Coupe de la Ligue, Lorient vs Lyon : last hurdle before the Stade de France

with all these postponed games we have the chance to be on the podium, but a tie would still be enough to keep me very surprised and happy since we've lost 6 of our last 8 away games while marseille have won the last 8 games they've played in all competitions..
im very very worried

Hate to be such a pooper, and don't get me wrong I'm proud of the fact that we have reached the League Cup final, but performances like this do nothing but mask serious, serious issues with the state of the team right now. We were absolutely awful vs Lorient, we needed 2 late goals to beat relegation candidates Dijon, and overall are midfield and defensive play has been atrocious. The level and standard of the football has dipped dramatically over the past couple of seasons, and it certainly hasn't improved under Garde this year. Even Puel's teams were known for having fighting spirit and having the ability to erase some awful performances with last-gap comebacks. I'm sorry to be a downer, but it's just not good enough, and there really isn't any indications that we'll improve the rest of the season.

No you are right. Cris is a liability and Reveillere doesn't do enough to help out--and he isn't fast enough to get back. Our central defense isn't good enough and with Aly and Reveillere running up the flanks--there is no one to help out. We lose possession too much with long balls forward rather than strong build up play. This is where Grenier, Kallstrom and Gourcuff come in. We rely too much on passes coming in from the flanks and nothing going on in the middle of the pitch. I think it is a miracle we are where we are in the table and now into this final.  

 So it's a miracle rather than some good coaching and good players who play good? We have all the luck, don't we? Like having 15 of our pro players injured all at the same time, just recently.
This season on L1 table we're as good, if not better, as Puel was last season with his OL in this time of the season (and he had a bigger and more experienced side than our current young squad). We're in finals of CdL (which Puel's Lyon fell right out of at the beginning), we're still in the game for CdF, we're still in Champions League and we still have a very good shot ending on the L1 podium this year.
I'm really happy with this season, I don't see what's so wrong. You guys are talking like we're 15th on the table, not just one point behind 3rd.
Sure we're not dominant in France like we were in Juni's time but after 7 years of dominance, who would expect us to be? No team has ever (at least not recently) dominated 7 years or more in their league.

Lorient is a team we should have no problem winning against with Bastos, Licha and Gomis on the field. Lorient is a team that has to reinvent itself every season as it loses its best players to bigger teams. For all intensive purposes it is a training ground for larger teams. Our offense makes up for a defense in disarray. How often do we keep a clean sheet? How often does Lloris save us from ourselves? Yeah, I think we have been lucky this season--lucky we can score more goals than we give up. Lucky we have been able to overcome our injuries. But I feel we are a team on an unsteady foundation and at any moment we are going to topple.

Dont forget that Lyon had to somewhat reinvent itself this season also. New coach, new transfer policy, lots and lots of youth players in the starting 11. I dont see it the same way you do at all. You think with all these up and coming players,( grenier, umtiti, lacazette (!), lovren, gonalons etc) that Lyon will be worse off next season then this season? 

If we lose Hugo, we sure as hell will be worse off. Without Lloris we would be 10-12th place in the league. I know it's been a transition phase for the club this season but the football, at times, has been atrocious. Take Lorient we sell Gassama a week ago and they throw him in at RB immediately and they give us immense problems, and totally outplay us. We still have loads more talent than most of the league, yet I can recall maybe 4 or 5 games this year where we've outplayed our opponents. There are more issues than just youth, if you ask me. 

Wait, what? We give Lorient Gassama - a player who has almost always been dreadful playing for us - and because of HIM they give us a hard time? Please...Lorient is a very decent team, I don't know what makes you guys think they should be a kicking bag for stronger L1 clubs. Until we defeated them this season, they were undefeated on their turf since May 2011!
Also, it's not Lloris' sole credit we're 4th instead of 12th in the league, he had a number of mistakes this year.

well thats my point! Someone as awful as Gassama is in the 11 for a squad that gives us utter hell. We didnt deserve to win that match, let's be completely honest. We made Lorient look like a decent side. A team with a top scorer of 3 goals on the season does not define a good side, just my opinion. Regardless, I don't enjoy bashing my favorite team. I just think we've been INSANELY lucky this season.  From some of our completely dreadful performances in the league, to the bizarre night in zagreb, we have to take a knee and thank the footballing heavens. I hope our run of luck continues tomorrow, bc Marseille are a far superior side at the moment

Wow I couldn't have said it better myself

You may say all of these things, and you may be right about alot of things, but when we don't finish in the top 3 this season I would like to hear your thoughts on that. And injuries aren't a real excuse, every club in europe deals with injuires. I am thankful that the players have great fighting spirit the quality is certainly not there. Plus Licha and Bastos aren't getting any younger, Lloris won't be around for much longer, and Gourcuff is a garbage bin. I am extremely worried about the future of this club.

Completely agree with everything Muffin just said. Everyone was being told that this would be a transition year, that finances made it impossible to purchase new "star" players and that we were going to have to rely on our youth squad for a while and that this season would probably be sub par for that reason. So a normal fan would not expect much, but instead OL are in a cup final and still alive in all 4 competitions. They have been doing very well in the CL and despite all the injuries and a decimated back line, Lyon are still in contention for a top 2 finish in the league. Umtiti has been a revelation this season and once Lovren and Kone are healthy we should have a very strong defense again. Seems like the negativity  here is a bit over the top.

kone is not injured is he? also, whats the status on lovren, when should he be able to come back?
i believe that garde is a worse tactician than puel was. but he's a much better motivator and there seems to be a much more positive atmosphere in the team. that's why he's been able to push what he has to such limits, but we're much more useless against big clubs like madrid than puel was.
i think it would be an incredible season if we can finish with a silverware and end the season on the podium given the strength of our current squad. and watching this team, i think we can do that, unless we're hit with another injury plague.
for now, lets see if we can handle red hot marseille this sunday.

i think we coulda easily beat Lorient had lisandro pass to lacazette instead of being selfish but i guess that was a good thing cause now its gonna be a good lesson in the future. kallstrom i dont even know what to say i think briand and was the man of the match he attacked and defended well but whatever the case is thank god we are in the Final and this is a real boost to help us win the big game on sunday i just hope Nice beat Marseille tommrow

So Kallstrom had a bad day. He never really had one before so he can have one today. He's only human.

Im not hating on Kallstrom hes one of our main players this season all im saying is him and Lisandro had to come off or we would have lost that game so Calm down buddy

Kallstrom hasn't had a good game for months, so...
And this is not coming from a Kallstrom hater, he's one of my favorite players, but the fact is Kim is on a certain decline.

What? Kallstrom has been one of the more solid and consistent players at Lyon that I can remember. Even if he isn't scoring goals he generally always contributes a lot on the field. To say that he hasn't had a good game in months is frankly wrong.

 I don't expect him to score, not even assist. And he was great at was he does without scoring or assisting early in this season, but recently his level dropped significantly. He's losing a lot of balls in the midfield, doing a lot of misplaced passes and his taking of set pieces is below par.
And as I already said, this is not coming from a Kallstrom hater; he's one of my favorite players.

Game over. Lorient have been dangerous from the first til the very last of the 120 minutes. After 80 mins they were leading 2-0... Lyon have been incredibly ineffective in converting their chances into goals at the beginning; then they faded, until the 70th minute...

unbelievable game. as shitty as our defense is, this is a team that never gives up! what heart! i cant count how many times ive thought we were out this season, and then somehow miracolously we bounce back...this would be a terrible time to be a lyon fan if you have heart conditions! allez bad gones!

Super happy we are thru but I do feel bad for Lorient and its fans. I would be gutted right now if I was them. They did so much more with so much less than what we have. 

Lacazette!!! 4-2!!!!!

what a great comeback!!!!!

it's now Stade de France minus 4 mins..

Hugo--MOTM!

The TV showed the replay of Gomis running to the bench to celebrate his goal with Licha; and the Argentine kissing him repeatedly (on the cheek, you perverts) as if he hadn't seen his best friend for 5 years..

Isn't there a break between halves? Did I miss it?

There was 1-2 mins, that's all.

Half time (of the extra time) 2-3...

Lacazette looked like he was trolling for a penalty. I'm glad we scored for real.

Yes, I thought that too.

2-3. This is looking much better...

YES!! GOMIS!!!

Gomis! Almost...

our defense is making the lorient forwards look like messi's.

... and is making itself look pathetic.

OMG I don't believe it! and we don't deserve it.

What a crazy, nerve wrecking game!!!

YES!!!!!! 2-2!!!! Briand at the last second!!!!!

I still don't understand how we - especially Licha- could miss so many chances (4, I think, for Licha) in the first half...

still 3 mins to score and get to extra-time...

Ederson on for Cris

Not sure why Gourcuff has stayed. It is obvious now that he is 3rd tier for Garde. He can't regain his place in the NT for Euros if he doesn't play. He must have gotten some assurances but doesn't look that way.

I think a spot is for him to grab; but obviously he doesn't show enough at training to convince Garde, whose policy is to field those who deserve it most, regardless of purchase price...

he's injured right now though, thats why hes not playing

He's over it. He's on the bench.

Lacazette! 2-1!

Kallstrom and Licha off

Grenier and Briand to come into play

Almost 3-0. Our defense are in shambles.

oh well, one less competition to worry about. dont deserve any better than this result. our defense on paper looks like a fucking joke, and in reality.. a funnier one.

 Our defense is better with Gonalons in it and Fofana as DM -.-

OL players didn't come off the locker room after the break. It's like there's only Lorient on the pitch.

F*ck. 2-0.

But the worst by far is Cris. They scored because of him. He looks so slow and puzzled; he didn't have a clue what was going on...

He is just too slow. But also he isn't getting any help. Isn't Reveillere on the right? Shouldn't he be coming back to help?

 I really can't understand Garde.Everyone can see Kim&Cris are shit and still he is not making changes!!Nothing!

In such games you don't want to sub players too early on as there's a chance to go to extra time and not have any fresh player left.

Garde does this during regular games that I can't figure: He will only use two subs, and the second will come on in the late 80mns. Throw the third sub on in injury time at least,  for Christ's sake!

He wasn't doing it before Licha's injury against Montpellier,since then he has been too cautious.

kallstrom needs to come off now. he's playing like a bag of shit

I really hope they didn't resign Kallstrom to his existing salary. Someone should be shot for that decision. We should buy Bodmer back, since Leandro is about one season away from having a complete Serie A squad take the field wearing PSG kits at the Parc.  

saw that coming. terrible defense. terrible mid. fucking terrible...

half time 0-0. licha's gotta convert those chances in the second half. allez!

please licha...

our forwards our doing well, but our mid is in shambles. awful passes in the back and even worse up front..

Courtesy of Kim Kong.I would rather see Grenier on the pitch.

gonalons is making some awful passes as well.

we're wasting too many chances...another one on one with the goalie licha miss...

Licha, man... Sure you couldn't net this one?

Pfew Licha! On a normal -ie natural, real-grass pitch- this would have been a goal..

and Lyon should have got  a penalty (hand in the box)

oh licha...that should've been burried..

Wow Gomis! Such a volley shows confidence...