AS Monaco thread [R]

[SportBoy333]

I cant get excited by guys like Nene and Adriano. They dont mean much to me. Throw in Cufre and Bolivar as well. I prefer French and Africans from the youth team and Europeans.

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Adriano's been our best defender since he's started and Nenê does give that elemnt of a threat on direct free kicks. Bolívar has some degree of physical skill in defense, which is more than can be said about our other defenders. Cufré been quite poor, but decent in others.

I totally agree though if your point is that none of those guys are starters on a championship team. However, I do think they're all good enough to be on a top 4-5 team in L1, which I think he have the capability to be, though now we're stuck in a rut.

Anyway, not to always try to put a good spin on things, but to get back to the academy issue, we arguably could have been first in 2006-07 and 7th this year is a bit low, relatively. According to even neutral folks, we should be higher on both. LFP doesn't like us, though, but even then, they can't deny that we do bring up a lot of guys through the system who become either big stars or decent L1 players.

http://www.lfp.fr/actualiteLFP/lireArticle.asp?idArticle=8362

Rennes have been 1st in both of the past couple of years. We had a better score than them in 2006-07, but they took it based on having a bit more professional contracts signed. Additionally, guys like Pino do not count as our own, and neither does Ménez obviously.

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Some things to note heading into the Caen match this week.

Anyone who wanted to see any among Schwechlen, Bakar or Mollo appear this coming weekend for ASM will be disappointed. Bakar and Mollo are on duty with the U-19 team, whereas Schwechlen would have joined them, but is injured. So it looks as if the team that will be sent out against Caen will be with the same personnel as that against OL, though the starting 11 is anyone's guess. Here's what we do know:

Jan Koller has been very good day in and day out for us this season, and among all the guys on the roster, he deserves the smallest amount of blame during this losing streak. He's also been there to motivate the squad, it's been said, and he's almost another captain on the team.

Speaking of captain, Flavio Roma has actually done well, I think, during this losing streak, as our leaky defense would have conceded more against Nancy and OL if he hadn't come up with a couple of key saves.

Our biggest issue, of course, defense, could appear to be a bit of an enigma considering that Ricardo is known as a defensive coach, as at Bordeaux he was quite good at eking out 1-0 results. However, as someone rightly argues, our defenders at the moment, Adriano, Bolívar, Cufré, Monsoreau and Muratori, aren't anywhere as good as those Ricardo had at Bordeaux. We don't have a Marc Planus or Julien Faubert on our roster at the moment, while even a Wendel, known more for his attacking ability, covers better than our left backs.

According to the archives, we haven't lost to Caen at home during any season, period. Actually, their best result against us was a 2-2 draw in the 1996/97 season, a year in which we won the title. Of course, this Caen team is likely better than ones we've played against before, as a guy like Gouffran would walk into our starting lineup, though this match and the one at home against Strasbourg are likely our best shots at breaking the losing streaks. At Rennes and at Toulouse won't be easy, while between those matches, there's the "derby" against Nice. Then we're in the Vélodrome, after that, we're hosting Lens, and then we end the calendar year at Auxerre. Oh, and there's the Coupe de la Ligue thrown in amongst that as well, where we're hosting Lens on Halloween.

[SportBoy333]

One of our potential transfer targets may prolong with his team.

http://www.mercato365.com/depeches/filinfo_200943_2514_Lazio-Rome-Rocchi-vers-une-prolongation.shtml

[SportBoy333]

Our biggest issue, of course, defense, could appear to be a bit of an enigma considering that Ricardo is known as a defensive coach, as at Bordeaux he was quite good at eking out 1-0 results. However, as someone rightly argues, our defenders at the moment, Adriano, Bolívar, Cufré, Monsoreau and Muratori, aren't anywhere as good as those Ricardo had at Bordeaux. We don't have a Marc Planus or Julien Faubert on our roster at the moment, while even a Wendel, known more for his attacking ability, covers better than our left backs.



Cant argue with any of that. He is a defensive coach but he doesnt have the same talent so cant expect the same results. Do you know if they looking to buy any defenders in Jan. ?

[pepinointer]

how is playing pino?

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Hmmm, to be kinda fair, Pino had arguably his worst game against Lyon this weekend, though he was doing well before that, as he's been a spark in all the other matches in which he's appeared. He and Jérémy Ménez remain the 2 guys on the team who are able to turn any match around, though neither of them brought their best game in this past match. In my opinion, he and Zapata of Udine will be the big Colombian stars in years ahead, though Zapata is obviously ahead of him in terms of development at this instance. Hope that answered your question!

Cant argue with any of that. He is a defensive coach but he doesnt have the same talent so cant expect the same results. Do you know if they looking to buy any defenders in Jan. ?

Well, during the summer, there was thought that Ricardo would bring Planus or Wendel with him, though why either of those would quit Bordeaux now is obviously questionable. Other than that, none of the rumors I've seen have been about defenders, other than the ones mentioned in the summer, such as Branislav Ivanovic of Lok Moscow and Marco Cassetti of Roma. Ivanovic would have to take one of the non-Euro spots on the squad, hence it is unlikely they'll go after him now. Cassetti's been on the bench at Roma this season, which means that it could work out, though I haven't seen anything concrete on that front yet.

Given what's happened before, it's more likely that we'll be shopping in France during the winter break. If a PSG are trying to sell all their veterans, Yepes could interest us, I'd think. If Faty and Zubar continue to be on the bench at OM behind Givet/Rodriguez, they'd be ideas too perhaps, though how often do we work on transfers with Marseille?

[pepinointer]

[quote=SuperSebGrimaldi;13043640]Hmmm, to be kinda fair, Pino had arguably his worst game against Lyon this weekend, though he was doing well before that, as he's been a spark in all the other matches in which he's appeared. He and Jérémy Ménez remain the 2 guys on the team who are able to turn any match around, though neither of them brought their best game in this past match. In my opinion, he and Zapata of Udine will be the big Colombian stars in years ahead, though Zapata is obviously ahead of him in terms of development at this instance. Hope that answered you quote]

thanks you answered it...................menez is ana amzing player i think taht he is going to be the next number 10 of france, he is very good.

[SportBoy333]

Diego Perez prolongs

http://www.mercato365.com/depeches/filinfo_201165_2514_Monaco-Perez-prolonge.shtml

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

I know the majority of Monaco supporters are happy about that, though not me. To give him credit, Diego has played better than Bernardi during this skid, though I don't think either of them are the real answer in defensive midfield. I think this means that Bernardi definitely won't be in the squad in the coming season. His contract is up and he's among the highest paid, if not the highest, at the moment. He's been a good contributor in his years here, though I have no reservations about him not being back.

[SportBoy333]

I dont like Perez. Bernardi, I respect him since he's of the senior members of the team.

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Pérez also takes up one of the non-Euro spots on the roster. Though by the end of his extended deal now, he won't be.

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Well, the hits keep coming. Nenê is now reportedly injured for the match against Caen. That, along with Cufr's suspension, means that we're shorthanded. However, if I were Ricardo, I'd take this as an opportunity to try out Malaury Martin in midfield in the holding role, as well as Mongongu, who's impressed with the reserves.

My ASM lineup:

9 Koller
10 Ménez - 21 Meriem - 17 Gakpé - 20 Pino
14 Martin
2 Monsoreau - 24 Mongongu - 22 Bolívar - 12 Adriano
30 Roma


This formation is very similar to OL's 4-3-3/4-5-1, the key is for Ménez/Koller/Pino to do like Ben Arfa/Benzema/Govou.

(It's not very likely Ricardo will go with this starting 11, as either Bernardi or Diego Pérez will start, whereas I don't know what he thinks of Mongongu in central defense.)

[SportBoy333]

Cant they find a way to get both Koller and Piquionne out there in a 4-4-2 ? I know thats not Ricardo's style but damn, they need to generate goals some how and Im not a huge Piquionne fan but to have him start on the bench is kinda dumb. I really dont care if Pino has to sit.

[SportBoy333]

Koller - Piquionne
Menez - Bernardi - Perez - Gapke
Monsoreau - Mongongu - Bolívar - Adriano

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Interesting, with that you'd take Meriem out of the lineup? Keep in mind he's actually been playing well despite the team doing badly.

I don't know about Koller and Piquionne together. Koller's done his best work as the lone striker, as has Piquionne. To me, they're almost mutually exclusive, and Koller's been the better man this season.

FYI, I am about to post the streams to the Bordeaux-Gala match in the other thread, BTW.

[SportBoy333]

I thought Meriem's career so far has been a bust because he was hyped up to be so much more.

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

It has. That doesn't mean he isn't useful for us, though.

[SportBoy333]

http://www.diagonale-asmfc.com/img/une3.jpg

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Alright, it's likely that no one is really happy with the lineup mainly because of the back line, though hopefully it's good enough to win. I think SportBoy may be happy with this though as both Koller and Piquionne are starting together.

AS Monaco FC:

9 Koller - 18 Piquionne
10 Ménez - 21 Meriem
7 Bernardi - 5 Pérez
13 Muratori - 2 Monsoreau- 4 Modesto - 12 Adriano
30 Roma


Stade Malherbe de Caen:

25 Compan
28 Eluchans - 17 Nivet - 10 Gouffran
24 Leca
29 Gomis
2 Seube - 12 Proment - 19 Sorbon - 22 Hengbart
16 Planté

Pick: Monaco 3-1 Caen

Assuming that the formation with 2 strikers works out, we really should have enough quality to win this one handily. I don't want to think about what happens if we don't. Especially with the schedule ahead of us. Gouffran is a real danger man, though.