Lyon Tell Patrick Muller To Pack His Bags

By: Inara | April 11th, 2008

First off, apologies for not getting to this sooner, but thanks to a particularly nasty strain of flu, I’ve been too tired to do much typing. Thankfully, I work in an infectious disease lab, so I can’t go into lab until I’m better. So these past five days have been spent on my couch recuperating. I had planned on writing up a match preview for Lyon-Rennes and also finish my part of the Ligue 1 talent guide for Corey. None of that happened, but I did watch a lot of CSI and Murder She Wrote reruns. But have no fear. After overdosing on chicken soup and orange juice, I feel energetic enough to post my thoughts on the Patrick Muller divorce.

Lyon vs. Muller, Le Divorce

Because that’s what it is. A divorce. Muller has been with the club since 2000, and besides a brief stint in Switzerland for the 2004-2005 season, he’s been a Lyon man for the past eight years. Muller has even served as our captain for a time, and most importantly, he scored that all important goal that won Lyon the Coupe de la Ligue back in 2001 - the trophy that started everything else for OL.

So let me get you up to speed on the situation. Muller, whose contract ends in this summer, hasn’t played a single competitive minute all season due to injuring his knee…twice. He sprained his right knee before the season started, and just as he was about to make his comeback, he ruptured his cruciate ligament in the same knee in a reserve game. He had the choice of a minor surgery, which would allow him to come back sooner but which might not have fixed the problem, or a major surgery, which would definitively fix the problem.

This is where the betrayal part comes in. Back in early December, when Muller was grappling with the choice between the two surgeries, Jean-Michel Aulas promised to extend Muller’s contract by another year or two because he wanted to repay Muller for his service to Lyon (the exact phrase was that Aulas liked to “pamper his foals”).

Hearing this, Muller opted for the major surgery in order to make a complete recovery in six months time. He knew he would probably miss Euro 2008 despite it being in his home country and that he would have to sit our nearly all of Lyon’s season. But he had faith that his career wasn’t over and that he could come back healthier and better prepared to play.

However, last Friday, he was told that Lyon were no longer planning to offer him that extension.

“The club ensured me back in December that my contract would be extended for one or even two years. The surgery was already planned. I felt safe…And then when I saw nothing coming regarding my contract in January I tried to contact people without any response a number of times….Bernard Lacombe told on Friday that Lyon do not want me anymore.”

Lyon responded with this statement:

Bernard Lacombe met Patrick Muller last week to tell him that in the current context, with the arrival of Jean-Alain Boumsong and the recovery of Cleber Anderson, the club had taken the decision not to offer him an extension to his contract which comes to an end on June 30, while he can’t assure us of a perfect return to fitness. A definitive decision will nevertheless be taken at the end of the season regarding the evolution of his recovery and his eventual participation at the Euros.”

Muller is actually rather accepting about the whole situation, which isn’t that surprising because he’s always been a calm and rational player (just imagine Juninho in this situation…Gerland would be incinerated by his temper). In an interview, Muller said that while he’s disappointed, he understands where the club is coming from.

Injured or not, the man loved the shirt.

Because of Cleber Anderson’s untimely injury last winter (keep in mind that Anderson was bought in part to cover Muller’s absence), the club had no choice but to recruit Jean-Alain Boumsong. With Cris and Sebastien Squillaci as the first choice pair, it’s not possible to have so many central defenders next season (we’ll also be getting back Sandy Paillot, who is on loan right now).

But it broke my heart when Muller, asked how he felt about the situation, said this:

“It’s difficult. When you live through what I experienced here, you can only wish to prolong the adventure. I would have liked to stay, but this is the end of a great love story. I owe a lot to this club. I’m disappointed, but I have to get overcome this.”

The main problem for Muller is that he hasn’t played all year, so it will be nearly impossible to get a decent club to pick him up as is. Finding a club would be greatly facilitated if he could play for Switzerland in Euro 2008, except he’s not close to being match fit. But Muller has vowed to work as hard as possible because there is a chance, however remote, that he’ll be ready in time for the Euros. Which means that he has to start playing competitively by early May, at the latest.

Okay, maybe I’m being too emotional over this. After all, don’t I always keep harping about how Lyon need to grow up and starting acting like a Big Evil Club? And their treatment of Muller, however deplorable, is part of being a Big Evil Club. Big Evil Clubs don’t keep around players just because it’s nice to do so. Not when the money used to pay Muller’s salary could be used to bring in two younger and more promising players.

Muller has only a month to convince the Swiss NT.

So from a sporting point of view, Lyon are doing the right thing. Muller is 31 years old, and even if he fully recovers from his surgery, it’s unlikely that he’ll be the player he used to be. And considering that the player he used to be was on the decline before his injury, Lyon know that they can’t rely on him in their quest for galactic domination, even as a back up CB.

I understand all that. But what I don’t like is Lyon reneging on a promise they made to a very loyal player. Why make that promise in the first place? Granted, Lyon couldn’t have predicted that they’d have to buy another central defender a month after that promise, but still. Muller might have taken a risk on the the minor surgery if he had known that Lyon were going to abandon him because he’s been laid up so long.

Also, why are Lyon giving up on Muller because of Anderson, who is taking up an non-EU spot besides? Even injured, Muller > Anderson. Muller is a good player, and I feel like Lyon are giving up on him too easily. They kept faith with Cris and Gregory Coupet, didn’t they? Sure, Muller might not be outstanding, but he’s a collected defender who knows how to keep things calm at the back. He’s also versatile - he can play as a defensive midfielder when required. And he’s a good friend to many of the players, is one of the leaders on the team, a senior player of a lot of experience, and well-loved by the fans. I can’t think of anyone who dislikes Muller. I bet even St. Etienne fans wouldn’t boo him. He’s that great.

I guess this is what it means to watch your club take the next step. Last year, Lyon dropped two other loyal but not quite good enough players, Claudio Cacapa, Sylvain Wiltord, and Jeremy Berthod, in the same way. They are also giving hints to the Gregory Coupet that they wouldn’t be opposed to his departure while they simply told Remy Vercoutre to get the hell out. And of course, Lyon have been hoping that someone would take Sidney Govou off their hands. Muller is just the latest in Lyon’s quest to trim the fat off their squad.

So in the end, Muller’s departure is a good thing. Growing up is painful, and I suppose I wasn’t prepared at how much it would hurt.