At a time when Ligue 1 wants to show off to sell its TV rights, the figure is a stain. Only 13 goals were scored this weekend during the nine matches of the 11th day, studded with three 0-0s (Lorient – Lens, OM – Lille, Strasbourg – Clermont). Certainly, our “League of Talents” went from 20 to 18 clubs this summer. But in a championship whose offensive renewal was rightly highlighted, with three previous seasons with more than 1,000 goals, this shortage goes back to the mid-2010s, since it is the lowest total since the 16th part of the 2015 season – 2016 (13 goals too, but in 10 matches).
To get worse, you have to get into a DeLorean, with the on-board computer programmed for April 14 and 15, 2007. Jacques Chirac is experiencing the epilogue of his stay at the Elysée, one week before the first round of the election presidential election dominated by the tense duel between Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal. In the musical department, the Tokio Hotel group, at the origin of a short-lived return to favor of German in LV2 in colleges, is preparing to ignite the Zénith de Paris. Another era, we tell you. On the other hand, in the French elite football stadiums, it is dead calm. Eight small goals were only scored on the 32nd day of this 2006-2007 season.
Saturday 14, in particular, was as dry as a summer in Perpignan: six 0-0s out of eight matches, and two 2-0 victories. From the very void and goalless duel for the maintenance between the Troyes of Ronan Le Crom and the Nancy of Damien Grégorini, the live attendant of lequipe.fr retains a “dismaying match of technical poverty, and without commitment”. A priori luckier, his colleague assigned to LOSC-Sochaux sees two achievements, thanks to Nicolas Fauvergue and Kevin Mirallas. However, he describes “a meeting lacking in opportunities and very poor in terms of play”.
The Toulouse Stadium, a rare center of joy
Only the 22,404 TFC supporters gathered at the Stadium were jubilant at the success of their favorites over Auxerre, with achievements by Achille Emana and Fodé Mansaré, which lifted the Violets to second place in L1. The day after, The Team title: “Toulouse and Lille escape poverty”. “Whatever the period, the AJA fields an organized team,” testifies Elie Baup, the Toulouse coach at the time, who remembers “a little” of this match.
“At the time, a lot of teams tried to play low, wait for the technical foul. We finished the season third. There was a desire to project forward, with Mansaré, full-backs like Ebondo or Emana in the middle. We tried to bring play into the opposing 30 meters and finish the actions. But we also played matches where we defended a lot, like against Lyon, a dominant team. »
The information may seem incredible to our youngest readers, but at this time, OL were preparing to collect the sixth of their seven French championship titles in a row. He got even closer on Sunday evening, with a painful success over Sedan (1-0) illuminated by the first goal in L1, on a beautiful volley, from Hatem Ben Arfa, 20 years old and a huge hope who has not yet given up on football. French.
A little earlier, Nice dominated Saint-Etienne, after the most prolific match of this grim weekend (2-1). Author of a double (including a penalty) to respond to Saint-Etienne’s opener by Lamine Diatta, David Bellion accounts for a quarter of the achievements recorded during this historic day.
“I remember my header on the first goal,” replays the current creative director and “brand manager” of Red Star (leader of the National), among other activities. The ball [donné par Florent Balmont] was coming from one side, and I had to extend myself and place the ball on the other side, a bit like Lionel Messi in the Champions League final [en 2009, contre Manchester United]. I really liked this goal, even if it wasn’t my best. More generally, I really liked that time, we had a great team. »
“A very closed championship at the time”
The former Riviera striker, who then moved to Bordeaux, admits that he no longer watches today’s L1 too much. But he obviously remembers “a very closed championship at the time”. “I played in England [West Ham, Manchester United et Sunderland], and I watched how Spain plays, but the two most difficult championships were Italy and France. Our football was very disciplined, very hard. Today, it’s very young in L1. At the time, we were more in the vice, with experienced defenders. I remember that it was quite violent in terms of physical load and perhaps less sanitized than today with VAR. »
Bellion then plays in a team where, if the goalkeeper is a kid named Hugo Lloris, the defense has a lot more hair on its feet with captain “Pancho” Abardonado, and the two Cédrics, Varrault and Kanté. Not to mention the very rough Cyril Rool, absent against the Greens. All that’s missing is old Gandalf and his mantra “You shall not pass” to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the moment, not really to Jean-Claude Darcheville’s taste.
Darcheville “pity the spectators”
The Bordeaux striker at the time lets himself go in an interview with Parisian, collected after the 0-0 at home against the Paris of Mulumbu, Clément and Frau, then fighting to maintain. “More and more teams are building their tactics not to score but to prevent the opponent from scoring a goal! In this regard, we are very strong. »
“I pity the spectators,” he adds. Don’t you think I would prefer to go 3-3 against PSG rather than a 0-0 which annoys everyone? People who pay get to see something other than tight defensive plays. Yesterday [le samedi 14 avril], we were whistled at. It’s normal. It’s really a question of the general state of mind in French football. Abroad, it’s all about the attack. Here it’s all about defense. As a striker it’s frustrating, but it’s the reality. »
Sixteen and a half years later, Elie Baup bears witness to the evolution of French football, beyond the hiccups of the past weekend. “Today, the game is a little more open, it must be admitted,” observes the 1999 French champion with the Girondins. There was an awareness that football was a spectacle, that we had to score goals. There are fewer low blocks. And the transitions with the long game, it’s a little out of people’s heads. »
Many have forgotten that that season, Pauleta was crowned top scorer in Ligue 1 with 15 goals, the worst total for a “pichichi” in France. In 2022-2023, the PSG goleador would have finished 11th tied with Gaëtan Laborde and Amine Gouiri, far from his successor Kylian Mbappé (29). It was better before, are you sure?