How Do I Say This Delicately?

By: Inara | November 12th, 2007

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m so glad that Patrick Muller is close to fitness. Muller! And to think he’s normally Lyon’s fourth choice central defender.

Our defense is leaker than a sieve with extra wide holes. In the 20 games Lyon have played this season, they have conceded 24 goals. Last season, they had only conceded 12 in in 20 games, never conceding more than one goal per match. This season I’m getting used to seeing Lyon concede two to three goals every game.

You can’t even blame Perrin. I mean, it’s not like he’s benching his best defenders or not rotating enough. With Cris and Muller out, Sebastien Squillaci has had no choice but to play every match. Anderson is still struggling, and while I won’t rule him out as a mistake, time is running out for him to prove himself. And when Anderson doesn’t play, Mathieu Bodmer has to fill in. He’s a midfielder – there is only so much the guy can do.

And even our first choice reserve CB is injured! Sandy Paillot, why did you have to go and hurt your hip now, just as Anderson gets suspended for the game against Rennes in two weeks? I wouldn’t be surprised if Alain Perrin ends up playing Christophe Galtier, his assistant coach and former Marseille defender, given that Lyon have no one else.

Remember the days when Lyon’s left backs used to defend? At least our right backs do sometimes. And oh god, Remy Vercoutre! I know I was singing his praises after the Stuttgart match, but how quickly I have come back to Earth.

Please don’t tell me I’m being unreasonable in my assessment of Lyon’s defensive problems. Because we suck.

Category: Player News and Rumors, Team News and Rumors

Tags: Alain Perrin, Christophe Galtier, Cleber Anderson, Cris, Lyon, Mathieu Bodmer, Patrick Muller, Player News and Rumors, Remy Vercoutre, Sandy Paillot, Sebastien Squillaci, Suckiness, Team News and Rumors

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• Jordo |  November 12th, 2007 at 9:20 pm

  
  
  

  How long until Cris is back?

  Posted from United States

  

• Ara |  November 12th, 2007 at 11:46 pm

  
  
  

  Yeah Lyon’s defense sucks. Your welcome Barca!

  Posted from United States

  

• Magnusson |  November 13th, 2007 at 12:15 am

  
  
  

  I always liked Muller. he’s a classy thinking man’s defender. he was the perfect balance to Florent laville. If the guy was any quicker, he would have had laurent Blanc’s career.

  Posted from France

  

• Jo |  November 13th, 2007 at 1:07 am

  
  
  

  Yeah, Muller is a very good player.
  Don’t forget the Switzerland NT in World Cup 2006 : ZERO goal conceeded !

  Posted from France

  

• Ush |  November 13th, 2007 at 1:25 am

  
  
  

  Ara: Haha, well said.

  Inara: You’re not being harsh, you’re being realistic as the stats from last season you listed shows. Teams that concede like Lyon are don’t win anything in the long run. If Lyon really want to make a jump in the Champions league, they need to shell out big on a quality centre back.

  In other news Houllier has thrown his name in for the Ireland manager job!! Hahaha

  Posted from Ireland

  

• guignol |  November 13th, 2007 at 4:48 am

  
  
  

  müller was a great partner for both flo laville and edmilson, he was a particular favorite of mine, and when called upon since his return he has rarely disappointed.

  inara, vercoutre wasn’t bad at all against OM, sure it looks bad when a shot goes through the legs, but it happens, and you can’t blame rémy for that goal.

  upon further reflection, i don’t even think squillaci had that bad a match, or more precisely, that anderson was more than a little guilty for toto’s difficulties.

  anderson is suspended for the trip to rennes, so is fabio santos. since it’s still not crystal clear whether toulalan will go to rennes, bodmer may be needed in MF which means müller will HAVE to team with squillaci which imo is what is needed anyway. the great thing about pat is the calming influence he has on his partner, even cris used to feel it. he may be just the magic touch we need to turn a very poor defense into a quite credible one.

  btw, houllier has stated categorically that he hasn’t been contacted about the ireland job, and having landed the job he REALLY wants only a couple of months ago…

  Posted from France

  

• Ush |  November 13th, 2007 at 6:07 am

  
  
  

  I never said the FAI contact him, however he has stated categorically that he’s interested in the job:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9rard_Houllier
  On 25th of October, he reported that he would wanted to be in contention to get an International job so reported that he would like to get the Republic of Ireland job[citation needed] . The FAI have now put him in the top list for the next managerial job.

  Posted from Ireland

  

• guignol |  November 13th, 2007 at 6:29 am

  
  
  

  wikipedia citation needed is your source?

  you’re killing me dude!

  Posted from France

  

• Ush |  November 13th, 2007 at 7:39 am

  
  
  

  Well I’m not using that as proof man, but it’s all over the news here.

  http://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/houllier-than-thou—-surely-fai-will-ignore-his-unique-charms-1210922.html

  Posted from Ireland

  

• Inara |  November 13th, 2007 at 8:55 am

  
  
  

  The thing with Vercoutre is that while he can turn up huge on some nights, he has at least one or two blunders ever game. Maybe he can’t be entirely blamed for the Marseille goals, but he looked shaky on a lot of saves and doesn’t inspire any confidence in his defenders.

  I personally like Squillaci a lot, and I know he has a lot of talent. But it doesn’t help that he has to cover for Anderson, Vercoutre, and Grosso all by himself sometimes. He’s also tired and frustrated, and he’s been making more mistakes than usual. He’s the last guy on earth to give away a penalty, so his uncharacteristic shirt tug on Niang in the penalty box was a surprise.

  Posted from United States

  

• Inara |  November 13th, 2007 at 8:58 am

  
  
  

  Also, about Houllier, I would like him to stay exactly where he is right now, as the FFF’s technical director. He is great at planning the long term development at football, and part of the reason France’s youth programs are so successful is because he helped up the infrastructures in place.

  I wouldn’t be surprised if he wants to return to coaching, but he lacks boldness to lead any team to greatness. He can bring them onto the straight and narrow, like he did with Liverpool, and maybe Ireland would be a good fit for him, but at Lyon and for France, he couldn’t take that last step.

  Posted from United States

  

• Corey |  November 13th, 2007 at 3:17 pm

  
  
  

  What I have wondered through this defensive crisis if you will is why Perrin is so ready to put a midfielder at the back then some of the young guys we have. Paillot was never given a chance, and now that it appears he would be most likely to he is injured. Charvet may be called up but I doubt he will ever make a game squad. I think that is no good, we should be using what were paying good money to develop to be honest. Otherwise whats the point of having the academy, we should just have a striker school because thats the only thing we seem to accept into the first team.

  Posted from United States

  

• Inara |  November 13th, 2007 at 3:51 pm

  
  
  

  “we should just have a striker school because thats the only thing we seem to accept into the first team”

  Interesting point you have there. If you think about it, most of Lyon’s high profile graduates (Kanoute, Giuly, Govou, Benzema, Ben Arfa, Bergougnoux, Job, Fiorese) have all been attackers. A few well known midfielders (Clement, Malbranque, Hellebuyck, Balmont). Defense wise, there are a handful (Riou, Berthod, Laville, Brechet, the very evil Jurietti, and of course Clerc, who is still playing for us).

  Posted from United States

  

• Corey |  November 13th, 2007 at 5:10 pm

  
  
  

  I did not know Jurietti came from Lyon. Benhamida, Sartre, Gomez, Hima, Idangar, Bettiol, and possibly Brice Ducarre are all recent academy graduates plying their trade in Ligue 2. Two are defenders, two defensive midfielders, and two attackers. Its a decent mix, but its strange because Sartre and Gomez and fairly reliable players and Idangar was well liked by Le Guen. My main bone of contention with lyon is that to few youth team players make it to the first team for a year or more. Most French clubs rely on their youth team and scouting of young talent to survive, we dont have to go to that extreme, but more self sufficiency would be nice, we do pay for an academy, it seems like a wasted investment right barring Clerc, Ben Arfa and Benzema. Jean Mimi is a business man, he knows he must shave off liabilities, if the academy is not used then it is a waste of money.

  Posted from United States

  

• Pride of Lyon |  November 13th, 2007 at 5:28 pm

  
  
  

  Well, you mentionned Benzema, Clerc and Ben Arfa (who is not really a product of the academy by the way). But when you consider how much those 3 are worth now, it makes of the youth academy a good investment.
  your comments about young defenders not being used is very interesting. I actually think that you gave the answer in your last comment : profit!
  Aulas knows that the only young players that can actually be worth a bit of money while young are strikers, then midfielders. defenders come way last as players improve especially later on in their career, and it is only round 25-26 that they are usually worth anything.
  I know, there were lately defenders bought for a lot of money around Europe (especially by the bottom less money pit that is Premiership), but as a general rule, strikers sell better.

  Posted from Japan

  

• Inara |  November 13th, 2007 at 6:25 pm

  
  
  

  True, Ben Arfa was actually formed at Clairefontaine and came to Lyon when he was 15. Interestingly, Lyon have recently purchased three other promising young strikers to add to their collection of attacking youth talent: Stephan Ettien who hails from a local club in France (Lyon gave him a trial last year and then signed him permanently), as well as Matias Chiacchio, an Argentine signed from Lecco (in Italy), and Angel de la Tejera all the way from Mexico (ironically, his formative club is Leon). So it looks like Lyon’s scouts are looking all over the world for the next Benzema and Ben Arfa.

  Though I have to say that Lyon are doing a good job with gks. Joan Hartock is a young talent (or at least was), and of course there is Remy Riou. And with Alexandre Bouchard and Jérémy Aymes, who are both prospects, at least Joel Bats is doing his job.

  I keep on thinking about doing a post dedicated to Lyon’s reserves, but I don’t know much about them except a few of the players.

  Posted from United States

  

• Ush |  November 14th, 2007 at 12:57 am

  
  
  

  That is an interesting point about all the talent in the youth being attack oriented. It’s strange because when you look at the French national teams over the years, they have always had excellent defenders, excellence in every position really similarly to the Argentine national teams over the last few years.

  Posted from Ireland

  

• Corey |  November 14th, 2007 at 8:25 am

  
  
  

  I could help you out with the Lyon reserves post Inara, I have a decent knowledge of most of the youth setup for Lyon. Let me know what you would need and I would be happy to provide it!

  Posted from United States

  

• Inara |  November 14th, 2007 at 10:32 am

  
  
  

  Thanks Corey. I’ll be sending you an email.

  Posted from United States

  

• Ara |  November 14th, 2007 at 12:22 pm

  
  
  

  Classification of strikers in the five principal European championships:
  1 Benzema (Lyon) – 11 goals
  2 Bellion (Bordeaux), Trezeguet (Juventus Turin) – 10 goals
  4 De Melo (Le Mans 72), Toni (Bayern Munich) – 9 goals
  6 Benjani (Portsmouth), Klose (Bayern Munich), Fabiano (FC Seville) – 8 goals
  9 Adebayor (Arsenal), Kaka (AC Milan), Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Totti (AS Roma) – 7 goals

  HAHAHAHAHA!

  Posted from United States

  

• Ara |  November 14th, 2007 at 12:23 pm

  
  
  

  And

  Average of goals per game:

  1 Trezeguet (Juventus Turin) 0.83
  2 Benzema (Lyon) 0.79
  3 Fabiano (FC Seville) 0.72
  4 Bellion (Bordeaux) 0.71
  5 Toni (Bayern Munich) 0.69
  6 Benjani (Portsmouth) 0.67
  7 De Melo (Le Mans 72) 0.64
  8 Kaka (AC Milan), Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Totti (AS Roma) 0.63
  11 Klose (Bayern Munich) 0.61
  12 Adebayor (Arsenal), Messi (FC Barcelona), Agüero (Atletico Madrid), Guïza (Mallorca), Rossi (Villarreal) 0.58

  Posted from United States

  

• Inara |  November 14th, 2007 at 3:11 pm

  
  
  

  Everyone’s been raving about Benzema this season, but David Bellion is doing really well too. Marseille must be kicking themselves for taking Mousillou and letting Bellion go to Bordeaux.

  Posted from United States

  

• Magnusson |  November 14th, 2007 at 5:39 pm

  
  
  

  You have no idea.
  But I will definitly be happier when Niang and Bellion play together for Senegal at the African Cup of nations. If you add Bafétimbi Gomis, Elhadji Diouf, Henri and Diomansy Camara, Senegal will be unbeatable.

  Posted from United States

  

• Magnusson |  November 14th, 2007 at 5:45 pm

  
  
  

  Oh and Ara, have you noticed five out of those 12 players play or have played in the Ligue 1.
  BTW, Inara, if you end up using Galtier, I think you’ll send Besiktas a check for lamine Diatta to come back.
  Galtier has been overhyped by us marseillais fans because he came back to help his cityy and his club when we were in second division. That makes him virtually a god in marseille.
  BUt if you watch a few of his games he was just all heart really.

  Posted from United States

  

• ronan |  November 23rd, 2007 at 1:12 pm

  
  
  

  simpel solution for me at the back-get kleber anderson out and escude in- team for me if lyon have champions league ambitions 4-3-3 coupet,reveillere,cris,escude,grosso,toulalan,juninho,kallstrom,govou,obafemi martins,keita.How good would that be hay and you would only have to pay about 18mill init [p.s-Lyon need to start seriously looking for a replacement for the genious juninho, as he is basically 33 and retirement may soon be on the cards!]

  Posted from United States

  

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