AS Saint-Etienne : The Girondins are treading water, in the classification as in the game | ASSE News

Nigerian winger Kalu was one of the few Bordeaux residents to create danger through his breakthroughs in the Stéphane camp. – JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP

  • The Bordeaux Girondins got a draw at Geoffroy-Guichard against ASSE (1-1) this Sunday.
  • The Bordelais opened the scoring but are doing quite well, after a very average performance.
  • Bordeaux remains in the soft stomach, in 12th place in the ranking.

At the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium (Saint-Etienne),

Some figures speak volumes. Until Josh Maja’s scoreline opened in the 65th minute, the Bordeaux Girondins had not taken a shot. A good summary of the lack of offensive ambition of Paulo Sousa’s men, whose performance was sometimes of a worrying technical level, this Sunday at Geoffroy-Guichard.

By drawing a draw on the lawn of ASSE (1-1), the Bordeaux have certainly limited the breakage, stagnating in the soft belly, to 12th place in the ranking. But never did Laurent Koscielny’s partners seem able to tip the game, even 11 to 10 for 15 minutes after the expulsion of Stéphanois Camara. On the contrary, the point of a draw even seems rather well paid.

Lack of pressing and mobility of the whole team

Deprived in particular of Basic, Pablo, De Préville and Briand, Paulo Sousa had aligned a 4-2-3-1 with a trio Adli-Oudin-Kalu in support of Josh Maja, only leading. Not bad on paper but in fact, the quartet very rarely managed to combine in the Saint-Etienne camp, the fault of a lack of pressing and mobility of the whole team and a pair Otavio-Aït-Bennasser dominated in the interplay.

If Yacine Adli was able to admire his technical quality intermittently at the start of the match, he then gradually lowered his foot. As for Rémy Oudin, he was almost transparent throughout the game, confirming his adjustment difficulties. Before the score opened, only Kalu had brought a little bit of danger thanks to his breakthroughs on both wings.

“It still pisses me off to always take a goal in the minutes after scoring one,” says Benito.

However, the Girondins could have achieved the perfect heist. It was they who hit the first with an opportunistic goal from the young Anglo-Nigerian striker Josh Maja, hitherto weaned from balloons, who took advantage of a failed control of Kolodziejczak to deceive Moulin (1-0, 65th) . But the Bordelais did not manage to keep their advantage for very long, being surprised by the diving head of Bouanga three minutes later (1-1, 68th).

An equalization that particularly annoyed Loris Benito. “It’s boring to always have to tell you the same thing,” said the Swiss side in the mixed zone. It starts to get drunk to take a goal within 10-15 minutes after scoring one. To make matters worse, Bordeaux did not even manage to take advantage of its numerical superiority in the last quarter of an hour.

The Girondins passed near the correctional

Eui-jo Hwang, freshly entered the game, tried to shake up the defense of Saint-Etienne several times. But it was the Girondins who came close to the correctional in extra time with a contentious action and a nudge from Mexer on Fofana, in their own area, which could perhaps have been worth a penalty.

Annoyed by the non-match of his players, Paulo Sousa did not spare them at a press conference. “Our intensity was very low and mobility almost non-existent. We lost single balls, practically without any adverse pressure, which allowed ASSE to create opportunities, “pointed out the Portuguese coach, before tackling some of his players.

“This is our level,” concludes Paulo Sousa

“I don’t understand that players who have less playing time don’t take the opportunity to show us that they have to play more. This is how it is, this is our level, “he concluded, almost fatalistic.

Two weeks after a rather encouraging match, despite the defeat (4-3), on the lawn of PSG, the Girondins are back in their tracks. Nothing dramatic from an accounting point of view, but without seriously raising their level of play, the Bordelais will find it very difficult to join the fight for European places and are likely to experience an end of season without flavor.