At the beginning of July, in the heat of the improvised press room of Frescaty, Matthieu Udol had warned his people: “The start of the season will be important to gain points quickly and be in the race right away. » But the left side saw the Grenats sink to Rennes (1-5, Sunday) during the first day, and the start of the calendar looks complicated for the promoted (OM today, then Clermont, Reims, Lens, Strasbourg, Toulouse and Nice). “We won’t take a point playing like that”plagued the captain messin, remained on the bench due to an illness which still prevents him from being operational for the second day.
Bölöni still wants one player per line
At Roazhon Park, Laszlo Bölöni’s men lacked everything, notably conceding 29 shots (including 23 in the area). “We still have things to do before playing properly in L1”, recognized the 70-year-old coach. The Bourigeaud-Le Fée-Santamaria trio walked on Danley Jean-Jacques and Kévin N’Doram, two major players in the Lorraine midfield. The defense was very naive, like Koffi Kouao, who suffered against Jérémy Doku. “This defeat can set the record straight. You have to get back to work quickly and realize the requirements of the L1 ”warned the experienced Maxime Colin, while Cheikh Sabaly regretted the “lack of aggressiveness” of the team. “If we don’t put heart, determination, if we don’t want to make contact, we simply can’t exist”recalled Ismaël Traoré in Brittany.
To exist, you also have to recruit. The main recruits are defender Colin, midfielder Jean N’Guessan and two forwards (Simon Elisor, Benjamin Tetteh). “The team is missing a few kilos, especially in attack”regretted Bölöni, who should lose his striker Georges Mikautadze, whose sale was budgeted by his management, and who will not be able to count on winger Ablie Jallow before the international break in September.
The Romanian technician still wishing “one player per line”, the Lorraine club is still looking for an attacking player and is negotiating with IFK Göteborg for the transfer of Swedish central defender Johan Bangsbo (1.91 m, 85 kg). This will not be a luxury for a team “still in the learning phase” (Sabaly) and who must “grow as quickly as possible”according to his coach.