Defeated in Paris this Sunday (3-1), OL probably said goodbye to their hopes of a comeback half an hour from the end, when Pierre Sage decided to release his attacking trio Ernest Nuamah – Georges Mikautadze – Rayan Cherki to do post for post with the entries of Saïd Benrahma – Alexandre Lacazette – Malick Fofana. Trailing by the score, the Lyon coach, who presented himself at the Parc des Princes with a resolutely offensive team last April and who had lost this bet in a big way, could have wanted to remove a midfielder to try everything for all over the last 30 minutes. Especially since Jordan Veretout did not deliver his best performance and Cherki was annoying the Parisian defense. His desire to opt for a certain tactical consistency did not pay off, and he was forced to try something ten minutes from the end by bringing in Duje Ćaleta-Car in place of Veretout and switching to 3-4 -3. Here again a losing choice, as the Croatian defender struggled during his few minutes on the field.
Forced bet, failed bet
“It’s a bias, if it works we say to ourselves that it’s interesting, if it doesn’t work, we say to ourselves that it’s a mistake. Tonight, maybe it's a mistake.”he explained at a press conference about this final change. Summarizing the Lyon defeat to Pierre Sage's coaching error is obviously an exaggeration, and nothing says that if he had done otherwise, his team would have come back to score. Often praised for the quality of his entrants, and therefore his changes, the French technician this time missed his shot and did not do much to try to thwart the machinery marked Luis Enrique, impeccably oiled on his lawn.
Let's not take away from César what OL owes to César, since the return to form of Les Gones and the beautiful game produced over the last few weeks bear the seal of Pierre Sage, whose group clearly adheres to the ideas and discourse . Excellent against Eintracht Frankfurt this Thursday in the Europa League (3-2), Lyon still shuddered at the end of the game, with the entry of the unleashed Omar Marmoush, but also surely destabilized by a triple change ten minutes from time by Pierre Sage.
This setback also highlights OL's difficulty in winning against the big players in the championship and their direct competitors. The Lyonnais only took 6 points against the top 8, having only beaten OGC Nice. For a long time, Les Gones were known for making hits during important meetings, but losing points against more modest teams. This season, it’s quite the opposite. Is there a glass ceiling between Rhône and Saône when it comes to big cars? Last year, Pierre Sage still beat OM, LOSC, Monaco, Brest and Nice, with the regularly sharp entries of Fofana and Cherki. But the momentum of this period and the often crazy scenarios of these matches could put into perspective his coaching talents during the game and the true capacity of this OL to transcend themselves. Against the Entente Feignies-Aulnoye next Saturday in the Coupe de France, we must not tremble!
Pierre Sage: “Not the usual defensive principles…”
