CL matchday 2: Lyon - Rangers 10/2/07 [R]

[Inara]

Might as well get this started.


Le groupe lyonnais: Vercoutre - Roux - Clerc, Réveillère, Squillaci, Bodmer, Cleber Anderson , Grosso, Belhadj, Fabio Santos, Toulalan, Källström, Juninho, Govou, Ben Arfa , Benzema, Baros, Keita.

Le groupe écossais: Carroll, McGregor - Hutton, Cuellar, Weir, Papac, Beasley, Whittaker - Ferguson, Thomson, Am.Faye, Hemdani, McCulloch - Naismith, K.Boyd, D.Cousin, Darcheville, Novo


Darcheville is still waiting to be cleared, he claims it's 50-50, but I think he's doing better than the club is claiming to keep Lyon offguard. I would not be surprised to see him start tomorrow.

[Catel]

It will be a TV audience peak: Marseille fans'll want to see how Hemdani's going.

[SportBoy333]

Boyd is the most dangerous.

[guignol]

good thing SB333 is here to take care of business... whether it's my server, BS's, or a combination of both, i've got a connection since yesterday that's just impossible...

what worries me is the possibility that gers will bunker down and it'll end up 0-0; a great result for them and pretty near he end of the world for us.

darcheville never worried me overly when he was at bordeaux, between him and cousin i think it's about the same poison.

perrin may decide to put his most athletic team on the pitch, but i'd rather see a 4-4-2, and with ben arfa... like this:

ben arfa - benzema
govou - juninho - toualalan - keita
grosso - anderson - squillaci - clerc
vercoutre

the best 4-3-3 possibility would be källström numerically for keita, but both hatem and karim say they play best when they stay close together, and sooner or later they'll have to get the job done that way or we're better off in the UEFA cup anyway... they can't remain tomorrow's OL forever; tomorrow has to be tonight!

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

I've always thought Ben Arfa would be at his best as the playmaker/runner behind the main striker (like Gianfranco Zola), though obviously he's quite adept on the wing as well. I don't know if I want Govou in the lineup if it comes at the expense of Källström since I believe there should be continuity in his partnership with Toulalan in central midfield. If I were Perrin, I think I'd have this lineup.

-------------Benzema-----
-------Ben Arfa-----------
Juninho-Källström-Toulalan-Keita
Grosso-Squillaci-Bodmer-Réveillère
-----------Vercoutre-------

And I think I'll agree with SportBoy that Boyd would be the man to watch out for in the Rangers squad. His goals/international appearances is very impressive!

[guignol]

it's hard to decide between kim and sidney on form, but in a match like this platini said it best: "il faut éliminer", meaning you have to get through defenders instead of just trying to manoeuver the defense out of position... and sid's great at that. and he's just the kind of guy that will thrive against scottish physical presence... when PLG left for gers i was 110% sure he'd take govou with him, he's custom made for scottish football.

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Hmmm, good argument as always, I'll take your word for it.

In the end, regardless of who's in the lineup, if OL play to their highest capability, they really should dominate this match. Though expect Smith to take a page out of McLeish's notebook.

[cloudy3139]

Rangers will definitley go with Cousin up front. Boyd doesn't work hard enough to play up front on his own so, Cousin will be used because of Darcheville's injury. Boyd may make an appearence if we are losing in the final 20 minutes.

I'm very surprised that you don't rate Cousin or Darcheville. They have been excellent buys for Rangers considering their price.

I'm told the team will be McGregor, Hutton, Papac, Weir, Cuellar, Whittaker, McCulloch, Hemdani, Thomson, Ferguson, and Cousin.

Our best players are Hutton, Ferguson, Hemdani and Cuellar.

I don't know if you've seen Hutton's great run and Adam's finish for our first goal against Stuttgart, but that is a great example for how Hutton is playing right now. However, Ferguson is by far our best player, he'll run the game for us.

Enjoy the game anyways, but i'm not overly confident, i'd be delighted with a draw.

Keita and Juninho are the players i'm most worried about.

[AfrcnHrbMan]

Yea im going into this match cautiously optimistic about a result. The team should come out hard and try to secure victory early I hope. If its tied or we're losing late, everything will go to the dogs. Already I feel this is a must win to secure our advancement, or we might as well get ready for uefa cup football.

[DaeHaMinGuk]

Anyone have a streaming link? My workplace blocked the site I used to find links...

[SportBoy333]

Rangers will definitley go with Cousin up front. Boyd doesn't work hard enough to play up front on his own so, Cousin will be used because of Darcheville's injury. Boyd may make an appearence if we are losing in the final 20 minutes.

I'm very surprised that you don't rate Cousin or Darcheville. They have been excellent buys for Rangers considering their price.



I dont rate them because they were basically let go by their last teams for next to nothing. Boyd and Beasley are more dangerous attackers then they are.

[AfrcnHrbMan]

Yea I do remember Darcheville from his Bordeaux days as being nothing really special. As for Cousin, I remember him being highly regarded early in his career, but falling short of expectations, so they do little to unnerve me.

[SportBoy333]

Bordeaux had a problem scoring goals last year and they still let Darcheville go on a free transfer. Cousin had been wanting to leave Lens for a while if you read his comments and when he got a offer he wanted from Rangers, Lens let him go without much of a fight.

[Inara]

Lineup:


Vercoutre
Reveillere - Sqillaci - Anderson - Grosso
Juninho - Bodmer - Kallstrom
Govou - Baros - Benzema


????????????????????

How could he bench Toulalan?! Bodmer is NOT a defensive midfielder, and just because the Scots aren't an offensive force doesn't mean that Lyon don't need a ball winner in midfielder. Juni, Bodmer, and Kallstrom are not ball winners.

And Benzema as a LW? All his goals this season have been scored as a center forward.

[SportBoy333]

I knew Ben Arfa wouldnt be starting.

[lefutur]

wow. thats quite an offensive line-up.

[AfrcnHrbMan]

At least theres no midfielders in our backline. I agree the Benzema should be the main target. I would have rather seen Baros come off the bench, and give Ben Arfa the leftwing. It's come high time that he's a regular first teamer.

[Inara]

wow. thats quite an offensive line-up.

Too offensive. Toulalan should be on that pitch. Rangers' lineup is absolutely packed in the midfield.

[SportBoy333]

Call me crazy but I think Lyon will win this match regardless of who starts and who plays where. I wouldnt panic too much that the lineup is "too offensive."

[lefutur]

At least theres no midfielders in our backline. I agree the Benzema should be the main target. I would have rather seen Baros come off the bench, and give Ben Arfa the leftwing. It's come high time that he's a regular first teamer.

i have a feeling that benzema will find a way to score regardless. this could be an exciting game. (here's hoping)