It was the ray of sunshine in the fog surrounding the club and its future. A breath of fresh air for an entity reduced to its simplest expression above the U15s. It is also the locomotive on which, faithful to his strategy, the owner Gérard Lopez decided to bet heavily to give himself a better chance, in the event of an upswing, of financing a continuation plan. The refreshing halo of carefreeness of the Bordeaux N2 team disappeared, Saturday, against Locminé (1-2), with the first whistles of the season, the first criticisms, the expulsions of the captain (Yambéré) and the vice-captain (Trichard). And above all a gap (11 pts) which persists with the leader Saint-Malo with now only one game in hand.
The first defeat of the season, on September 7 in Dinan (2-1), was almost encouraging, with a squad assembled in the previous fortnight and incomplete. The second is more bitter, with what these Bordeaux residents have shown so far: October and November (Saumur 2-1, Avranches 1-0, Blois 1-1, Saint-Pryvé 2-0, Le Poiré 1-0, Saint -Malo 1-1) had created the hope of seeing them quickly return to contact. In the battle, Yambéré and his teammates did not get used to being pushed around in duels as they were.
“Individually, we were not up to par,” regrets striker Yanis Merdji. Sometimes nothing goes right. We knew it would be complicated, maybe we arrived with a little apprehension and there was more technical waste than usual.” Bruno Irles continues: “Against the Girondins, the opponents are playing the match of their lives. We must at least live up to what we are capable of doing. »
Stagnation in the game
The coach emphasized that the evening's performance was not “just a question of state of mind”. The delay – no common preparation, late recruitment – will not be made up for. But with a staff almost as extensive as that of a professional club (physical trainer Jean-Christophe Hourcade arrived bringing it to eight full-time people), an unprecedented budget at this level and four common months, the Girondins have a status to assume.
Girondins de Bordeaux. Three ways to take a new step
After the delayed start, the Girondins reached the championship break in almost the expected position. But Saturday's meeting (0-1 in Vendée) showed that they will have to step up their game to hope to worry Saint-Malo
Since Saint-Brieuc (0-0) on December 7, and despite the success snatched from La Roche-sur-Yon (0-1), they give the impression of stagnating in the game and are better read. The current shortages in the squad are more glaring: the tenure of Nathanael Bai as a winger may appear as a disavowal for Diallo, Mutyaba and Karim. “Amadou and Travys returned later from the break (Thursday, Editor's note) and were not ready to start,” explained Bruno Irles.
The entry of winger Mutyaba into the middle also highlights the lack of creativity in the midfield, which Karim should have brought. The transfer window must fill these gaps. The qualities of power and transitions remain present. A little before the halfway point (13 matches played out of 30), the battle is not over: “There is no backing off the wall. We know that we will have to win every match. We have to work for that,” says Yanis Merdji, before facing the last two in the ranking (Granville and Le Poiré-sur-Vie). The hardest part begins.
