Who Can Stop The Lyon Juggernaut? (review of French league)

CelticKing · Aug 26, 2008

Who Can Stop The Lyon Juggernaut? (review of French league)

With the Ligue 1 season already underway, Walter Townsend once again asks the question of who can possible pose a challenge to seven-times champions Olympique Lyonnais...

Lyon may currently be denied top spot by virtue of goals scored, but they are once again looking like potential favourites to claim their 8th consecutive title after three weeks of the Ligue 1 season. This weekend they faced their first potential challenge to their supremacy when undefeated Grenoble travelled to the Stade Gerland to take them on. The Challengers were beaten 2-0, as Lyon claimed a share of top spot along with Marseille. It’s a position they may potentially not loose for the rest of the season. Goal.com takes a look at Lyon’s main rivals for the French league this season and what it would take for any side to challenge Claude Puel’s side.

Any rival to challenge Lyon will need to find goals on a regular basis. No French side could come close to matching Lyon for attacking output last season. In such a tight league, Lyon’s ability to consistently score goals was a key factor behind their success. Only the top three last season managed more than 50 goals in their 38 games, whilst the average of the sides that finished outside the top three and the bottom three was just 40 goals, at just over 1 per match.

Ironically the lack of goals in comparison to Lyon, is further highlighted when one considers that last season, several sides including Nancy, St-Etienne, Lille, Nice and Lorient all conceded fewer goals than the 37 yielded by the Champions. If any of them could improve their attacking play, they could be potential threats to Lyon’s recent domestic dominance.

Lyon’s consistency in terms of results is also un-matched. While many of Lyon’s rivals struggle to overcome the ultra-defensive tactics employed by many of the smaller sides in the league, Les Gones were able to overcome most challenges with seeming ease. And while Lyon’s rivals, with the exception of Bordeaux, lost critical matches that on paper should have gone their way, Lyon nearly always managed to turn a defeat into a draw, or a draw into a win.

Whilst some might say that last season Lyon were below-par, it looks like they’ll be as strong as ever, and the potential retention of Karim Benzema, last season’s goal scoring sensation, can only benefit the club. It begs the question can any of the French rivals halt their march?

Marseille

After the strong finish to last season under Eric Gerets, hopes are high on the south coast of France that Marseille can finally mount a challenge to the Lyon supremacy. Despite beating Lyon both home and away last season, the inconsistent Marseille game, combined with their poor start, saw them ultimately finish 17 points off Lyon.

The acquisition of former Lyon midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa to replace Arsenal bound Sami Nasri looks like an excellent acquisition. A 4-4 draw on the opening day of the season was followed up with wins over Auxerre and Le Havre to give Marseille 7 points and joint top spot with their rivals.

The squad looks strong through the spine of the team, although retaining the defensive pair of Julien Rodriguez and Gael Givet will be important, both of whom have been attracting interest from abroad. Up front Mamadou Niang looks like he will continue his rich vein of form up front, so hitting the back of the net shouldn’t be an issue for Marseille.

Service for the forwards could be one area that Marseille struggle with even with the dependable Niang in the side, as they attempt to bridge the gap between themselves and Lyon. Although Ben Arfa has an eye for a pass forward, Ziani and Zenden are by no means considered first choices, and they may not be able to relied upon to consistently provide the sort of service forward that Niang will thrive upon.

The full-back areas also look weak with Laurent Bonnart and Taye Taiwo the usual options. Left back Taiwo in particular loves to drive forward, and is often encouraged to as a result of the narrow midfield formation Gerets prefers. However, his final pass is often erratic, and he is often found wanting at the back as a result of his raids forward. Therefore if the opposition can exploit his absence in the defence, Marseille could be vulnerable.

Last season the poor start of Marseille coincided with their Champions League campaign, which after a promising start, including a win at Anfield, petered out, as Porto and Liverpool grabbed the two top spots in the group. Whilst Marseille’s starting XI may rival that of Lyon’s for quality, the Stade Gerland based side have far more depth to their squad. It looks like Marseille will be back in the Champions League for this season, after a 1-0 away win in Norway against Brann. Therefore keeping the momentum going on both fronts, once the group stage starts in September, may still overstretch Marseille. This may allow Lyon to ease out the gap to one that Gerets’ men may not be able to recover over the final part of the season.

Bordeaux

Last season Laurent Blanc’s men were the most consistent challengers to Lyon, even having a chance of going level with them when the sides met towards the end of the season at the Stade Chaban-Dalmas. Lyon crushed the Girondins challenge that evening to put an almost insurmountable gap between themselves and their rivals, leaving Bordeaux to concentrate on wrapping second place up.

The main difference between Lyon and Bordeaux last season was in the goals scored column; Lyon managed 9 more goals over the course of the season, which translated into two more wins, and the 4 point gap that won Lyon the title. Despite suffering the same number of defeats (7), and conceding only 1 more goal (38 to Lyon’s 37), Bordeaux couldn’t wrest the title from Lyon’s grasp. However, the 4 point winning margin was the smallest since 2003/04, when Lyon won the title by just 3 points from PSG, so there is definitely a feeling that Bordeaux are closing down the gap.

Bordeaux’s inability to translate their possession and chances into goals has already cost them dear this season; a 1-0 defeat to PSG has already seen them fall a point behind Marseille and Lyon. The arrival of Yoan Gouffran and Yoann Gorcuff suggests that Bordeaux are looking to play with midfielders who are capable of chipping in with a goal as well as a killer pass. If the Argentine forward Fernando Cavenaghi can continue to score goals after catching the eye last season up front for Bordeaux, then a crack at the Championship may be within Bordeaux’s grasp.

However, with the emphasis placed firmly on attack in the midfield, this has left Bordeaux potentially more exposed at the back. An inconsistent defence has already blighted Bordeaux against PSG, when a quick counter-attack move sealed the win for PSG in Week 2. Last weekend was much of the same when Ulrich Rame had a wild game in goal against Nantes. The usually dependable goalkeeper had a number of mad-moments nearly gifting Nantes several openings. With the first goal so important in what is often a tight league in terms of goals scored, Bordeaux will have to keep the door locked at the back before looking forward.

A win in the Trophée des Champions, the traditional French curtain raiser, over Lyon showed, that Bordeaux have what it takes to keep Lyon at bay over the course of one game. If they can iron out the early defensive issues of this season in the league, and hit just a few more goals, they could become serious challengers over the course of the season to Lyon.

PSG

Usually one wouldn’t include a team that finished last season in 16th place as a potential title challenger. However, the runs to the finals of both major cup competitions in France hinted at the possibilities contained within the PSG squad.

Whilst PSG are capable of giving anyone in Ligue 1 a match, they need to work out exactly what it is they had in their Cup run that was so conspicuous by its absence in the league last season.

The arrival of Mateja Kezman to bolster the attack is certainly a good one. The former Fenerbahce forward, if he can start hitting the goals, could be a real star for PSG this season. The opening matches of this season have shown that PSG look solid until the final pass, where they have let themselves down badly. A strong display in the opening match of the season against Monaco went to waste after they failed to capitalise on their chances, eventually allowing the Monagasques to grab all three points with a breakaway goal.

The presence of Claude Makelele, a born winner and player of proven quality, is a massive plus factor on the pitch, as he seeks to drive the team to success in the league. Kezman, along with fellow forwards Horeau and Pancrate shouldn’t in theory lack for service from the flanks with the like of Rothen and Giuly on the left and right respectively. With Armand and Ceara occupying the full-back positions, both also capable of delivering quality from wide positions, PSG’s flank attack should be supplying plenty of ammunition, and is arguably the strongest in the league.

The first goal will prove to be crucial over the course of the season, especially at home, where the demanding yet partisan crowd at the Parc des Princes are desperate to get behind PSG. However, if PSG do fall behind then the crowd can be unsympathetic, and more of a burden than a support. With questions still to be answered surrounding Paul le Guen’s controversial reign in the capital, this season could yet go either way for PSG.

Whether any of this makes PSG viable Championship contenders is open to debate. Having started the season with a win (against Bordeaux, their hardest opposition so far), a defeat against Monaco and a draw at Sochaux, the signs are that a mid-table finish is about the best they can hope for.

St. Etienne

Lyon’s local rivals St. Etienne will have a chance to measure themselves against the reigning Champions next weekend when Lyon travel to the Stade Geoffrey Guichard in Week 4 of the Championship. A 5th placed finish last season qualified Les Verts for Europe thanks to the goals from recent French call-up Bafetemi Gomis. Although there is still a week to go until the transfer window closes a number of Premiership and Serie A sides have been weighing up a bid for the forward. So far he remains at St. Etienne, and if they can retain his service St. Etienne could yet be outside contenders for a shot at Lyon. Motivated by their success of the Seventies when they bossed it over all of France, including Lyon, a return to the glory days of that decade may be just around the corner.

Outside of the top three last season, St. Etienne’s record of 47 goals was bettered only by Caen, who managed 48. Those 47 goals were good enough for 16 wins and 12 draws, and if they can just add a few more strikes over the course of the season, they could become very tricky opponents in France.

Nancy

Stubborn Nancy were one of the revelations of last season, after they managed to hold onto Lyon’s coat-tails for the first half of the season. The hard working Nancy side managed to pick up several creditable results thanks to their never-say-die attitude and work-rate, including a 1-1 draw at home to Lyon, admittedly on an almost frozen pitch just before Christmas.

Last season the side had no European campaign to think about, and as a result of the fewer matches the relatively small squad looked far less stretched than the previous season, when the management team had to juggle European commitments with a league campaign. A 4th place finish was the outcome, but of course with domestic success comes another European campaign, which could yet again over extend the squad.

The rest…

The French league has shown in recent seasons that any team can jump out of the pack to at least challenge for a top three spot. Nancy were strong contenders in 2005/06, whilst Toulouse were the surprise package of 2006/07, both making it into Europe. However both Toulouse and Nancy have found that combining the two obligations can be too much and both slipped back to whence they came, and in Toulouse’s case spent most of last season flirting with relegation.

Last season was one of fewer shocks as Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseille filled the top three positions. However, Le Mans, Lorient and Caen all enjoyed strong seasons finishing at least within 7 points of the final European position 6th (taken by Rennes). Any side to jump out of the mid-table would need to start beating their fellow mid-table opponents. With just 14 points, or just under 5 extra wins, splitting 5th placed St. Etienne from 15th placed Auxerre, any side looking to challenge will have to start consistently picking up results, something that wasn’t the case for the majority of the sides in Ligue 1 last season.

However, expecting any of these sides to be anything other than potentially awkward and obdurate opposition for the top sides would be unrealistic.

Realistically the only credible opposition to end Lyon’s dominance of Ligue 1 looks to be either in the shape of Marseille and Bordeaux. If either of these sides can put together the same sort of undefeated run that has become de rigeur for Lyon, then they may have the means to challenge them. On paper their squads are as strong as Lyon’s, as Marseille’s two wins over Lyon proved last season, and Bordeaux’s defeat of Lyon, albeit on penalties in the Trophée des Champions, showed at the beginning of this season.

With the gap last season down to just four points between Bordeaux and Lyon at the end of last season, it looks like this season could be the toughest one yet for Lyon to remain on their perch as the dominant side in France.
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M Two One · Aug 26, 2008

PSG are a no-no for the title race. They are doomed to fail yet again, I don't care what anyone says because the club is complete crap.

CelticKing · Aug 26, 2008

I didn't even know that Kezman joined PSG. I'm surprised. lol

Colonel Ronan · Aug 26, 2008

Marsielle is the only team that could break the deadlock - And even that is a far off chance.

M Two One · Aug 26, 2008

That's not true IMO, Bordeaux Girondins has far and beyond the talent level that l'OM have right now.

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Who Can Stop The Lyon Juggernaut? (review of French league)

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Who Can Stop The Lyon Juggernaut? (review of French league)

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CelticKing The Green Monster

M Two One Halló Veröld!

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