first match tonight in amsterdam. official lineup hasn't been announced but the "probable" team of: Lloris Réveillère, B.Koné, Lovren, A.Cissokho Briand - Gonalons, Källström, Bastos Gomis - Pied can't be far from the mark. it's what we saw in dijon, and in the main it's what we've seen every time out. the only modification we might (and i expect to) see would be lacazette, perhaps for briand but probably for pied: in dijon it was jimmy who most disappointed but pied isn't a full starter so in gardian logic he's the one who will be on the bench. OL has a long tradition of upping their game something incredible for the first CL matches (just think back to 13/09/06) and the first match of this season had a similar feel. adding to my innate optimism are the facts that a draw would be an acceptable result for us, and that our opponent is one who doesn't park the bus or even know how to.
I would do Lacazette for Pied as well. I'd rather see Briand out there. They should sign Malbranque on a free if Ederson doesnt come back healthy.
i'd rather see him too... the problem is he's been fairly invisible this season so far. after licha and gomis staying healthy, the key to our season is briand playing to potential. even the resurrection of the bordeaux gourcuff is less important if we stay with this 4-4-2 and kim keeps playing like a swede possessed. all the other parts of the puzzle are meshing surprisingly nicely; input from the right wing is the only real lack.
pied had a really off game versus dijon and lacazette really hasnt had any playing time for lyon yet. its a tough call.
for sure. what's hilarious is that the same people who were saying pied needed to take bastos place last year are now looking at laca like the second coming of christ and want pied burned at the stake!
0-0 final score. disappointing considering that Ajax didnt really show much of a threat. And Gomis didnt do himself any favors for a callup to Les Bleus...
well, you can see the glass as half full or half empty. a draw in a'dam is a decent result as points go; with licha back a win in gerland seems likely. and were still unbeaten in 8 official matches. the match itself offers reasons for both contentment and discontent. our first clean sheet of the season is due in part to some poor batavian finishing, some great hugo, but the defense was on the whole vigilant... and needed to be. as the match wore on we were getting eaten alive in the midfield. playing the counter was a choice, but that sparsely certainly not. when we did get the ball under control the movement and circulation was good and at times fantastic. but the finishing was lamentable. grénier as a starter, a few CL minutes for belfodil but still no lacazette. i think a double change, and 10 minutes earlier would have been a good idea, but i started to fear garde wasn't going to make any subs at all. the worst part is that sunday we play OM (who has an extra day's rest) and some of our players, gomis, källström, are starting to show fatigue. on the other hand, briand found his rhythm for the first time, and the formation has morphed into one where there's room for gourcuff who apparently will be back sunday.
I didnt see the match. Fox Soccer channel isnt even showing a replay of it and no Lille-CSKA either. I think a point on the road is a good result if you are playing a team from one of the top leagues but if you're playing a team from a league thats ranked lower than yours then I think a point isnt as good. You can't tell me you'll be satisfied with a point when you play Dinimo Zagreb away. You want all 6 points from both those matches.
yes, but if the referee insists on playing football instead of king-fu i can't imagine dinamo being anywhere near as formidable as ajax. for a team that has 20 new players (!) they were surprisingly good... except for their finishing which was as woeful as ours. considering not only the reputation of both teams but also the complexion of the match i think a flutter on the 0-0 would have brought a right pretty penny.
I consider Ajax and Olympiakos to be on a similar level and OM got their win and OL didnt but of course OM needed it more to boost morale.
I think Garde played for the draw which is somewhat surprising and a bit too conservative for my tastes. Garde does have a tendency to wait until the last minute to make substitutions and considering his rotation policy (or lack of one) I hope it doesnt mean that our starting 11 gets burned out halfway through the season.
I think the draw is a fair result. Gomis could have had a hattrick on a luckier day, but Ajax were dangerous throughout the match. I thought they played pretty well. I did a fair bit of watching Kone. I think this guy was an amazing purchase. He acquited himself well, stepping up from Ligue 2 to champions league football in a matter of weeks. He's got a fair bit of skill too for a CB, but I think that gets him into trouble sometimes. Let's see how he does aganist OM, but for now I'm a fan.
I think both Kone and Lovren have a high degree of skill for their ages. I love it when Lovren sees an opportunity to attack the opposing team and dribbles by some players with cross-overs. you dont see that every day from a central defender!
after a nearly perfect "match de référence" against bordeaux, another one that adds confidence and momentum. the same starting lineup as the last couple times, the same strong performances from bastos, gomis, gonalons, lloris, koné and lovren, grénier gaining confidence, réveillère back to his best last season's form and above all briand very active and above above all the real aly cissokho and not his little sister from last year. there's a virus developing at OL and it's called JUST WIN BABY! it's a RETROvirus from the time when houllier had the players in a tight pack where the ballcarrier either had plenty of help (when we had it) or plenty of problems (when they did). and that block zips around the field at a speed that leaves mere mortals like dinamo helpless and even big guns like real madrid breathless if they're ready to leave their guts on the field. there's room for improvement: the score at half could easily have been 5-0... just like it could have been on that 13th of september when lyon showed the world. and some found the second half flat, but to me that kind of match management when you've got another big one looming on the horizon is the other hallmark of those ultraprofessional houllier days, when the lion roared and the whole world got nervous. ALLEZ L'OL!
I think its good that they conserved their energy in the second half because Lyon need to really think about the long term in the league. I wonder if Gourcuff is getting nervous watching how well Lyon are playing without him.
a big time, but low pressure match for us tonight. if they lose, so what (as long as it's not like 5-0)? a draw is a big deal. they can play composed, patient, and without complexes. grénier and gonalons are out. announced lineup is Lloris Réveillère - B. Koné - Lovren - Cissokho Fofana - Källström Briand - Gourcuff - Bastos Gomis that's just maxifoot's idea, but garde been making it easy on them. last year i'll bet no one ever knew the real lineup until the match card until the matchcard was in the ref's hands. it's bastos' 100th for OL and i have a feeling he's gonna be hotter than a $2 pistol.
We need Bastos to show up in this game. I'm relaxed about it too. The english language press isn't giving us much of a chance. We're gonna have a problem holding down both Higuain and Ronaldo. Gourcuff is tipped to make his first start in a hundred years? What a pleasant surprise it would be for him to play like a champion today...
i actually don't have too much invested, emotionally, in the CL this year. I want OL to concentrate on the league and with all the youngsters trying to take over the reigns I think the CL might be a bridge too far for some of them. That said, I do want them to do well against Madrid. Just cause. Losing Gonalons for this game is going to hurt us. Fofana is talented but too inexperienced at this level.
Even worse than I thought, although I was expecting an easy win for Madrid. Well, maybe its a good thing. OL cant have any dreams of going far in the CL and this should put an end to that. Concentrate on the league. Period. But what's more worrying is the Gourcuff problem. Is he going to make the team better, or worse?
No because 2nd place is well within reach now that Dinamo Zagreb appears to be out of it. I hope they arent giving up yet. Dont lie down and let Ajax finish ahead of you. You are better than them.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ this btw when was the last time lyon played in the uefa/europa league? 02 or 03? not to make a joke or anything
well, 4-0 is better than 5-0... the score is perfectly justified too, we got slaughtered. not even gourcuff lacking matches and gonalons forfeit is a valid excuse. even though i expected a loss i'm gutted and don't even have the heart to read the sports pages today. i only came by on mod duty to see if any trolls came by... there was some mean spirited talk on the RM board before the match. usually i always go over to the mirror thread to see if any muppetry went on over there but can't bear to now. i trust no french posters said anything untoward... actually only 2002 because we got immediately kicked out by perennial powerhouse denizlispor.