AS Saint-Etienne can no longer do it. By falling this afternoon in the Cauldron against Montpellier (0-1), the Greens followed with a fifth consecutive defeat in Ligue 1. A first since 2008 for the Saint-Etienne club (seven consecutive defeats). Worse still, Claude Puel’s men have not framed the slightest strike for two games … Summarizing this zone of turbulence to a simple offensive shortage would prove to be reductive. Because for several weeks, ASSE has had to deal with certain factors that do not help its sporting situation.
If the departure of Wesley Fofana was a great operation on the economic plan, it caused collateral damage on the ground. At the same time, Claude Puel had to better understand the multiple physical problems of his players. We obviously think of Yvann Maçon, beaming before his serious injury, but also of Retsos, Debuchy, Moukoudi, Trauco or even Nordin. Admittedly, the Stéphanois technician was able to count on the returns of Gabriel Silva, Charles Abi and Timothée Kolodziejczak, but it was insufficient however to reverse the trend and regain a certain serenity in the game. Because the Greens are sorely lacking in insurance, element which was their strength in the past.
Claude Puel points to a lack of confidence
” Its a question of confidence. Confidence touches both the defensive and offensive realms today. We can give more, I’m sure. The adversary often takes advantage of our situation. We lack confidence in front of goal, we are less fluid in the game and when we get situations, we rush. We have possibilities to come back to the game, but situations do not lead to chances. This group needs trust ”, thus decrypts the former manager of Leicester a few minutes after the defeat against the MHSC.
A shouting lack of confidence as a much anticipated derby looms against Olympique Lyonnais next Sunday. “The derby remains something separate, we are going to prepare and put our hearts back to work as it should. We must remain united. “ Because as the saying goes, a derby cannot be played, it is won …