Valenciennes vs Lyon

By: Megame | January 29th, 2011

Come on boys, the nap is over! Now that we’ve made sure to get out of every possible disturbance like the Coupe de la Ligue and the Coupe de France, could we please move the bottom part of our back, and fight for the championship title? I’d better tell you : I’m angry.

OK, Nice had their best game of the season last saturday. Granted, it was AGAIN an opponent that fielded angry former Lyonnais who indulged in scoring against their former club. (Conversely, our former Niçois Lloris, from his cage, and Ederson, from his living room in Lyon, were never able to strike back). Sure, the expulsion of Lovren was harsh, and left the team down to ten men with ten crucial minutes to go, And, fair enough, Letizi had the game of his end of career, and earned himself the right to postpone the end of his career by one last game. But, I mean, where were the players besides Gomis, Lloris and Lovren (despite his red card) ? No one else played at his level, and Lisandro, Gourcuff have particularly been transparent. Licha and Bastos lost challenges aplenty, Réveillère made 2 crosses in the whole game… I could go on and on. Did I mention I was angry?

Now, after being dominated by such a monster of french football, let’s take a look at the footballing powerhouse we are facing next:

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Valenciennes : threat or treat?
Mid-September, Valenciennes got a draw at the Stade Gerland (1-1, 5 days). Solid in front of an OL in doubt , Valenciennes seemed to quietly but surely start the season and on its way to the top 10 of the championship. Two months later, the machine stalled. Two wins at home against Arles-Avignon (3-0, 15th day) and Toulouse (2-1, 19th day), three draws and five defeats in the last 10 matches in Ligue 1 and a dive in 16th place, with 22 points (on the edge of the red zone) : even with the draw against Lyon, the VAFC could cross the red line for the first time this season, earning themselves an early-bird ticket booked for the end-of-season train to L2.

And the trend, with a defeat at Montpellier (2-1, 20th day), elimination in the Coupe de France in Angers (2-1, aet) and a setback in a friendly at Amiens (National, 2-1), does not inspire optimism. “I’m worried,” admits coach Philip Montanier. Movements made last summer with the sales of Audel (Stuttgart), Ben Khalfallah (Bordeaux) and Tien (Paris) weakened the team, and qualitatively, these three players were not replaced. The potential goal scorers remaining are Pujol, 7 goals in 19 shots in the frame, and Danic (6 goals). But due to injuries and suspensions, the coach has never been able to bring its best team. And match after match, it appears the players lack commitment and concentration, especially in the money time : it’s between the 76th minute and the final whistle that Valenciennes conceded 10 of the 23 goals scored in L1 against them.

What the Lyonnais say about this game:

Claude Puel : “The last two games at Valenciennes have been special. This game will be similar to that against Nice. We will have to be vigilant against this team for several reasons: the quality of this group, the uncertainty about the state of the pitch, the public … We cannot afford to dawdle on the road compared to our competitors. Each match will be a match to win. For this, when we have one game per week, we must remain constantly focused”.
Will the suspension of Lovren change something for you?
“No. We have three good players for two positions. And we need any of these three players”.

Hugo Lloris : “We are expecting a tough game, it’s always particular … Valenciennes is a team that is very committed and has a lot of physical density, with quality players … We expect a lot of aerial battles. Moreover, any point is important for this team to stay in L1… So it’s a game that requires great concentration and a strong determination.”

OK, I think we got the picture. Anyway, actions speak louder than words, so we’ll be watching you guys.

Allez les Lyonnais!

The Valenciennois : Penneteau, Wimbée – Angoua, Bisevac, Bong, Ducourtioux, Isimat-Mirin, Mfuyi, Pallois – Danic, M.Dossevi, Fallempin, R.Gomis, Nam, Saez, Sanchez – Pujol, Samassa

The Lyonnais : Lloris, Vercoutre, Réveillère, Gassama, Cissokho, Cris, Diakhaté, Toulalan,Gonalons, Källström, Grenier, Gourcuff, Bastos, Pjanic, Delgado, Pied, Briand, Gomis, Lisandro. Lacazette couldn’t join, he was late with his PS3 homework.

Some Related Lyon Posts:

Category: Team News and Rumors

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muaz

i haven't came by this site for weeks, and WOW u guys can argue.. cool down guys, lyon is a great team, and im sure the players all know that. They wouldn't just let us down like that
Russ

Okay, okay, okay. I understand that all of us are pretty upset about the recent results, but as true Lyon supporters we need to stop bickering at each other and start rallying the troops together for the remainder of the season there still is plenty of football ahead plenty of points to be won and it's not all doom and gloom yet! Let's all be proud of Lyonnais and support the club through its most trying days!!
Inho_mali

where I was when we won? I sat on the couch with my Lyon shirt and a beer in my hand and had a big smile on my face. Why Should I Comment about if we win? : S
then it is obvious that many Comment about this when we play poorly and lose, do not play dumb MUFFIN! then think you all are sitting 24 hours a day and write? some have jobs and children, etc.
muffin

Cool story, bro.
Inho_mali

l know, broou ;)
mrCham

Are you French? You have that arrogant attitude.... just turns me off
Inho_mali

lm not here to turn you on mrcham.. , and no lm not from france,
Inho_mali

Aly- he was fast last year, this year slow as hell !
källström- how can he play in 4 lyon ? he should play in lens , nancy or nice not LYON !
gourcuff- l told everyone that he cant play in LYON !
Gomis- second strker thats it !
pied- sorry mounier is better then u
bastos- he is just thinking about juventus, milan and barcelona now..
muffin

Hah, where do you guys pop up from? Suddenly when we lose there's a rush of people with a bunch of negative comments. Where were you when we were winning? There's more comments on the blog when we lose a game.
Megame

Hey guys, cool down. Disagreeing is allowed and even encouraged, insulting is not. I wouldn't like to start moderating the comments just because some people crossed the borders of mutual respect.
(This being said I would love to be able to moderate and edit the poor games of our team like yesterday's... Sigh)
wikman

lo Samirm1991! you trully are stupid
Samirm1991

you are stupid... open your eyes man and you will see the reality
ederson honorato campos

Well you say 10/10 for Licha! We all love Licha, and many people don't like Bafe! But let's be realistic; in last 2 and a half months Bafe is far better then Lisandro! And try to support our team when we lose, not just give a bad words!!
ederson honorato campos

and* sorry

One more thing; Puel, Cris, Diakhate must be out on summer! We need more offensive coach! Defence must be changed! Lover - and someone alongside him! Maybe Dejan is young, but he is better and better with every game!
Samirm1991

This is the worst game of Lyon I have seen in my life...And a sow that many players dont deserve to wear a Lyon shirt, newerless I would ban them to play a football even on Sony PL..
Lloris- 9/10 definetly deserve it
Rev- 5/10 is getting old and worse
Cris- 3/10old and definetly out
Aly C- 4/10 fast but very stupid plyer
Diakhate 1/10 JOKE
Toulalan 5/10 good but very defensive and slow
Kallstrom 4/10 good shoot but he dosnt have impact on the game and he palys like a Girl
Gourcuff 5/10 telented but he doesnt fit in Lyon team( PJANIC DOES !!!!!!!!)
Bastos 7/10 very good but his teammates are bad
Pied 6/10 talented but not mature jet
Gomis 0 /10 The worst "striker" I heve seen in my life, he even doesnt know to run properly, when he is in the team its like Lyon have less players on the pitch
Listandro 10/10 A try LYON on the field he fights till the ed\nd.

IF some miracle doesnt hapend in CL, Ream Madrid will score a 5-10 goals in each game( I AM NOT KIDING)
PUEL OUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
muffin

You really need to calm down dude. More than a half of stuff you wrote are more of a JOKE than Diakhate will ever be. Stop shitting on a team you "cheer" for and support it when they're losing and when they're winning.
I also sure as hell didn't like today's game but dude, you're way overreacting.
Samirm1991

What stuff is a joke that I wrote, everything is true. I am not overreacting, I am just honest...and I dont want to see thease shitty players in Lyon shirts again.
Comon we didnt had a shot on goal untill 70 min of teh game. So sad for a team which was a champion. Discraseeee
lefutur

you're player ratings are out of whack. lisandro was not great yesterday, kind of similar to his performance against nice and yet you gave him a 10? also gourcuff was by far the worst player on the pitch, L'Equipe gave him a 2 and you gave him a 5. what's your beef with Gomis....have you watched him AT ALL this season? he's been one of our best players, better than Lisandro for sure.
wikman

why would you rate gourcuf so low? he was the only one trying something creative
Samirm1991

I was wery stressed when I wrote that...but seriosly the team must be reorganized, we dont play well but we have good players, whats wrong ??? Many are seing that the coach is, but I say that the coach is not that bad. But some good palyers are on the bench and someone like( GOMIS, KALLSTROM, DIAKHATE, ..)
They are not that bad but simply not good enough for LYON, we arent using players which are 100000 times better :
Lacazete-- difinetly better then Gomis will ever bee
Tafer--loan
Faure
Grenier
PJANIC-- whats with that man ????????
john

At the risk of sounding repetetive: PUEL MUST LEAVE THIS SUMMER! And Diakhate needs to carry his luggage.
muffin

Uhm..Puel? Funny cos I don't think I've actually seen him on the pitch! Just 11 men that look like they've never seen the football before.
I don't know what's Puel got to do with this. Did he say to our players to play lousy? I know for a fact he didn't. But if he actually did, then I say off with his head!
john

I guess by that logic we should bring Domenech back to the NT since he was never himself actually on the pitch, and blame the players. And I didn't know getting players to play well is as easy as just saying "hey guys, go out and play well!" Or the inverse: "Hey guys, don't play well, play shitty!" If that's the case, I think I'll try my hand at coaching and make a couple of million a year. The blame can't fall on the coach all the time, it's also on the players or combination of both sometimes, but I just can't imagine teams under really good coaches coming out and looking like burnt dog shit as consistently as this OL squad has turned-out dismal performances while under Puel; sometimes for weeks on end. And its actually less than 11 players, but why were most of them acting as if they'd never seen a football before? I guess they all got together before the match and decided to collectively erase their memories of how to play together. Or maybe they didn't hear Puel say "play well today guys" before they took the field. I guess the coach has absolutely no hand in that. Maybe I'll take over for Puel, lead the team to the bottom of the table and blame the players for not being able to motivate themselves because my style is corrosive and I'm not doing a very good job of motivating or instilling confidence. When have you seen an OL squad look as bad as this year's under Houllier/Le Guen? I don't get how a defensive-minded coach can field a team that plays shuch shitty defense. And this guy's working with maybe double the budget that those guys had- not that money can automatically make you a winner, but jeez. We could have spent half the money we did, to be mediocre.
pierrot

let's just say it's not clear that puel is the ONLY problem with this time. and he's got bafe, lisandro, delgado, bastos and briand all on, now.
sdzsdz

the players just dont have any more confidence when they play. on paper we should be easily beating these little shit teams.
and puel's supposed to be motivating the team and he's completely failing at that. our losses always come in streaks because he can't get the players to bounce back. and when somethings just don't work (like our 25 million investment gourcuff in midfield) he's gotta be able to recognize it and move on and make switches. the only players who are still hungry in this team are the youth so he's gotta let them play until the veterans find their touch and hunger again.
pierrot

well don't get me wrong - i think puel IS a problem, and would like to see him gone at the end of the season. but these guys are supposed to be professionals, and they shouldn't need a coach to "motivate" them to play as hard as they can, and stay focused, for 90 minutes when they're supposed to be fighting for CL next year, and hopefully the championnat. i'm not sure they all are - they shouldn't need puel to make them "hungry" to stomp valenciennes' guts, to try to make ground on psg and lille.

having said that, i fear the ship may never be righted, while puel's in charge.
muffin

Yeah, exactly what I had in mind. No matter how "bad" the coach is, the players should be professional enough to earn their paychecks by playing their asses off out on the pitch, and sometimes it seems like they simply don't want to or they're overconfident or whatever. Now I'm not sure what exactly is Puel failing to do, but it seems he's good at it in some games, and sucks at it in other games; we've all witnessed the many faces of this team already this season - one day they'll play like one of the best teams in Europe and, and one day they'll resemble a mediocre L1 team that should have no ambitions of winning any titles. That's what seems strange to me.
And although I'm not exactly a fan of Puel, he's been making some positive steps this year in form of more offensive formations. Of course the bad results are partially his fault, but something just seems rotten in the mindset of our players or their ability to click well together as a team to be consistent enough to win titles.
I'm really curious would a new coach straighten things out and exactly how much.
Plus, we depend too much on certain players; the minute Lisandro or Gourcuff or Pjanić start playing well we'll be seeing a whole new different team.
Stanley

turning this game off...sad
sdzsdz

also, even if the wall was a toothpick bastos would manage to hit it on a freekick.
muffin

I know this was sarcastic, but it could be very much true.
sdzsdz

why's licha not starting?
BIM

What's that about Lacazette? PS3? Is that true or a joke? I've joined his side on facebook and he says he waits for a call to the game Valencienne or else he will play with the CFA-team against Tarbes. What do you know that we ain't?
lefutur

lacazette will go to an opposing club and score 10 goals against us next season
Megame

Hehe, that was a joke, no hidden message here. Or was there?...
mrCham

The Lion has awakended!
ALLEZ LYONNAIS
mrCham

Obviously I was drunk when I wrote that.
muffin

OK, firstly I don't think we were "dominated" by Nice in the cup. We didn't play very good, they played as good as they could, but we were better. We had more shots, and more dangerous shots. Their goal was the only kind of goal they could score and we let them score it. But whatever, I'm pissed too because of this game, we certainly needed to step it up against such a team (that goes for the rest of the players which names aren't Lloris, Lovren, Gomis and partially Reveillere).
Second, what's with Lacazette seriously? I find it kinda hard to believe he isn't in the group because of PS3 :)
Third - if we don't win this game, Lille will surely win their game, and that means we probably won't win the title and then we officially suck!
Dror

ps3? i hope the club gets him a Wii so he stays fit somehow