At OL Park,
This November 11, 2022 will be etched in the history of Olympique Lyonnais for two reasons. For a good half hour, the Bad Gones celebrated their 35th anniversary at the Parc OL with an original concept: four tifos prepared behind a huge red theater curtain and unveiled in turn in front of 57,688 amazed spectators. Then Karim Benzema, the first Ballon d’Or ever formed at the club, appeared on the lawn to present his precious in a demented atmosphere. What a pity that between these two intense sequences, an intruder spoiled the party: football.
OL Groupe’s Achilles’ heel since the last title obtained more than ten years ago (excluding the women’s section of course), on the sidelines of the many successes of OL Vallée, its biggest wave of surfing indoor of Europe, of the three concerts of Ed Sheeran chained in front of 163,706 fans, while waiting for the inauguration for the end of 2023 of the Arena dear to Asvel and Tony Parker, this one was again ruthless on Friday.
Can’t wait for the World Cup in Qatar?
Faced with a general apathy from 11 Lyon comparable to the defeat in Marseille (1-0) five days earlier, we had to pinch ourselves to see that a shot on target had finally taken place in the 78th minute of play. OL finally relied on a generous whistle from Eric Wattellier, in the last moments of the match, to avoid a sixth defeat in fifteen days, thanks to a penalty from Alexandre Lacazette (1-1 , 8th). Laurent Blanc’s players may be 9 points from a hypothetical qualifying place for the Europa League Conference on Sunday evening. What finally make Lyon supporters want to switch to the World Cup in Qatar?
The White effect hoped for in Lyon after the successes in extremis in Montpellier (1-2) and against Losc (1-0) is in any case already no longer relevant, with a balance sheet of 7 points out of 15 very ” Boszien” and no tangible evidence of progress in the game for a month. “The record is not extraordinary, far from it, concedes the former PSG coach. But if we take OL’s five previous matches [avec Peter Bosz], we can say that we are making progress. There is not a good offensive animation. There is so much nervousness in our offensive transmissions that the pass does not arrive at the right time, in the right place. »
Towards “a clean game identity”?
Friends from Lyon, don’t count on Lolo White to give you hope via the next winter transfer window: “I think we need to strengthen this group with a little experience, but I’m almost certain that we’ll do the whole season with 90 % of current workforce. Even the prospect closer than ever (in principle) to seeing John Textor officially in charge of the club from Thursday should not have a rapid influence on the sporting prospects of the seven-time French champion. The only player from Lyon to speak to the press on Friday evening, Anthony Lopes evokes with foresight this umpteenth zone of turbulence for ten years, as a month without Ligue 1 begins for OL.
It’s not with a wave of a magic wand that we’re going to get our heads out of the water. We know where we are fishing, since physically, we are not at the top. You have to recharge your batteries and then come back with a lot of ambition. We will have time to work well, to have a game identity that must be specific to Olympique Lyonnais, to play. The coach has plenty of ideas, but in this time frame, it was too short for him. »
We want to believe it, as the evils have long been deep in this workforce and in the organization chart of the club, as Juninho pointed out on Tuesday on RMC Sport. It is no coincidence that the partners of Alexandre Lacazette have systematically lost against the first six teams in Ligue 1 since the start of the season.
“They really were up to it”
As Karim Benzema recalled for the 37th time that his return as a player to his training club was unthinkable, the only event that brings hope in the medium term on the OL side remains this passion for turns, and even a spectacular increase in attendance, with more than 55,000 spectators against Losc and Nice. “The supporters were very good this evening, agrees Laurent Blanc. They played a hell of a match from the first to the last minute. We have to be like our supporters. »
An observation that is further supported by Anthony Lopes, the most ultra of Lyon players. “Them, they were really up to it, he slips as well. This red veil worthy of a theater for the 35 years of Bad Gones, it was exceptional. When this stadium is in fusion, it is magnificent. “Not leaving at the end of the real spectacle of the evening, namely the lap of honor of KB9, was in itself a performance in view of the poor first period of OL-OGC Nice.