you guys know how much I hate posting watermarked images, but these are all I could find):