Lyon - Monaco [R]

[Inara]

The game is nearly over, but I thought it still deserved it's own thread.

Lyon are leading 3-1. The scorers are Juninho (pen), Reveillere, and Benzema. Monsoreau scored for Monaco.

It was Berthod's foul which gave up the penalty, and Monsoreau was a former OL player as well.

Benzema now has 11 goals in 11 games. He was replaced by Fred, who hasn't played for Lyon since early May last season.

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Yeah, well played. Don't know what Ricardo was thinking by employing 6 defenders in the starting lineup, though, even if both Modesto and Monsoreau were aligned kinda as defensive midfielders.

This was kinda what I expected, disappointed that Pino didn't have an impact and Ménez didn't bring his best game.

I'm going to go get excited about the Coupe de la Ligue now, hopefully we'll get a L1 win against Caen ahead of that, though images of Gouffran torturing the completely inept Monaco backline are already beginning to surface. :(

[SportBoy333]

The more Benzema keeps scoring the more the rumors wont go away no matter how unfounded they may be. If I was a Lyon fan I'd might even want Fred to take away Benzema's minutes to help slow down the madness somewhat.

[lefutur]

The more Benzema keeps scoring the more the rumors wont go away no matter how unfounded they may be. If I was a Lyon fan I'd might even want Fred to take away Benzema's minutes to help slow down the madness somewhat.

for reals yo. now i'm thinking "stop scoring hatem. we don't want everyone knowing how good you are. save that for the CL!" :p

[SportBoy333]

for reals yo. now i'm thinking "stop scoring hatem. we don't want everyone knowing how good you are. save that for the CL!" :p

I'm surprised these big clubs arent deterred by the fact that he dominates weak Ligue 1 but did much worse vs Barcelona and Rangers.

[lefutur]

he's only 19. he'll score in the CL very soon I'm sure. besides, the team has yet to play well as a whole in those situations.

[Inara]

Benzema scored two goals in the CL last year and one the year before. With his international tally also at 3, his not having scored in Europe this year isn't that big of a deal.

[guignol]

If I was a Lyon fan I'd might even want Fred to take away Benzema's minutes to help slow down the madness somewhat.he'll have to start getting benzema's time just to keep him from burning out. now that he's playing regularly in blue it adds up to hella matches!

my wife was in line to get tix for this match when she found out how early it started: at the same time as my son's basketball game. i got the halftime score... at halftime, and listened to the last 10 minutes on the radio, plus a couple of colleagues were there and talked about it this morning.

benzema has gerland in his little hand like no one in recent memory but sonny or juni... who also had an amazing match, he was the straw that stirs the drink.

great match also from RVR; clerc must be saying to himself sic transit gloria mundi or something like that. in case you've forgotten, and it would be forgiveable, a month ago he was the confirmed starter for both OL and france!

govou has joined forces with keita to propose this burning question: what the hell were those 18M€ for? AK had another nightmare match, finding time in 20 minutes to throw away two goals for OL... luckily sidney found time in 70' to set up two.

ben arfa also a lot of fun to watch, and though he still tries to do too much, he's on the right track. källström on the other hand seems to be losing steam, confidence or something, he was stale and unappealing.

on the monaco side, köller was sublime, pino ridiculous, and keto is proving himself a worthy successor to bernardi: most hated assassin in L1!

[lefutur]

i still think that people will be satisfied with the purchase of Keita in the end. and if not he'll be replaced and reach his potential somewhere else...which is enormous.

seems like when kallstrom is up, juni's down and when govou is up, keita is down. lets not forget that govou has been raising his game all season and he doesn't normally play this well. but is it gonna last?

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Govou had a terrific match, though you'll understand that I'm none too happy about that penalty. Nevertheless, taking nothing away from him, the way Berthod was playing, anyone on that right side would have looked good. He was about as stiff as a piece of metal. Speaking of which, does Gerland have a recycling center? I would love to get a 5 cent deposit on him.

[guignol]

lets not forget that govou has been raising his game all season and he doesn't normally play this well. but is it gonna last?he has been raising his game, and i'm surprised domenech plays him least when his form is best...

but as for normally not playing well, i think you're being severe. you have to accept one think about sidney and we all know what that is: he can only score the spectacular goals; the simple ones... il croque.

that's why he's no longer the point man he started his career as, but beside this (admittedly not so little) peccadillo i'd like to know what kind of reproach one can make of him. an enormous volume de jeu, goes like greased lightning from right to left, from back to front, stretching a defense like very few can... never offside, never stopping, speed, power, stamina... he doesn't have benarfesque technique, but with his reflexes and athletic qualities, he doesn't need any, he just gets through SIMPLY; not one stepover or roulette in 10 years, but he's still one of the hardest players in france, perhaps even in europe to mark...

and consistently so, week in week out, rarely injured... i could go on. what's not to like?

[lefutur]

I said that Govou never played this well before...not that he never played well, Guignol. But admitedly in the past i haven't been his biggest fan and that mainly because of his position in the national team. Raymond was using him constantly when other, better options were available. Giuly, Ribery, Pires (back in the day). Now Domenech has settled on Ribery so its natural that Govou is riding the bench because as much as Govou has raised his game this season, Ribery has raised his game more and lets be honest, Ribery was always gonna win out in that position.

So yeah, while I admit that I've dissed him in the past I do recognize his contributions to Lyon, especially as of late. But that said I'm not gonna write off Keita because that boy has a boatload of talent.

[Inara]

and consistently so, week in week out, rarely injured... i could go on. what's not to like?

I'll admit to being one of Govou's biggest detractors. And though he's raised his game this season, I would rather have Keita and Ben Arfa on the field.

You're right in that when Govou scores, he's spectacular, and he's fast and tricky, but he disappears far too easily in some matches, and every good game is followed by a string of four or five bad ones. He is also one of the worst finishers on the team. No joke. I don't mind that he's not a consistent goal scorer, but it's only been this season when he's been pumping out the assists.

To be honest, it's not that Govou is a bad player, it's just that there are more effective players out there. If had I had to choose which player to make a difference in the last 15 minutes, I wouldn't choose Govou.

[lefutur]

one thing govou is great at is scoring from the volley...from like 20 meters out. but put the ball 2 meters in front of the goal with no defenders around for miles against a goalie with one arm, and he'll miss it.

guignol, i hope you don't think that Inara and I are ganging up on you.

:D

here ya go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9PUG5IjQuk

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

I agree 100% with Inara's post. In a European match, were I an OL fan, I think I would like to see Ben Arfa and Keita on the wings as they're better finishers than Govou. To touch back on the Keita issue, I don't think he's worth 18 ME, though to get both him and Bodmer for that final transfer amount was a decent deal.

[guignol]

[Govou] disappears far too easily in some matches, and every good game is followed by a string of four or five bad ones. He is also one of the worst finishers on the team... If had I had to choose which player to make a difference in the last 15 minutes, I wouldn't choose Govou.i've been watching govou since he was knee high to a grasshopper, and though i don't see every match by any means, i can't remember an outright bad one. they're (almost) all good, albeit in different ways.

and especially now that ben arfa is coming along, the best wing pair by far is hatem and sid. why? because they're so different, and they can both play either side. when they switch back and forth like last night it's like they're playing good cop bad cop with the defenders; just when an opponent thinks he's got the one sussed out, the other one comes at him and il ne sait pas où il habite... doesn't know whether to s... or go blind.

and i remember one particular match, an important one too, when it was govou who made the difference in the last ONE minute. olympiakos two years ago almost to the day.

one thing govou is great at is scoring from the volley...from like 20 meters out. but put the ball 2 meters in front of the goal with no defenders around for miles against a goalie with one arm, and he'll miss it. guignol, i hope you don't think that Inara and I are ganging up on you. here ya go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9PUG5IjQukgang up on me all you want, with govou playing like he is now (last night for example) i can take the heat.

there's a longer clip of that match where you see govou's other, more dependable and useful side. he sets up tiago's goal with a combination of speed and power few can match. no only does he come from out of nowhere to win the ball on the sideline, he's so fast into the box that the defense is probably more worried about a pass to him than tiago's shot (luckily it didn't turn out that way, he would have chewed it up for sure :D)

[Inara]

Keita's started what, two or three matches? And those were all in August. Now he just comes on in the last 15 minutes. That's not enough to make a real impact in the game, though even in those 15 minutes, he often does a lot offensively (the Monaco game aside).

We saw him at Lille last year and we know what's he's capable of. If he could just get that time, I know he would provide more than Govou.

It's not that I dislike Govou, but he does have bad matches. Take a look at last year - I can think of only a handul of occassions where he had a positivie impact on the game. I will never forgive him for his lackluster performances against Bordeaux in the League Cup final and the two Roma games.

This year he seems to be a changed man, but I don't know, I'm just not convinced that he would be able to compete with Keita (when on good form). We'll see though, as Keita doesn't have any form at the moment.

[lefutur]

at his best Keita clearly has more potential than Govou. but he isnt getting much time to play so, like Fabio Santos, its very difficult for his to hit his stride in a new team. But why did we spend so much money on him if we arent going to give him a chance? Surely in the league games he should start and be given a chance to show his worth.

[guignol]

being an incurable optimist and all-around softie, and having had a good look at AK last year, i agree with you 1000% that he will come around and be very good for us. but as for "not giving him a chance", he started the first 7 games of the season and was nothing more than a pile of unwashed laundry. he's played in every match but one and has the 6th most minutes on the team not counting vercoutre; OL simply can't afford to play him any more than that at his present level.