Down, but Not Out… Well, Not for Long at Least.

By: John | September 8th, 2008

As everyone’s probably already heard, Fabio Grosso went down in the 18th min of Italy’s 2-1 win over Cyprus. Fabio left the game with an injury to his flank. The diagnosis is two fractured ribs. It’s believed he will be out of the Lyon line-up for at least one month. That amounts to Grosso missing at least (6) matches. In L1: Nice, Le Havre, Nancy and Le Mans. And two CL fixtures: Fiorentina and Bayern.
Bernard Lacombe spoke about the injury and what it meant to the club. Lacombe: I had him on the phone yesterday, he had recieved a good “stamping” in an aerial duel. He was sandwiched and a Cypriot caught him with a knee. It’s not a serious injury, but it hurts everytime you move. You can’t really do anything to treat it. You just need to give it time to heal.
It’s annoying to be deprived of a player with such experience. It’s a less serious injury than those of Muller, Cris and Coupet last season, but the physical demands of football today do not allow you to play with a slightly injured player.
Asked about who would fill in for Grosso: Kallstrom, one of the two youngsters i.e., Gassama or Kolo; or whether a “Medical Joker” would be sought, Lacombe responded:
We haven’t spoken to Claude. We will see in the next few hours, knowing that a “Joker” will not be able to play in the Champion’s League. I think we will leave things the way they are. Accquiring someone just for Le Championnat, it’s not worth it.
I guess the surplus of midfielders is coming in handy after all. As most of you have posted in the comments section, and I have to agree, this is no big deal during the L1 games. This Medical Joker thing makes no sense as he couldn’t play in the CL games, where he’s most needed, and who the devil could we get at this point? I imagine it would have to be someone who’s currently not with a club. Hey, maybe we could get Bixente Lizarazu. I didn’t see the Saint Etienne match, so I can’t comment on how Kallstrom looked at left back. My only worry is in the CL. If Ribery is anywhere near 100%, running up that right flank at Kallstrom, or any of the other out-of-position players out there. That could be a real nightmare.

Some Related Lyon Posts:

Category: Ligue 1, Team News and Rumors

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John

Sidney Govou: Calm down. Don't worry. The match previews will always be up before the match starts. It would be sacreligious not to. Inara and I were both traveling last week, we did what we could. Also, Lyon news has been slow as of late. But rest assured, we will never miss a match preview.
Laurie

Do we want to do game commentary here, or on the Preview post?
ghislain

Now that was a terrible defensive play...
Ghislain

Re: the LB position - I think we'll be just fine...everyone needs to take a deep breath and get ready for a sweet Lyon run in ALL competitions this year!
Ghislain

Agreed - Inara's blog rocks! I have the pleasure today of not having to stream the match on my laptop (and then through my 42" TV! :)), but direct on Tv on TVA! Woo-hoo! Go Lyon!
john

POL: I agree. Weeks like this is when I don't mind having a "depth problem." Having a crowded midfield is really coming in handy, as Bodmer and Kallstrom are getting playing time in defense. Hopefully Delgado, Mounier and others will get some much needed time.
Pride of Lyon

Ok, forget this last comment of mine... I don't want the players to get injured, but I think you can understand what I meant.
Pride of Lyon

I hope we will see Lens in the top flight again soon. I miss the best public of France!
Tough week ahead for Lyon. I think injuries can be a blessing in some ways (can't believe I'm saying that), as it will allow all the players to have some playing time, while the others have no reason to complain because they are injured. I don't want long injuries, just the small occasional one ;)
Jo

Javi, you and your insults are pathetic.
Don't want to argue with you.
Have a good day.
Javi

Hey Johnny,

I think you should reply to this moron since you are the one who started bashing our beloved drunkard Martel at Lens. hahahaha
Jo

Please, stop saying sh*t about Gervais Martel.
You don't know what the guy did for RC Lens.

Let's go back to the subject. Thank you.
Andy

Martial Yao from ASEC? BIG talent. What about buying him?
Javi

HAHAHAHA. Yeah Martel is a disgrace. Lens needs an Emirati company to buy them. They would dominate Ligue 1 then.
Corey

I think its worth giving Kolo and Gassama a run out in Ligue 1, atleast to see where they are at and if we really need to sign a joker.
john

Jav: Martel should've worked at Enron. He's a veritable financial disaster. He should be heading a major corporation with the talent he has for selling things off. His selling off of Lens' talent being like outsourcing jobs. The good workers of Lens need to rise up and depose the "Louis XVI" of French football.
john

The problem with Mensah is, how long is it before the rock "chips" again? The guy's like a roman sculpture: he's an incredible physical specimen, but he's missing a foot or hand or something and has to be proped-up by a tree trunk.
Javi

John,

You have got to be thrilled about this one. Hopefully for Lyon this guy suffers a severe injury and they play Kolodziecjzak who they stole from Lens or invest in a real left back.
Corey

Also, guignol, dont call me shirley.
Corey

Gassama cannot play as a left back, so thats out of the question. Playing him in the league at right back surely would not be as much of a risk as playing Kallstrom at left back though?

Kolo is not ready for either league nor Champions League. Id prefer using the other youth team player Fontaine, who has more CFA experience then Kolo. For the Champions League, I think playing Rev on the right will be acceptable. Considering our center backs, Boumsong and Cris are out of the question at left back for me, but Mensah could do a job there. You must also remember Faure played a little left back in the CFA, and Puel has great trust in this youngster. But Kallstrom will probably be the default for the Champions League.

Please play Bodmer in the midfield, he is much better there!
guignol

källström in the derby? a pile of pants. he has the skills to go forward, but not to defend: he's not fast, and can neither tackle nor intercept balls in the air. getting behind him was a cinch every time, but with ederson helping him, and boumsong covering behind him, there was no damage.

when mensah and cris both get healthy (against nice this weekend? dear diary i hope so!) JAB can go wide, right or left, and someone not mentioned yet is bodmer. i think the only reason we saw kongo kim at LB in the derby was that BOTH these two were needed at CB.

something else that helps is that RVR can play either side, and so can govou. if you have a big customer to look out for you put anto on his side and sidney in front of the stand-in.

kolo? gassana? shirley you can't be serious.
Jo

Ribery is playing LEFT winger with Bayern, so that will not be a problem, he'll have to face Reveillere.
But Schweinsteiger can really make Kolo, Gassama or Kallstrom crying if they have to play as LB...
Kallstrom was good against St Etienne, but made mistakes. Against St Etienne, that was not a big deal. Against Bayern, that type of mistake is one goal for them.
pean8ts

Do you see what's coming next (as we didn't learn anything from last season)... Anthony, did you book a room at the hospital already? Cause you're going down next game! And then we think "damned, we ain't gat nobody for the sides anymore..."
Hope I'm wrong...
Nikola

Grosso was playing just like a winger anyway, so I doubt Kalstrom would be a too offensive replacement, while we also have Mensah and Boumsong, who have both definetely proven their defensive abilites. I think we should try with the youngsters, nobody here knows how good Kolo is and we aren't going to unless he actually plays. He's definetely too young for that position, but I'd give him a chance nevertheless.