Another Striker is Nice, But…

By: Inara | July 29th, 2009

Lyon are continuing their spending spree by shelling out €13m for St. Etienne’s Bafetimbi Gomis (plus another €2m in incentives). His cool name and awesome hair will be further augmenting Lyon’s ever expanding strikeforce. I’ll have a post featuring relevant information and stats about him once he has his press conference, but for now, let’s talk about how Lyon’s mercato is going.

Last week I put up a post questioning Lyon’s sanity, and I’d like to think I am somewhat justified for my stance. Gomis is a decent player and well able to support Lisandro Lopez as a second attacker. He had a bad 2008 campaign (then again, which French player didn’t?), and he was under the radar for most of last season (St. Etienne were struggling with relegation), but he did brilliantly the season before, and his potential is widely acknowledged.

Bafetimbi’s awkward hello.

That being said, his price is a little bit steep, don’t you think? Lyon didn’t even try to haggle this time. I bet ASSE’s president, Bernard Caiazzo, is kicking himself for not asking for more.

But I’m getting off track here. Honestly, I’m not that alarmed at seeing Lyon spend left and right. I’m just wondering if the quality of the players matches the amount paid for them.

Lisandro Lopez – €24m + €4m in incentives
Michel Bastos – €18m + at least €2m incentives
Aly Cissokho – €15m + 20% of future transfer profits
Bafetimbi Gomis – €13m + €2m in incentives

I don’t need a calculator to tell you that Aulas has spent what is roughly the equivalent of the GDP of a third world country on only FOUR players. That’s €70m euros. Marseille on the other hand of purchased twice as many players for less than half that amount, and I don’t think there is that much of a difference between the two squads at the moment.

In fact, I think Marseille have a better defense. Our CBs are not that good. It is. I love my team to death, but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen any evidence of “rock solid defending.” Cris can’t decide if he wants to stay or go, and I don’t trust him to regain his form from two seasons ago. I don’t care what Claude Puel says, Mathieu Bodmer is an attacking midfielder. Referring to John Mensah as the Glass Ghanaian is more of an unalienable truth than it is as a humorous nickname. Jean-Alain Boumsong, who is more suited to be a backup CB at a club of Lyon’s stature, is the most reliable defender at the moment.

Just think about that for a moment. Boumsong. Reliable. Those are the depths Lyon have sunk to.

What I don’t understand is why Lyon aren’t looking at any CBs. I haven’t even any rumors linking them to one. That’s all the more puzzling with Puel visibly wanting to push Mensah out of the club (after making us sign him last season for €8m, the bastard) and Cris seemingly unhappy. On the other hand, Marseille signed Souleymane Diawara and Bordeaux signed Mickael Ciani for peanuts.

Dammit, I want a defender! Our goalkeeper is awesome. Our fullbacks are awesome. Our midfielders are awesome. Our attackers are awesome. But I don’t think Lyon will make it out of Champions League qualifying with the central defense they have. Because as nice as it is to have a deadly attack (and according to the press, Lyon will be adding another player or two to their attacking arsenal), it’s pointless if Lyon concede just as many goals as they score.

Come on, Puel. Just one measly CB. You can even go crazy and spend less than €10m on him (or more, I’m not picky). Pretty please?