On Second Thought…

By: Inara | August 30th, 2007

After I’ve had some time to cool down and think about this logically, I’ve come to some conclusions.

First of all, while this will be a very tough group, this will be better for the club in the long run. In previous years, Lyon breezed through the group stages (they were group winners the last three years, qualifying ahead of Real Madrid and Bayern), but they inevitably choked up in the latter stages of the competition. So maybe a tough group featuring Barcelona, Stuttgart, and Rangers will spur the team out of complacency.

Public perception about Lyon:

1. Lyon’s injury crisis is a great advantage. Most people don’t realize that Lyon’s injury situation, while tragic at the moment, is mostly temporary. Other than Cris and Gregory Coupet, everyone else will be back for the first game against Barcelona (except for Fred, who is suspended). Assuming Sebastien Squillaci, Patrick Muller, and Anderson get into form, Lyon may be able to make it through.

2. Lyon are playing poorly. Newsflash: Lyon are one game behind, and just because they lost two games out of the first five does not mean that Lyon are facing relegation to Ligue 2. The first loss was under exceptional circumstances while the second was a collective brain fart. True, Lyon aren’t yet playing the thundering football they are known for, but give them time. A new manager, new players, and a constant shuffling of positions due to injuries is bound to inhibit style. But rest assured, the Lyon we all know and love will be back.

3. Lyon lost many good players. Again, if by losing good players people mean high-profile players, then yes. But despite my constant grumbling, I think Lyon had a good mercato. Mathieu Bodmer is a better player than Tiago while Fabio Grosso and Nadir Belhadj offer different qualities than Eric Abidal. Right now, Florent Malouda is the most notable loss, as Kader Keita has yet to fill his shoes. But Keita is also scarier than Malouda ever was (but twice as inefficient – at the very least he’ll keep opposing defense very busy). Sylvain Wiltord and Claudio Cacapa also left the club, but their impact on last year’s CL campaign was negligible anyway.

Advantages:

1. Lyon’s excellent away form. This may be hard to believe, but Lyon have one of the best away form in Europe, thanks to their remarkable composure at other grounds and their dismissal of hostile fans. So while playing at Ibrox, Camp Nou, and Gottlieb Daimler should be intimidating, it really isn’t when you consider their history.

2. Everyone is underestimating Lyon. This is a good thing. Unlike last year, when the “dark horse” label was tossed on Lyon like confetti, this season they are going into this competition with low expectations riding on them and will probably be underestimated by their opponents.

3. They aren’t fighting to be group winners. I think everyone in the football world has agreed that Barcelona will be the winners of Group E. I think so too. Being runner-up isn’t that much of a disadvantage when you consider the quality of the competition in all four pots. And in this case, with Barcelona hopefully taking away points from Stuttgart and Rangers, and with Stuttgart and Rangers taking away points from each other, Lyon should be okay if they can get 10-11 points.

4. Their collective spirit. I know, morale at the Gerland seems low these days, but nothing like a tough group of fixtures to forgive and forget (Juninho and Sidney Govou, I’m talking to you). Lyon’s trademark has never been about their star players but about how well they work together on the pitch. OL strikers will willingly drop back and defend deep in their own half if necessary while the defenders will go forward to offer support.

5. A strong home record. Last year’s freak loss to Roma broke Lyon’s European 28 game unbeaten streak at home. But despite that loss, Lyon won’t let their home fans down.

6. Years of experience. Repeated participation in the CL means that Lyon are no longer the shy violets they once were in the late nineties. In recent years, they are the only club besides Milan to have reached the quarterfinals three times in a row (but went no further), and are adept at managing a game every three days.

7. Only one team is star-studded. Stuttgart and Rangers don’t have any strikers that scare me, and as for Barcelona, Samuel Eto’o is out while Thierry Henry has yet to show his true colors (and as much as I love Titi, I hope he finds them when Lyon aren’t around). Of course Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho are still a big threat, but Lyon have faced Zinedine Zidane, Andriy Shevchenko, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, etc, and still kept their courage.

Disadvantages:

1. Fred’s suspension. Thanks to the idiot’s ill-timed elbow jab into Cristian Chivu’s face, he is suspended for Lyon’s first three European matches (to my knowledge, Lyon did not appeal the suspension). This could be a bad thing or a good thing. Fred is a very talented striker whose season last year was cut short by injuries, but he tends to bottle big matches, so maybe his absence isn’t that big of a loss. Lyon are still dangerous considering Karim Benzema’s very excellent form. And one of these days, Kader Keita should wake up. Strangely, I’m not worried about being unable to score goals, as I don’t think Barca can keep a clean sheet against us even at Camp Nou, but I’m worried about conceding goals.

2. Lyon’s defense is looking like a sieve. Cris has been the rock upon which Lyon rests, and his absence makes European progression hard to imagine. But Sebastien Squillaci, in my opinion, is better if less flashy, while new recruit Anderson is not without talent. Patrick Muller is able and experienced backup too. The biggest problem is that Grosso’s runs up north leave the back exposed, which means a heavier burden on the two CBs. It also doesn’t help that Coupet’s stand in goalkeeper, Remy Vercoutre, inspires little confidence in his defenders, and seeing Bodmer refuse to send the ball back to him shows that Vercoutre is going to have to shape up. But he is an EXCELLENT shot-stopper, and from what Isaiah tells me, Barcelona aren’t that great on set pieces.

3. The first game is away. Normally, Lyon start their CL campaign at home with a nice resounding win, which keeps confidence high for the next few months. But playing away, at Camp Nou of all places, means that if the players get a bad result, it may weigh them down for their next game against Rangers, who they play at home.

4. Differing playing styles. Lyon do quite poorly against physical sides, especially when the tactics consist of long balls and rough-and-tumble play. While I don’t expect Rangers to outclass Lyon, they can easily frustrate them. Stuttgart is also a big side, and like all German teams, deadly on set pieces, which is Lyon’s current weakness. Barcelona’s style is one that Lyon will enjoy playing against (in fact, I sometimes consider Lyon to be a cheaper, younger, and less titled alternative to Barca), as passing and fluid play are trademarks of both clubs. Their games should be the most enjoyable of the group.

Lyon have no guarantee of progressing, so it is up to the team to play up their advantages and to play down their disadvantages. And no matter what happens, I just want to see Lyon play some good football.

I will be too busy to post for the next few days, so if someone out there is interested in doing a “guest” post on this blog, on whatever OL topic you want, let me know.