2012-2013 Ligue 1 Match Thread [R]

the problem was that both gourcuff and grenier were missing, and OL just doesn't have any 4-4-2 DNA. gonalons fills up the middle well and makes a good first pass, but isn't going to get assists. and fofana is no help either. if yoyo and grenier are healthy i start them both.

 

gerland not quite full but obviously moreso than against troyes (there were tumbleweeds rolling down the streets two weeks ago; unless you've been in france in august you have no idea). and the pre-match atmosphere was pumped up by hugo's farewell speech.

temperature plummeted last night, today felt almost wintry, and wind was gusting viciously. herbman can blame max for VAFC's first goal, most are blaming vercoutre, but honestly not even a ouija board could have told you where that corner was going to come down, and without the wind holding it up i'm sure the header flies far aver the bar. it was all cottony like in a dream and just bum luck in my opinion.

OL showed themselves well superior in all departments, though they suffered at the end since in the second half the wind decided once and for all which way it was going to blow and that was right in lyon's face; impossible to get the ball out of our half in the air and though it was nail-biting at times the sangfroid to play the ball on the ground even in our own box was very nice to see, and it led to some good chances... grenier's goal started with a 1-2 between bisevac and vercoutre.

i think everyone did well except fofana who didn't put a foot right in his 10' on the pitch. and lacazette missed two pretty good chances but was decent overall. worthy of special mention: gonalons solid, bastos good too, gomis very useful back to goal. grenier made some goofs in the first few minutes but steadied down and played an excellent match after that. vercoutre pulled off a couple of hugos and was overall very reassuring. but MOTM was... malbranque! after 10 years at fulham, spurs and sunderland it's no surprise he's a gutsy little bastard but he also has a real eye for the game and pulled off a couple of nice breakthroughs too. époustouflant! franchement, j'étais sur le cul!

if no one else leaves before the transfer peiod ends, and when you think there's still licha, gourcuff, lovren and monzon to add to the mix, the present squad shows a lot of promise.

 

very satisfying performances from all, with three players putting in a pair of mistakes:

- vercoutre booting 2 6m kicks into touch (mediocre kicking game from him all around yesterday)

- RVR sleeping on two passes towards him that could have opened up good attacks.

- max slipping twice to hand dangerous counters to ACA on a platter.

but still none of the above can be said to have put in a bad match.

noteworthy:

- licha back, and first glimpses of mvuemba and monzon.

- very strong performances from dabo, bafé and once again, steed. about 90% of what he did against VAFC was still enough to make him MOTM.

there were even a couple of guys with malbranque jerseys from way back. they're sure glad they didn't give them to the salvation army now!