Aftermath: What’s in the Press
By: Inara | November 28th, 2007The draw against Barcelona last Tuesday has reawakened Lyon’s spirits, and for the first time in two months, people are beginning to have hope of qualification. While the odds are still in Rangers’ favor, the gap has shortened, with many people thinking that Lyon can walk away from Glasgow with a win.
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Gregory Coupet is back in full training, but he dashed a lot of hopes with an honest and up front interview yesterday morning. Most of us have been hoping that he would be in the nets for the match against Glasgow, but according to Coupet, he’s not ready yet. Guignol kindly translated his interview, which I’m posting here (it beats the hell out of the google translation!)
“If I had to decide today I’d say no. I’m not at 100%. I might be able to fool some people, but me, I know. I also have to deal with the calendar; there are only two more matches before Glasgow. If I want to play in 2 weeks it means I have to be ready this sunday, and that won’t be the case. Coming back straight into a match like [Rangers] would be a big risk. It would be presumptuous. First, you have to respect the team. And what’s more, Rémy is doing very well now. He made a big play on Touré’s shot in the first half and two more in the second. There’s no need to start pushing him in particular. And whether it’s Rémy or Mika Landreau, I’ve never sought to put anyone under pressure. What’s important is the stability of the team. There everything’s OK, so I’m OK too. If I can go to Glasgow as the backup that would be a good thing already. I never claimed that I was going to play there. I indicated it as my goal for my reeducation. I need challenges like that. Frankly, when I speak of the Champions League, I’m thinking of the beginning of 2008.”
First of all, I love that he’s so positive in expecting to be playing in the CL in 2008. That shows his faith in the squad. It’s also nice of him to reassure Remy Vercoutre and Mickael Landreau, who are both no doubt dreading the day Coupet comes back to take his rightful number 1 spot.
Coupet’s assessment of his fitness is backed up by Juninho, who had this to say:
“In my opinion, Coupet is one of the three best goalkeepers in the world, second right behind Buffon. It’s true that Greg gives us his strength of mind and his experience, but to play in such a big match [against Rangers], we must be at 100%. Additionally, like the entire team, I’m glad at the performances of Remy Vercoutre. He had a big game yesterday, which reassured us. He’s been very steady in the last 4-5 games.”
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Alain Perrin is being his usual cautious self, claiming that Rangers are the favorites to go through. I personally hate it when Perrin plays the “safe” card even though he’s trying to keep us from getting our hopes up. Thankfully, Juninho is having none of that, instead flat out saying that Lyon will qualify. Period. Even the normally media-shy Jeremy Toulalan (future Lyon captain…you read it here first) said before the Barcelona game that he was sure Lyon will make it into the next round, with Lilian Thuram also stating his confidence in OL’s qualification..
Of course Rangers captain Barry Ferguson is saying the opposite, that Rangers will qualify. Well, in two weeks only one captain will be right. Both Rangers and Lyon will be treating this game like a final, as well as it should be. Rangers vs. Lyon will be the final Champions League appearance for one of the two clubs.
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Frank Rijkaard is unhappy with how violent Lyon is. In a press conference following the Lyon vs. Barcelona game on Tuesday, Rijkaard justified his first ever expulsion as a Barca coach by saying that Lyon’s tackles were dangerous, and well, someone had to stand up and say something. It was truly a random moment in the middle of the game in which he lost his temper for run-of-the-mill tackles (he’s being a bit unrealistic if he thinks opposition players will let Messi stroll around the pitch in peace).
Rijkaard does bring up an interesting point. What people don’t realize – that is the people who don’t watch L1 on a regular basis – is that French football is actually quite physical, and it shocks foreign clubs sometimes. L1 isn’t like the EPL of course, but it’s more physically demanding than Serie A and La Liga, and it’s why I like L1 so much – it combines technique and strength.
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Category: Team News and Rumors
Tags: Alain Perrin, Barry Ferguson, Frank Rijkaard, Gregory Coupet, Jean-Michel Aulas, Juninho, Lyon, Rangers, Team News and RumorsSubscribe
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Comments
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Good post, but it seems to me that if the issue ran the other way, then this argument would change with it. Let’s say the Rangers are being overly physical with Lyon next matchday. Arguing that the SPL is “just very physical” would give you little consolation. Also, the false choice between “dangerous tackling” and “letting Juninho run free” would seem just as silly to you as your arugment would seem to a Barca fan right now.
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United States
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To be honest, I accept tackling and the physical aspect of the sport, and of course any team would be smart to stop Juninho – it’s part and parcel of the game, and frankly, as long as the tackle isn’t dangerous, it often leads to a scoring opportunity for Lyon – free kicks and all that. It’s why players like Benzema, Ben Arfa, and other smaller players need to develop more muscle mass – so they can more easily withstand the fouls they are bound to receive.
Messi got tackled as harshly as Juninho did last night, but I’m not bothered by it because that’s what’s going to happen. When you have such skillful and dangerous players against players that lack that same level of technical ability, it’s sometimes easier to knock them over (as long as it’s not in the penalty box). Take this stat for example: in general, Lyon tend to accumulate a very high amount of fouls per match (they are currently leading their CL group with the most number of fouls). But they don’t get many yellow cards, and that’s because they make smart fouls.
There’s a difference between knocking someone over and intending to cause harm (like that Binya tackle) – and with all due respect to Rijkaard, there was no excessive use of physical force last night. He was demanding a red card for a Lyon foul (I believe it was Anderson (?) on Messi), but then you can also say that Marquez should have been expelled for his foul on Govou. At the end of the day, it was all even and no harm was done, so for me, it’s a non issue.
My beef with Scottish football isn’t so much their use of physical force as it is with the fact that often times, that’s all they rely on instead of attempting to foster some technical ability. I don’t mind seeing bodies flying over the pitch, but not tactics that revolve on hoofing the ball up the pitch instead of trying to string together three decent passes.
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United States -
Also, lets not forget Yaya Toure came from Ligue 1 and I’ve seen him make some dreadful, late and awkward tackles. Rijkaard should put his dummy back in his mouth and stop throwing his toys out of his pram.
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Ireland -
Strange how just a few weeks ago Coupet’s apparent absence at Ibrox would have been a disaster. Vercoutre’s past few matches really have been so strong that, albeit a fully fit Coupet would still be a preferred option, he (Vercoutre) does seem capable of meeting the challenge. Who would ever have thought that after the first leg Rangers.
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