After a great start to the season, AS Saint-Etienne is no longer able to do so. The Greens lost again to Nice last weekend in Ligue 1.
Difficult to follow AS Saint-Etienne at the start of the season. Attractive and convincing during the first days of Ligue 1, Saint-Etienne players are now experiencing great difficulties. Claude Puel lost Wesley Fofana and was unable to strengthen his attack after M’Baye Niang’s abortive transfer. Collectively, the Greens also seem to be losing ground. What brings back bad memories, because last season, AS Saint-Etienne finished 17th in Ligue 1. For Denis Balbir, no need to panic.
“We’re not going to start talking about maintenance”
In a column for But Football Club, the reporter tempered things. “With the departure of Fofana and the poor form of some, there are a lot of things to settle. The technical staff are clear about the problems. The road will be difficult. It will be long. Those who caught fire after four days come back down to earth. However, we must not sink into the opposite excess of catastrophism. We’re not going to start talking about maintenance. Let Claude Puel work. Claude Puel cannot count on a bloated workforce. Against a big piece like Nice, it was already tricky even in full. Obviously, it is even more complicated when you play with a Gambardella bis team against a Ligue 1 team. But I remain convinced that the General Manager of the Greens is best placed to find solutions in this period “, said Denis Balbir, who knows Claude Puel is the right man for the Greens to lift their heads.