OL vs Girondins : Côtes du Rhône or Bordeaux ?

Funny how football fortunes can quickly change… Not so long ago, such a game would have been eagerly expected, for this was promising an intense and entertaining game. But shortly before Laurent Blanc announced he would be leaving the Girondins to take the reigns of the French National Team, the internal dynamics of the so far successful team started to derail. As if there had been a silent implosion, after being promised the top spot for their so far highly successful Championship run, what they experienced was a slow and painful decline; so much so the end of the season came as a liberation.

Something broken
Or so they hoped. Unfortunately, the new coach (former Bordeaux player Jean Tigana) will never succeed in getting his team to perform, and, being let down over time by most of the players and the supporters, will finally resign. The fitness coach, who’s got the necessary diploma, will take over as head coach until the end of the season.

This year, everything looked set for a clear improvement, as Francis Gillot, widely respected for his performance as Sochaux coach, came to give assurances to the club and their supporters. But this year Bordeaux may not be a top vintage yet as, unfortunately, it just didn’t click so far, and Gillot started to threaten the players who according to him didn’t give their best for the club, hinting that there was something fundamentally flawed within the team. But, under pressure from club president Triaud, he recently decided to adopt a softer approach. Currently 13th, they managed a draw against Lille for the last matchday, which was welcomed by their coach as showing improvement. Will this continue? That’s the burning question in Gironde at the moment.

Welcome to OL newly extended facilities : the infirmary and the kindergarten
Garde arrived at the commanding spot with a reputation of developer of young talent. But he certainly wouldn’t have lived up to that reputation so quickly and largely if it weren’t for the cascade of absences. Captain Cris played one match so far , Gourcuff and Ederson are yet to play a single minute this season. Plus obviously Lisandro, who was instrumental in the solid start from Les Lyonnais. Plus Kallström, who missed the last game because of an ankle injury.

Left with gaping holes in the attack, the midfield and the back line, the new Lyon coach had no choice but to send the kids to the water, without necessarily being too sure of how they would be able to swim. The results were uneven, because every change affected the teams performance and there’s been big differences between the game versus Marseille and the following in Caen, which was much to Garde’s dissatisfaction as the team’s results are too sensitive to these changes; but these debuts were encouraging overall, with Bakary Koné at the back proving capable to stretch himself within a few months from League 2 to Champions League, adapt quickly to Lyon’s team and look equally at ease as Lovren, which is no small feat. Gonalons is gaining a dimension few people would have anticipated last season, Grenier is starting to look really interesting, as did Belfodil the last 2 times he came into play. Dabo also gave a few hints as to why OL hired him, and Pied, whilst not as shining as his fellow young-but-already-experienced mate Gonalons, is at least on par with what he showed last year. And yes, the U20 WC French “Golden Sub” Lacazette is yet to show what he’s capable of; but that should happen soon, judging from Garde’s comments.

This being said, none of these kids is a finished product, and overall the team’s performance isn’t what it was in the early games with a fully fit Lisandro; but so far we’re doing OK in terms of damage limitation. Francis Gillot, Bordeaux’s coach, still seems to tip us to win the Championship… It can be mind games, yes, but Gillot is a straight talking and fairly blunt man who usually doesn’t verse too much into this sort of tricks.

And it’s a good thing we manage to limit the damage, because fate didn’t spare us so far. Last example, as if all our absences weren’t enough : Hugo Lloris, who in 190 L1 matches, had never collected any card, just got his first during last game : a red.. So he also will be missing this match, and will be replaced by Lyon’s pillar Rémi Vercoutre. An often forgotten but true Lyon asset, arrived at the club in 2002 and with only 43 game in the Ligue 1 jersey. As a testimony of the mutual respect and friendship between the two top keepers, here is what Lloris had to say about his replacement:
“In addition to being a leader in the locker room by his experience and what he’s been through, he has always answered every call. Yet it’s hard, because you have to jump in immediately with no marks at all. He would fit into any Ligue 1 club. He’s a modern keeper, comfortable in all areas, the kicking game, on his line, when going out. In particular, he’s a goalie who does not like to put up what the opponent want to do, he’s aggressive and always looking to gain ground before a strike”.

Well Rémi, if you’re going to take Hugo’s spot today you may as well take the tights the belt and the cape, because Lloris saved our world so many times already this season that we on top of a keeper, we need a super-hero too.

Probable teams:

LYON : Kallström is fit again, Lloris is suspended. The expected team : Vercoutre – Réveillère, B. Koné, Lovren, Cissokho – Gonalons, Källström – Briand, Grenier, Bastos – B. Gomis

BORDEAUX : C. Carrasso – Chalmé, Henrique, Ciani, Trémoulinas – L. Sané, Nguémo – Ben Khalfallah (ou Jussiê), Plasil, Maurice-Belay – Diabaté

Allez l’OL

Some Related Lyon Posts:

Category: Team News and Rumors