The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly About Bayern vs. Lyon

By: Inara | September 30th, 2008

Match pictures and highlights at the bottom of the post.

THE GOOD:

Definitely the man of the match…on both sides.

Hugo Lloris.

He’s definitely shaken off the jitters that afflicted him in the Fiorentina match. Confident and not afraid to take risks, he was the main reason that Lyon walked away with any points at all. In particular, he made two really good saves – the first from a powerful shot by Phillip Lahm and the second from a Luca Toni torpedo. Beyond that, he was the only calm person in the Lyon defense. He’s really good in the air and isn’t afraid of getting body checked by six foot tall Germans. Fortunately for him, Raymond Domenech was in the audience, so who knows, maybe we’ll see him in blue one of these days.

Jeremy Toulalan is back to being Mr. Fantastic.

When I first watched the game, I didn’t think he was doing that well, but having skimmed through the match again, I guess I was so focused on the other players that I didn’t notice what a good job he was doing in midfield. For the most part, he kept Franck Ribery on a tight muzzle and gave Miroslav Klose a really hard time. Bayern’s midfield couldn’t really get it together with the disruptions he and Jean II Makoun were causing, which forced Bayern to attack through their wings.

The players were absurdly happy with their one point.

Lyon got a point from arguably their toughest away fixture.

This point still keeps the club in the hunt, especially with Fiorentina only managing a home draw with Steaua. Lyon’s next confrontation with Bayern will be at the Gerland, and that game will be one that Lyon can win. If anything, it’s Bayern who are mourning their two dropped points. Fortunately for Lyon, their next two games is a double header with Steaua. Those won’t be easy games by any means, but they should be easier than Bayern and Fiorentina.

THE BAD:

Fred makes Sidney Govou seem as consistent as taxes.

A bad match here, a good match there…Should Lyon be starting such an unreliable player in arguably their toughest match so far? Sure, Fred had a good game against Nancy. But he was crap before then, and he was crap today. While I appreciate that Puel has faith in Fred, sometimes it’s better to go with a more safer alternative. How much better would it have been if Ederson had started? Because in that case, Karim Benzema could have started up front, and that would have made him far more dangerous. At any rate, that surely would have been better than what actually happened: which was nothing. Did Fred accomplish anything besides that one missed chance?

The only person looking at the ball is Luca Toni. Hmm.

Lyon lose their concentration far too easily.

Maybe it’s because so players were out of position (John Mensah, Karim Benzema, Ederson, Mathieu Bodmer), but it seems to me that Lyon can’t stay focused for an entire match. There were definite moments in the game where the players would start an attack but get confused thirty seconds later, as if they were struck with amnesia. Lyon would have scored four or five goals if the players hadn’t lost their focus and flubbed their chances in the last ten meters of the pitch. It also didn’t help that Puel had the players play for a draw, which is something they haven’t done all season. Even when they were two goals down against Nice and Fiorentina, Lyon went for the win. So perhaps today’s newest directive didn’t settle so well with the players.

Cris is still struggling to find form.

While he was better than against Nice, Cris still made more mistakes than usual and allowed too many Bayern players to pass him by. He should have done a better job on keeping tabs on Ze Roberto as well. I don’t know if he’s more hesitant to make tackles or if his knee is slowing him down, but it’s a sad day when Mathieu Bodmer is a better defender. And speaking of Bodmer, he had a fairly good match. If only he could improve his instincts as a defender (he still thinks like a midfielder), he’d be really good.

The police officer has been replaced by a kindergarten teacher.

Lyon relied on too many set pieces.

At one point, Juninho kept collecting fouls in order to get good free kicks. While he wasn’t diving, you could tell he wasn’t getting out of the way either. While I don’t mind when players pick up smart fouls, the fact that Juninho felt it was Lyon’s only chance was troubling (though it turned out to be true, since Lyon’s only goal was the result of his free kick). Normally, Lyon can count themselves blessed to have a freekick master like Juni on their team – any other club manager would sell his right eye to have a player like that on his roster. But while it’s good that Lyon take advantage of Juninho’s talent, relying on it as their sole source of salvation is dangerous.

THE UGLY:

Juninho’s hair.

WTF is going on with his hair? I’m convinced that it’s a bird nest. How is he supposed to see anything if his hair is all over his face. And what’s the point of wearing a headband if it’s not actually keep his hair back? Geez, can someone tell him to get a haircut? He wouldn’t even need to pay for it since Lyon own their own hair salons.

That’s not hair, that’s a nest!

Another Juninho picture, just because.

Karim Benzema was once again put on the left.

Someone explain this to me. If your team possesses one of the most amazing strikers, not just of his generation but in the entire tournament, a man who is at his most dangerous when he plays up front when he can focus on striking and not on ball winning – why in the world would you play him anywhere else?!?!?!?!? It’s not as if Lyon were having a massive injury crisis up front, in fact, they are overflowing with attacking talent. I know, I know, Karim Benzema can play well in the LW position. But he’s like 50% efficient, and when you need goals, you have to put him where he plays best as opposed to supporting the no good Fred. For nearly the duration of the entire game, Benzema was forced to drop deep to retrieve balls, to spend his time defending, and was often isolated from the rest of Lyon’s nonexistent attack.

WHY CLAUDE, WHY?????

John Mensah is not a good replacement left back.

Just ugh. I thought it couldn’t get any worse than having Kim Kallstrom back there, but John Mensah proved equally adept at being useless. He barely contributed to the attack, and his defending was nonexistent. Time and time again, Massimo Oddo easily bypassed him and sent in tons of crosses to his teammates. Mensah spent most of his time fouling the Germans and kicking the ball out of play. Thank GOD Fabio Grosso is due to return for the next Champions League game. I’m tired of seeing Lyon’s left flank raped on a biweekly basis.

The goals: