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The clash of the eighteenth day of the League will pit FC Lorient and FC Metz. A meeting between the leader and the fourth in the standings… and the air of Ligue 1. With a few absentees and a new goalkeeper, the Garnets are a little in the dark.
This is the shock of this eighteenth day of Ligue 2. On the lawn of FC Lorientthe FC Metz will try to get back into the rankings and bring back points before receiving the Paris FC. A highly anticipated meeting between the undisputed leader and one of his pursuers. On the Metz side, and while we are still awaiting the arrival of reinforcement in attack, we will already have to compensate for the absences of several executives… including two doormen. “ We have two injured goalkeepers, Pope Sy who sees a surgeon today and Alexandre Oukidja who is off for another good week. It will be in the recovery phase perhaps next week. Ismaël Traoré is still struggling with his adductors. And the young Joseph Mangondo is currently uncertain. He did not train at the start of the week due to a small adductor problem in Saturday’s match ” explain Stéphane Le Mignan.
The hierarchy of goalkeepers reset
This is an unprecedented situation for Metz goalkeepers, which accelerated the decision to recruit Arnaud Bodartcoming from Liège Standard. « It was rushed. We had uncertainties about the number two goalkeeper, Pope Sywho had been injured for two months and had not returned. We were wondering where we were going. I considered thatAlexis Mirbach was a bit tight to be number two. We decided in a bit of a hurry in the last few days because we have injuries and we are playing big matches against direct opponents. We also looked ahead to the end of the season. We studied all the files and made the choice on Arnaud Bodart who was in a delicate situation with his club », confides the coach of FC Metz.
On the competition between Arnaud Bodart et Alexandre Oukidjathe situation seems to be clear for Stéphane Le Mignan. « For now, Arnaud will be number one and Alex will be number two. But it’s the only position where the numbers are clearly defined, after that it’s the game of sporting performance. As Alex was able to lose his place in a match (against Ajaccio) and he regained it quickly because Pape Sy was injured. This is what I told him: football, I don’t read it in crystal balls. I don’t know how the players are performing, I don’t know what could happen. I am very happy to have two high-level goalkeepers in the squad. […] We took a goalkeeper who wanted to play because he was in a delicate situation. He is a quality goalkeeper. Alex has been performing so well in recent weeks, he reacted well after a very complicated period.«
-“FC Lorient is uncompromising at home”
Asked about the qualities of FC Lorienta team that he loves enormously, the Breton coach of FC Metz praised the men’s mid-season runOlivier Pants. « The Lorient team is first in the standings and deserves it based on what it has done since the start of the season. In addition, at home she is uncompromising since she won her eight championship matches quite easily and scored a lot of goals (22 goals scored). Us away, we are in draws. We were in a bit of difficulty against Annecy but we managed to hold on, also in Clermont. We came out of a restart with a performance which was better offensively but which was not enough. There is improvement overall. The opponent is obviously stronger. It’s a direct competitor, it’s the first match of the return phase, there are still a lot of matches behind so it’s not decisive. But we want to be up to the task and do better than the eight teams who played at the Stade du Moustoir ».
The return phase begins with a bang for the Grenats, with one after another, Lorient then the reception of the Paris FC. Suffice to say that the month of January could prove decisive for the rest of the season. But for Stéphane Le Mignanthere is no question of giving in to pressure. “ You have to be all-terrain in your head. We must not just live up to a match which is special because both teams were in Ligue 1 and because it looks like a Ligue 1 match. We must not draw conclusions from both sides. If we perform well that doesn’t mean that in three weeks against Grenoble, we will be able to win. And then conversely if we don’t do well in these matches, we are able to come back from them because the gaps are not significant and we are at the start of the return phase ».
FC Metz will have to live up to the event this Saturday in Lorient to hope to compete with the championship leader. Beyond the result, it will be an opportunity to judge the real level of the club at the Croix de Lorraine and its ability to claim a direct rise to the elite at the end of the season.
Photo credits : Julien Buret – Let’s Go Metz
Comments collected by Gérald Russello and transcribed by Théo Bauer
