From Marseille to Auxerre and now Brest : the Lyon roller-coaster goes on…

By: Megame | May 15th, 2011

In the following article, guest blogger Dan reviews the last two matchdays before introducing the next one. Enjoy!
Megame

Predictable…in lack of Predictability
Typical, typical Lyon. First, les Gones played like Titans in a brilliant Olympico. Delgado was monstrous (if only he could manage to stay fit; he has only started 19 games for OL in the last 2 years. The potential and ability is there to be a great player, that’s for sure. ). Lisandro, Pjanic, Gomis, in fact the OL team had a fantastic game. Kolodzieczak (took me a few attempts to get that one right and even now I’m not sure.) played really well under very trying circumstances. Cris was nervy at the back, but made up for it with a finish to remember. That was OL to its potential, with good movement, creativity and attacking verve. That was the OL of old. For a few days the faithful would wander the streets with joyful, contented smiles on their faces for no reason other than the thought could be entertained that we were BACK. OM had been humbled. We even considered the chance that they could be caught…

And then, the following game, when solidifying third place was in our grasp, we became exactly what our nickname suggests: les Gones. No more than children. It was a woeful performance. I could scarcely believe that I was watching the same team. No guile, no power, no tenacity. We were toothless in the extreme. An Auxerre side weakened by injury only enjoyed one third of the possession for much of the game, and yet were comfortable. Poor judgement from Lovren hurt OL’s chances. As President Aulas was quick to point out post-match, we were without 6 players but still, the manner of our defeat was really disappointing.

Clearly this team has an identity crisis to tackle. Are we men or kids? For how much longer are we going to tear through opponents like rabid canines one week, fangs bared and foaming at the mouth, and roll over, begging to be kicked the next?

Brest

Yeah, what the little guy said. Because this isn’t good enough. The league table shows that we have the quality to be up there with the best, as do our performances (sometimes). But our lack of consistency is really hampering our chances of silverware. Failure to win either of our last two games will result in our lowest points tally this MILLENIUM!! (Writer’s note: I’m referring to full seasons in the millennium here. Our points tally in the 99-00 season was 56, but our lowest in a full millennium season was 64 in 00-01). Which brings me nicely to the second part of this article.

Brest Away on Monday Night
A game that must be viewed as a win against the side 15th in the table, Brest started the season as the new surprise package a la Montpellier, but unlike MHSC they couldn’t sustain their good form and have slowly slipped down the table. OL won the reverse fixture 1-0 thanks to a Jean II Makoun goal, but surprisingly, that was just the second time Les Gones have beaten Brest in a league fixture. Brest held dominance over OL in league meetings in the late 80s and early 90s.

They have undoubted quality in their ranks. A man who immediately springs to mind is Nolan Roux, scorer of that incredible goal against Rennais the last time Brest won. Since then, they have drawn 4 in a row before losing 3-0 to Olympique Marseille.

I personally hope that Bastos doesn’t play. Quite frankly, I have had enough. He has made it clear that he wants to leave, his performances have been uninspiring and the sooner he and his poor attitude get out of the club, the better. Rather give someone with hunger and pride in the shirt a chance.

Will our love, our naivety, our faith, again be violated and ruined?
If the pattern continues (Last 5 games: loss-win-loss-win-loss) we will be celebrating a victory, then crash to Caen on the last day.
Hopefully OL will be unpredictable and inconsistent in this statistic.
Is that too much to ask?

Allez OL!

Dan

Probable teams:
Brest: Elena – Baysse, Martial, Brou Apanga, Ferradj – Ewolo (cap), Ngoyi – L.Touré, Grougi, Lesoimier – Roux
Lyon: Lloris – Réveillère, Cris (cap), Diakhaté, Cissokho – Toulalan, Källström – Delgado, Pjanic, Ederson – Gomis

Megame

Some Related Lyon Posts:

Category: Team News and Rumors

« Auxerre vs. Lyon : Two Teams. One Dodging, One Striving For.. The Next Level. | Home | Off The Hook. Again. »

john

http://www.footmercato.net/lig...
I read another article that said that Ruffier was the second choice of the OL staff. I wonder if Monaco's potential relegation and being forced to sell, along with his youth, shouldn't make him a priority. I know Carasso has the experience and may retire with OL bec he's older; tuff choice.
john

We need two CBs and one DM; we are deep at every other position. We will need to replace Lloris so we can't count on that money, but with what we get from Bastos, plus a few mill more, we shouldn't have to spend anymore than that. We have most of the U21 squad in the reserves and we should use them. We need to recoup our economic sanity after the spending spree of the last two years. Plus, Bastos, Kallstrom and Cris' salaries are coming off the books, so that's also good news; Gomis and Ederson's coming-off would be nice as well, but that's too much to ask.
Also, what the hell is happening with our scouting? I see all these foreign clubs coming in and poaching young, French talent way after the bigger French clubs have time to scoop them up.
muffin

It's good to use our youth academy products, we've already witnessed we have loads of talent there. But this team lacks real experienced players...Maybe that's the reason this team is so fragile mentally and looks so amateurish at times. If you look at other top Ligue 1 teams, everyone has at least 2-3 really experienced players and they contribute a lot when it's most needed; PSG's got Makelele, Giuly, Luyindula, Lille has PAF, Balmont...OM has Cheyrou, Heinze, Lucho...
And who do we have? Cris who's playing every third game barely. We got rid of Govou and Boumsong and brought Briand and Diakhate...
So I think at least one of the two new CB's will have to be with real experience, and the new DM too (M. Diarra sounds perfect).
Also there's talks of Kallstrom leaving, we might need to bring in a new CM too.
Nikhil Apte

Kallstrom on Galatasaray radar.
Luke99

Lyon seriously needs to stop spending or else were gonna either be like juventus, relegated to ligue2 or bankrupt one of those 3 heres what they should do buy 2 CBs for no more than 10mill and get rid of cris and dihkate. change the coach and thats it. Cissokho is a proven LB he just needs a coach to motivate him he has pace strength and skills he knows how to defend aswell just look at him defend Cristiano ronaldo every time they face each other

this is really where Lyon make mistakes they sell quality players and bring in ones that are not any better than them. Do u guys think if we still had bodmer and boumsong we would be in this mess i dont think so both of them are 10 times better than cris and dikhate. Im postive if we sell cissohko and buy another LB its not gonna make a differnce Lyon will only loose money in that deal and whoever buys him i could bet on my life he will shine for them

Now Gourcuff i always wanted that guy in Lyon and i couldnt believe it when we signed him but now i know hes not any better than ederson or pjanic or even Hazard play any of them as the no.10 for GdB and they can do what he did i maybe wrong but only time will tell but one thing i know for sure is that Lyon is getting ripped off in all aspects wether it be buying or selling so we need to stop doing both and stick with our team or will end up just like Juve we should really start playing the youth team more often becuase we play in a (HANDICAP) league were you could drop so many points and still win it so why not take risks u never know what those kids are capable of becuase they never get 2 or 3 games in a row to show what they got

just look at Borussia Dortmund they benched most of the senior players and won the league we should start doing that
Megame

Sometimes fate, after a series of slaps, decides to treat you well.
That's exactly how I feel today. First we learnt that Lisandro could well play the next game for the last fixture at Gerland; and now, Bordeaux denies PSG the podium.
Today the sun was shining on Lyon...
Nikhil Apte

Bordeaux, with nearly NOTHING to play for, and NO manager to turn to, has produced a performance with more spine than all last 5 Lyon matches combined.
Thank you GdB!

Lyon-60, PSG-58. HA!
sdzsdz

yess bordeaux! please don't pull a lyon and blow this lead!
AlexT

if lloris leaves i would like Carraso. He was amazing today
Nikhil Apte

YESS! They didn't! :D
Nikhil Apte

DAMN should have had a second goal!
sdzsdz

boom! this is amazing! we should be safe now. unless we fuck up against caen and monaco and psg succeed against lille and saint ettiene. in which case they deserve to be in champ's league.
john

Haven't looked at the table, but is it possible Lille will be playing for the league on the last day vs. PSG, and that Monaco will be playing for their L1 lives on the final day also? Hope so. As promised, the end of a Puel-led season is always more suspenseful than a Hitchcock film.
Nikhil Apte

The matches are skewed. Lille will play PSG and Lyon will play Caen on the same day. Monaco may well be playing to fight relegation anyway on week 38.
Lille winning or drawing and Lyon winning their next match will make both teams certain of their respective positions going into the final day!
Nikhil Apte

Lyon should get a goal in each, and then pretend Caen/Monaco are Bayern/Madrid and park the bus.
sdzsdz

parking the bus with lyon is more like parking a scooter given our defense...
Nikhil Apte

All eyes on the PSG Bordeaux game.
Possibly the last concrete chance for PSG to take the 3rd place and keep things in its hands.
sdzsdz

i started developing ulcers following lyon...
but on a plus note, psg's next game after bordeaux is with lille and the one after with ASSE.
its not gonna matter since lyon actually hates winning now, but anyway...
john

Anyone know anything about this guy?
http://www.topmercato.com/3129...
muffin

Never seen him play but I hear he's very highly rated in England, by the fans and the media.
But first we gotta find someone who's gonna buy Cissokho for a price at least close to what we gave for him. I can't imagine someone giving 15M€ for him now.
john

Yes, no one will pay 15 for him. Don't know which club who would pay that for him, will be losing their LB.
Russ

Yea I'm a big fan of Jose Enrique and he would fit in perfectly. Doesn't quite have the pace and strength of Cissohko, but hes far better technically, far more sound and assured defensively, extremely consistent, and a good all around footballer. Reminds me of a younger Grosso, when we had him in his first year here. Plus with Capdevilla likely to retire from international play Jose Enrique could become Spain's first-choice LB, which would be great for his development and ultimately us as a team.
john

I'm getting sick of Bastos' mouth: everday it's some stinking comment about Juventus, while his current team are sinking in quicksand. I hate losing our entire left flank every couple of years, but this year I'm actually glad.
john

I wonder how a forth place finish will affect our chances? Lacombe and I are mentally intune. What ever I ask for he tries to get.
http://www.footmercato.net/lig...
Megame

I wrote it in an earlier comment, but it's now official:
Gomis's season is over.

Good to have some challenges to spice things up, things were going way too easily for Lyon...
john

Can't wait to see Ederson at striker. When does the Europa League start?
muffin

Maybe there's a chance we'll see Belfodil?

Or Gregoire Puel :P
Allez lyon

Is Briand not available? I'm not a big fan of him, but it seems like he would be the best choice to start.....right?
john

Yeah, Briand is available; just joking about Ederson.
Is Lacazette a striker or a winger?
fire Puel

I remember him playing as a striker along w/ Harry Novillo during the pre-season, but I think he's been used more as a winger as of lately.

On a side note I would like to see a Lacazette/Briand/Pied front, I think it would be an interesting combination. It wouldn't hurt, I mean it seems like the team thinks the season is over anyways.
john

You might see that axis late in the match, but doubt Puel will go with such youth when he's so deep in the shit with two matches left. Delgado-Briand-Ederson will probably be what he goes with.
sdzsdz

if lacazette is a striker then it wouldnt be too bad to see cesar/lacazette/briad.
i dont wanna seem like im saying this just cuz gomis had a horrendous game, but he's actually shit, so lacazette has pretty small shoes to fill.
is licha gonna be available at least for the last game of the season, fuck the team needs him more than ever..
john

I wish Houllier would pay 14mill- 11mill/with bonuses maybe- for Gomis then we could snatch Gameiro from PSG. I like Bafe, but he just goes on these droughts of suckiness that are unbearable.
Theo

Yeah bring Gameiro and his caoch with him!
john

I've always liked C. Gourcuff and Antonetti out of the current crop of L1 coaches as replacements. I wonder what kind of influence Gourcuff the father would have on the son's play.
TJ

Well. That was depressing.
Russ

We should sign a Lyon old boy Mahmadou(spelling?) Diarra for next season. Monaco won't keep him, Madrid doesn't want him, and we could really use him
muffin

I agree. He'd probably be cheap, he'd be the 2nd real DM we need and he's got the experience playing for a big club which is a big plus.
Nikhil Apte

I'm guessing Lyon will get good players that really want to be at the club for long, only after there is no European football to play for.

So relax guys! Looks like all this drubbing was just a transfer strategy.
Megame

It is remarkable to see how consistent we are.
- After 20-30 minutes of decent football, we back off and expose ourselves to the inevitable goal
- So again we don't win against a small team
- and we lose a major player, Gomis in this case who sprained his knee

Good to see someone respecting their traditions these days...
Luke99

can someone tell me how much a team gets if they reach the Semis of the Uefa champions league and how much they get if they reach the Eroupa league semis
Dan

Im not sure of semis, but i seem to remember that winning europa league is 6.7 million pounds, whereas winning champs league is closer to 40 or 50m pounds. in fact getting in champs league group stage gets you more than 4 times the cash as winning europa league! dont take my word for it though.
sdzsdz

another shit game by the shit team we got
Samir1991

I told this before Lyon need to sell most of their players.
Gomis out
Bastos out
Cris (to old) out
Gonalos out
Kallstrom( to long in this club) out
Diakhate out
and maybe Briand (he is not that bad, but we wont better)
Nikhil Apte

Isn't Europa a longer tournament?
Allez lyon

I hope we find a good way to invest whatever money we get for Bastos(assuming Juvetus still want him). Hopefully next season will see Lyon with a new coach and players who actually want to be there
Megame

I am starting to think PSG deserve to be Europeans. More than us.
Allez lyon

gomis offside.....again
Megame

Pied on for Delgado
Megame

Lacazette to replace Pjanic
Nikhil Apte

Not a great idea just before a freekick Pjanic would have liked to take.
Allez lyon

Gomis wtf take the shot
Megame

How to say.. Thanks Hugo. Again.
Allez lyon

and just like that another game we have lost control of.
bon but licka
Nikhil Apte

But Licka? :P
Allez lyon

Yes, as much as it saddens me to say, you have to admit Mario Licka had a good goal
Nikhil Apte

Good goal, surely! Not doubting that. Only found the two words together worth a snort. :P
Allez lyon

ha ha, I see. I can't believe I didn't catch that
Allez lyon

Right off the bench too. Now why cant we have impact players like that
Megame

Noooo..
Nikhil Apte

If PSG win..
sdzsdz

shit this is starting to look like one of those games were the we lose the game in the last 10 minutes.
aka almost every lyon game this season
sdzsdz

fuck, and they score as i was typing...
Allez lyon

chelito just missed a golden opportunity...
Nikhil Apte

One goal not enough for this team in the second half.
Nikhil Apte

As I was saying. :-|
Allez lyon

what is Gomis thinking he's constantly offsides
sdzsdz

when gomis is not flopping and losing the ball, he's offside...
Nikhil Apte

Was Claude Puel hopeless at clearing the ball? Or has he just forgotten to include it in the syllabus?
Allez lyon

not a hand ball what is the ref doing
Nikhil Apte

Equalizer prevented by the skin of Lloris' feet.
Jjhnjbnk

Réveillère's shirt was tugged
Megame

Pfew... Hugo saved us. again.
Megame

Ederson wasn't too well, he's replaced by Bastos, who's going to swap places with Delgado
Dan

Great start from Les Gones. Lost motivation and energy a bit as half wore on. Ederson has done so little apart from the goal. Woah but Lesoimier can play. Summer transfer to the Gerland? I wouldn't mind!

The reason why brest could do so little early on is that we played a high line which meant that their attackers were caught between our back 4 and a triangle of midfielders cutting off every route of escape, usually followed by an easy win of the ball. as soon as our line dropped, brest had oppurtunities. otherwise the only danger has come from long balls and set pieces.
ALLEZ
Megame

The game is very balanced in terms of opportunities, shots at the goal, fouls, etc.. even in possession (46/54) which shouldn't be the case, as Brest is not exactly Barcelona.. We should have nailed this one already.
Nikhil Apte

Teams have figured out how making a grounded acute cross into the box gets goals against Lyon. Not in this match yet though!
Megame

Half time, 0-1 thanks to an Ederson header.
Megame

Hi guys, the Disqus problem is solved, back to commenting the game!
Nikhil Apte

Goooooaaaalll gol gol gol gol gol!
Dan

defeat to auxerre was our worst since 06...and lisandro out. it is starting to look like there'll be a few lucky relegationfighting teams in the next few weeks!prove me wrong OL. s'il te plais
Nikhil Apte

Apt picture, Dan!
mrCham

Well, our 3 remaining games are against teams that are facing relegation.
Nikhil Apte

Lyon shall be their saviour!
sdzsdz

brest is gonna play hard too to avoid relegation, so we better step up tomorrow not only do we have to worry about psg, rennes are only 3 points behind now..
fuck, we need licha bad. although its amazing that toul is back