It's a mentality thing. People worry more about preventing goals than actually scoring them. It's no surprise that Lyon and Bordeaux, who don't adopt that strategy, have the fewest scoreless draws (and have scored the most goals).
It's probably linked with Lyon's domination. Lyon is the only team that really plays the title. The others play not to lose. Teams like Nancy, Valenciennes or Lorient know that they can't compete on the long term with the OL, so they manage things ad minima.
Short message to say Strasbourg is going down. Again. Monaco played a very bad soccer but, somehow, we managed to play an even worse. The strategies devised by mastermind Furlan allways adapt to the opponent's weaknesses : we copy them. How smart. I know nobody really cares but here we are.
The interesting thing is there's only a 9 point difference between 5th and 19th at the moment, which basically says no team is safe, as losing streaks can happen out of nowhere.
2-0 vs Valenciennes. Sixth loss in a row. Not a single goal scored in the last 5 games. Supporting Strasbourg is a really special soccer experience, I admit. If you want to buy a soccer team, on the other side, the Racing will probably be on the (flea) market soon. Cheap !
How does Jean-Marc Furlan keep getting work? He's now overseen 2 relegations in a row. Granted, he hasn't been given the best of squads, yet it boggles me a bit that he's always getting work. Yes, he did bring Troyes into Ligue 1, though at the moment it appears he's best as an entraîneur in Ligue 2, not Ligue 1.
Everybody at Strasbourg asks himself the same question. The answer sleeps somewhere deep inside the circumvoluted mind of our owner. Furlan himself sometimes gives the impression that he absolutely doesn't know what he is talking about. If the instructions he gives to the players are as clear as his interviews, there is no wonder that they feel lost and depressed. He even blacklisted some players (Johansen, Gasmi, Camadini) for no reason at all. How to say ? Furlan is a postmodern kind of coach. Jacques Lacan with a sweat suit and a whistle. Anyway, the roster doesn't help him. The team has an incredible number of n°9-style strikers (Gameiro, Mouloungui, Mulenga, Renteria, Santos, Zenke) but a very weak midfield. 12 strikers in all, but 6 of them currently in loan. BTW, we have an abnormal number of players in loan. Why hiring players, why offering them 3 or 4 years contract, if we send them elsewhere after a few monthes ? This stupid turnover is a complete waste. Especially when you replace average-but-willing players (Tum) by costly supposed stars who don't care a dime about the team (Renteria). We are not Man Utd, we can't afford to recruit players and not making them play. So, Adbessadki is the only (1 !) offensive midfielder in the roster, and he's injured. What's the point ? You can only put 2 strikers on the field, and they're pointless without a good midfield to give them passes. That's crazy team management. Only people who don't know anything about soccer think that a good team is made with strikers only. You don't score more goals because you hire more strikers. You score more goals because the whole team plays well enough to put the strikers in good situations. Whatever. Trying to decipher the labyrinthine minds of our president and our coach is pointless. Bush's policies in Irak are clearer than that.
I am a bit surprised that Toulouse has been able to pull themselves out of the relegation zone. I thought they were goners for sure. They still might go down but its less likely now than before.
téfécé's class is finally showing through, they're the toughest of the réléguables right now and i'm sure happy bordeaux has to play them!
It seems a lot of people are saying that Elmander, Mathieu, and Emana are all gone even if they avoid relegation.
I don't think its a surprise that Elmander wouldn't want to stay with a club that can't guarantee him European football, especially considering he's at the point of no return (age wise) for a striker. TFC's performance this year hasn't exactly put him at the top of the Swedish NT radar, and qualifiers are going to be right after the Euro...
Eighth loss in a row. That's what I like with my team. Every season, you think the things can't be worse and yet, every season, they manage to play even crappier soccer. Every time, you discover a new way to lose. Well, it was nice for Rennes : easy training session, not too much sweat wasted, scoring three goals early and then jogging around a little bit. Can't imagine Strasbourg's players get paid for what they do, but they are.
I don't know how Nancy keeps doing it. I never get to see them play really. As for relegation, I hope PSG and Toulouse get saved and I prefer Lens go down. Nothing against them personally just that I like the other 2 teams better. I really wish Auxerre would go down as I dont like them but they are safe unfortunately.
That's interesting, Sportboy, I would have thought if the interest of the league was what you cared about, you would have said that you'd want PSG and Lens to escape relegation. Lens have a bigger fanbase and a better academy than Toulouse.
Yeah I know but I have a soft spot in my heart for Toulouse for some reason. Maybe its because I like purple.
[mumbling to himself in a semi-demented mood] tenth loss in a row. 4-1 at home. That's the worst season in the history of Strasbourg, and the worst streak in the history of the league. That's how special we are. And yet, somehow, I feel oddly serene, appeased. When all hope and joy and pride is gone, when you just know your team is one of the crappiest in all history, when everything looks like a battlefield after the rout, you finally find the stoic in yourself.
I hope you guys lay down next week against OM because you do realize that game is much more important for them to win in the grand scheme of things as opposed to you guys breaking your streak.
I would like to know what is going on with Johan Micoud at Bordeaux. I read that they will not offer him a contract extention but I read that he doesnt necessarily want to retire so they are kinda in effect "forcing" him to retire because he doesnt want to play for another team. Is this correct or what ?
it's official that lolo doesn't want any more of him. he's going to make a decision in the next couple of days if he'll try to get a job elsewhere, but he was visibly downhearted in the interview.
Oh thanks. I hope he plays 1 more year there. I dont think he's completely lost it. The owner needs to step in. I bet most fans would want him back.
well, the content of the interview would suggest that's all caps impossible. i'm being inflammatory here, but i think micoud fits right in with the biggest gang of cheaters since tapie went to jail. mind you they're playing the best football in L1 over the last two months, but they've made some unfair breaks for themselves as well.
They are probably happy to get Micoud's high salary off the books and also Jemmali, and replace it with younger players. Monaco star Jeremy Menez would be happy to be offered a contract by Ligue 1 title challengers Bordeaux. Les Girondins have told Johan Micoud he will not wear the blue shirt next season and, as a consequence, Laurent Blanc’s club are expected to sign an attacking midfielder during the summer. France Under-21 international Menez, constantly linked to Inter, has declared that Stade Chaban-Delmas would be a good destination for him in order to play in the Champions League. “Bordeaux could interest me, they are a stable club,” Menez told France-Football. " “I do not know Laurent Blanc, I do not know what he thinks of me. " “I am only 21 and staying in France and playing in the Champions League with such a club as Bordeaux would be cool. " “(Nancy) are having a good season. " “That may be underestimating Nancy, but I think that have not the same standing as Bordeaux or Monaco.”