“My ankle injury (contracted during preparation) made me fall behind Formosa (Mendy) and Monta (Talbi), in particular. Every time I am given the opportunity, I try to respond. And I find that each time, I took my chance,” said Saturday evening Julien Laporte who had perhaps earned his place in the starting lineup in Bastia thanks to his good outing against Ruffiac (Regional 2) where he had scored a double in the Coupe de France.
In any case, he displayed the desire to shake up the new established order. “It’s the game of competition. We know that we all have to pull ourselves up. That's what I'm trying to do. I think I'm number 3.”
First clean sheet since September
And the one who arrived in Morbihan in 2019 probably has a good card to play because, once the best defense in the championship at the start of the year (four goals conceded during the first seven days), FC Lorient did not display the same guaranteed in recent weeks (eleven conceded in six matches between the 8th day and the 13th)!
But in Bastia (0-0), the FCL nets did not shake despite the constant threat at least until the exclusion of Janneh (32') (and then regularly in the form of counterattacks from the very leggy Tramoni and its partners).
This is the first “clean sheet” for Merlus since the reception in Ajaccio (3-0, September 27). And the quality of the performance of the central hinge Laporte-Talbi (within a four-man defense) is certainly no stranger to this. “With Monta (Talbi), we know each other with our eyes closed. It's been a while since the two of us were involved for various reasons, last year,” recalled the Auvergnat to the 138 matches in the FC Lorient jersey.
Concentration, regularity and rigor, desired strengths
His ankle injury has not caused him to plunge psychologically despite poor playing time (1 minute against Dunkirk then 90 against Clermont) since he was operational (early October). After two months out of the group, “all alone working. I know what I went through. And the strength it gave me too. It brings a lot of frustration because I was keen to bounce back after the failure of last season. But, I have always built my career on my mind. »
In any case, the central defender from Cantal displays strong points – concentration, rigor and consistency – which Olivier Pantaloni has often pointed out as his team's shortcomings in recent weeks. In Corsica, Julien Laporte has undoubtedly – if not regained a starting place – at least scored points in this sense…
France
