Bernard Lions, Team journalist specializing in ASSE, was in the podcast “Sans control” which is 100% devoted to FC Nantes. For this fourth episode of season 6, the columnists therefore discussed the upcoming match between Nantes and Saint-Etienne.
“A historic spanking” (Lions after Nice-ASSE)
“We must hope for the Stéphanois that Saint-Étienne can recover from this slap received in Nice. 8-0 is a historic spanking which was not very expected following the victory in front of friends from Lille. It is a huge surprise and a shipwreck in widths which were unsuspected but which we anticipated a little, given the very young and inexperienced recruitment which was carried out by the new Canadian owners of AS Saint-Étienne.
The new leaders of ASSE have forgotten that Ligue 1 is an adults’ sport. They made a recruitment which is very young and inexperienced. Of the ten recruits with the exception of Yunis Abdelhamid who is an old backpacker from Ligue 1, they focused on prospects, young people in development but the average age is very low with a quality of players which is not not questioned, I am thinking in particular of Ekwah who arrived on loan from Sunderland, who is a good player but who has never played in Ligue 1, that’s what is quite incredible.
You left last year with a core team of twelve – fifteen players, you look at the end of the season, they lost twelve Ligue 2 games, it’s enormous. If you look at this squad, the rare players capable of being starters in Ligue 1, I am thinking in particular of Irvin Cardona, were only players loaned by Augsburg and did not stay at Saint-Étienne.
“The leaders did not understand the dimension of what Ligue 1 was in terms of physical, athletic and tactical demands. » (Bernard Lions on ASSE recruitment)
It would have been necessary to recruit widely with experienced Ligue 1 players but the sports policy put in place by the new managers was quite different. I have the impression, without wanting to accuse them, that they did not understand the dimension of what Ligue 1 was in terms of physical, athletic and tactical demands. Today, the Saint-Étienne midfielder has an average age of around twenty years, it’s not even 40 Ligue 1 matches and even then, it’s Aïmen Moueffek who concentrates them all. They pay dearly for this inexperience. Olivier Dall’Oglio finds himself being a training coach in Ligue 1 and I think there is no solution until Christmas.
« Whatever happens, whether behind or in front, there are abysmal gaps to allow Saint-Etienne to remain in League 1.”
The observation is implacable. When you take 8 in Nice, when you lose at home against a team from your championship which is Le Havre. Indeed, you have to digest the massive arrival of 10 players but these are players who have no high-level or League 1 experience. It’s almost impossible. The leaders had started with the idea of obtaining a simple maintenance and investing massively next season. I think they will be forced to review their plans and invest massively from the next winter transfer window, hoping that by then, the Stéphanois will not fall too far behind in the rankings.
The ball will burn the feet of the Saint-Etienne and Nantes residents. I’m curious to see what the work week was like, will Olivier Dall’Oglio change his playing system? I don’t think so, he is a fan of 4-3-3, of possession. He has the players to play like that. In Brest, they lost 4-0, but on 4 set pieces. In Nice, it’s different. Will he make a decision like putting Abdelhamid on the bench? That would mean depriving yourself of one of the rare captains there is on this team. In any case, whether behind or in front, there are abysmal gaps to allow Saint-Etienne to remain in League 1.”
