At OL Park,
Neither the twelve stitches caused by the attack suffered a week ago in Marseille, nor his alarming record of two points taken out of 15 at the head of OL have touched Fabio Grosso’s sense of humor. Asked this Sunday by his former partner Cris on Prime Video, about the example he hoped to inspire in his players, the Lyon coach slipped in with a smile: “For the moment, the team unfortunately takes the image of my eye.” So is the club’s former left back (from 2007 to 2009), navigating with calm and class an unprecedented crisis in the history of Olympique Lyonnais in the 21st century.
Today’s draw (1-1) conceded against FC Metz (16th) darkens the picture even further: after eleven days (and ten matches played) Lyon is bottom of Ligue 1 with seven points behind the first no. relegated (Lorient) and is now the only club in the five major European championships not to have won a single match this season. We could therefore imagine seeing the turns of supporters already demanding the head of Laurent Blanc’s successor, incapable of establishing the slightest accounting dynamic, nor even in the game, since his arrival almost two months ago.
“I promise you that we will give everything”
However, it was quite the opposite that happened, around ten minutes after the final whistle against Metz. If the players were whistled when they presented themselves facing the north turn, Fabio Grosso immediately received a real Roman triumph. His name was warmly chanted and the Bad Gones capo, very moved, showed his support before giving him the microphone. “Thank you for everything guys, you are truly special. I promise you that we will give everything, and I hope that will be enough,” said the reigning Serie B champion with Frosinone.
The surreal stone crushing of a bus of which he was the main victim, near the Vélodrome stadium, is a major element in explaining this unconditional support from which Fabio Grosso benefited this Sunday. As well as his recognized human qualities, the sincerity of his speech and his attachment to the club. However, the glaring limits displayed by this OL stuck at the bottom of the red zone, with eight goals scored in ten matches, are also theirs. No less than 20 different starters used in five matches, and now a 3-5-2 tested, after the “usual” 4-3-3 and the mysterious 3-6-1 launched in Reims (2-0). Certainly, it is in a 3-5-2, or rather 5-3-2 that Lyon would have presented themselves to Marseille if this match had taken place.
Mama Baldé unhappy again in front of the goal
But maintaining this system with three central defenders (Mata, Diomande and O’Brien) at home against FC Metz, 16th attack in Ligue 1 (eight goals scored in ten days), seemed like a catastrophic idea when the absolute priority is to finally prove dangerous offensively. Especially if it is to do without the rare creative profiles at the kick-off (Cherki, Nuamah and Jeffinho), but rather to rely on a trio of torchbearers (Caqueret, Diawara and Alvero), in support of the essential Alexandre Lacazette and a Mama Baldé at the bottom of the hole since her arrival at OL…
Like his huge missed opportunity, in a duel against Oukidja, from the first minute of play, the former Trojan really did not justify this Sunday this starting status, which was already his during the (no) match at the Vélodrome. If there was one moment when Fabio Grosso left his profile as a smiling man willingly responding to every journalist, it was on the subject of this strange 3-5-2 against Metz: “I cut this question straight away and I hope there won’t be others on this: it’s not a question of system. It is not important if we are three, four, five or six behind, what is important is to occupy the field and the attitude well: we must all be involved.
“It’s up to us to create more movements”
The 2006 world champion simply admitted: “We have not yet found the right solution. It shows that the team is contracted, that it cannot do things it knows how to do. We tried to give everything, but at the moment we can’t do it.” Before him, Maxence Caqueret came, like almost every week, to tell us that the group felt “a lot of frustration and a lack of confidence”. Before looking more specifically at Lyon’s struggles in the game.
There was room to win today. We had the ball most of the time [67 %]but we missed opportunities [quatre tirs cadrés contre cinq pour Metz]. We didn’t know how to hit in good conditions. The problem was the lack of movement. We did not know how to create the right shifts at the right time. On the few occasions when we succeeded, the Messins were in danger. It’s up to us to create more movements and have more dynamism. »
It’s hard not to see a link between this lucid observation and the tactical trials and errors of coach Grosso, coupled with his almost random use of players. Add to that “an incredible save” from Guillaume Dietsch (22 years old, first match in Ligue 1) on Alexandre Lacazette (0-0, 51st), and you have the cocktail of a team for which nothing has smiled so far. And again, the unexpected Skelly Alvero (21 years old, 2.02 m) avoided the worst for the Lyonnais, by equalizing late (1-1, 84th), seven minutes after Ablie Jallow’s cannon shot. “This is the reality today: we are last and we are holding on for the moment,” insists Maxence Caqueret. It is certain that the club does not aspire to maintain its position, I expected to never experience that here. But I don’t think the jersey is an added pressure. »
“No, I don’t feel alone,” assures Fabio Grosso
However, this is the impression that is emerging as the poor performances against direct competitors over the past month (two points taken out of nine at Parc OL against Lorient, Clermont and Metz). Just as the absence of John Textor at Décines this Sunday was a big subject of discussion. Without strong and anchored leadership on a daily basis in Lyon (John Textor is often in Brazil, Santiago Cucci already at the end of his career, and Vincent Ponsot placed at the head of the women’s OL), is Fabio Grosso an abandoned coach, whether either after the incidents in Marseille or when he put himself on the front line by taking the microphone to thank a northern turn in complete disarray in the face of the fall of the seven-time champion of France?
“No, I don’t feel alone,” assures the person concerned. I feel with great responsibility because today there was an extraordinary atmosphere, magnificent supporters for ninety minutes, especially in our situation.” Before concluding, while the question of his fate will inevitably arise quickly given the total absence of sporting dynamics: “We are still missing something. For the moment, we cannot find the solution to win a match. But things can change, even when you don’t know it, in life and in football.” Not sure that this speech reassures supporters who are more than ever engaged in an agonizing race against relegation to Ligue 2.