Debacle at Nantes: Post-Game Break-Down

By: John | December 6th, 2008

Hugo Lloris going the wrong way on an Ivan Klasnic game-winning penalty kick

First of all, sorry to all you guys for not getting up a pre-game post, there was a slight mix-up. Anyway, I thought I’d do a post-game breakdown to make-up for it. So…

With both Karim Benzema and Juninho out, and most of the other players being played limited minutes/ rested for the mid-week Bayern CL match, I wasn’t expecting anything more than a probable tie vs. Nantes, or at the very least, a narrow victory. With the back-four intact, the two defensive midfielders starting and Cris regaining his old form in recent weeks and forming a symbiosis with Boumsong, surely the front four attackers could muster up a goal. I would never have imagined anything else than the two aformentioned results. But my logic and expectations were way off. As I was busy lauding the two Lyon players who, to me, stood-out head and shoulders above the rest on the pitch, who would’ve thought that those two players would give up the goals that would sink Lyon.

Player Perfomances:

Hugo Lloris: Didn’t have much to do all game and there wasn’t anything he could’ve done on the first goal.

Cris: Solid game. The Cris of old is back!! Several good stops and seems to be getting better with every game.

Boumsong: Also was very solid. No lapses in judgement today. Is forming a great pairing with Cris.

Gassama: Is becoming a defensive stud, although he gave up the winning penalty. Shut down almost all runs down the right, and most of the match was quiet from that side.

Grosso: Quiet game. Didn’t really get up field like at Fiorentina, but things were quiet on the left.

Makoun: Also had a quiet game. Not much of a presence on defense and like Grosso, didn’t get foward as in the Fiorentina match.

Toulan: The ex-Nantais had a strong presence. Lots of energy and worked hard in the midfield. Along with Gassama was one of the most notabale players on the pitch- until Ederson came on- but like Gassama, gave up a goal, letting the calcified Ivan Klasnic past him to score the equaliser early in the second half.

Kallstrom: Not effective, besides his freekick that Piquionne pounced on after coming-off of Alonzo’s hand for Lyon’s only goal. Had some very errant shots on goal and looked exhausted when he came of the pitch in the 80th minute.

Delgado: Very low-key. Carlos was playing the #10 in the 4-2-3-1, something he looked completely out of place doing. Nothing spectacular from the Argentine.

Keita: Brought some energy. Was taken off by Puel early in the second half, probably being saved for Bayern.

Piquionne: Freddy capitalized on his limited playing time with the utmost of efficiency bagging a goal just before the half to give Lyon a 1-0 lead. Left the game with a knock to his knee, replaced by Fred.

Subs:

Ederson: Honorato was an infusion of energy to a Lyon that was waning since the beginning of the second half. He had several good crosses and balls into the box from the right side.

Fred: Invisible, except for getting hit with a yellow for “flopping,” in the box, which I thought was underserved. Maybe it was the bad stream, but I really did think he was fouled.

Fabio Santos: Provided some excellent runs down the left but faded away.

The first half belonged to Lyon, and indeed, until the 60mns when Klasnic- I really wish he and Pagis of Rennes, picked other teams to have break-out games against- scored the equalizer, Lyon were in control. From there-on it was all downhill. Nantes began to attack incessently, but except for those two costly mistakes by Toulalan and Gassama, the back-line withstood the assault very well. The offense was absolutely anemic in the second half, the only ray of light being Ederson. For me this game again highlighted the need for scorers other than Benz and Juni. I’m of the opinion that once those two players are gone, Lyon is in trouble offensively. I know that the fowards were mainly third team players, but if we are really a big club, then we should be able to beat bottom-of-the-table teams with just three or four, third-team players sprinkled in amoungst the starters. Lyon now have just a three point lead on second place Marseille who are coming to town next Sunday looking to squeeze into first place with us.

Starting Lineup:

Lloris
Gassama – Cris – Boumsong – Grosso
Toulalan – Makoun
Keita – Delgado – Kallstrom
Piquionne

Subs:
Ederson for Keita 61′
Fred for Piquionne 65′
Dos Santos for Kallstrom 79′