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“Saturday night, against OM, ASSE fell on stronger than it at the Vélodrome (1-3). Saturday, Marseille still had a few moments of weakness and Sainté almost took advantage. We can regret the missed opportunities: the balls of 2-2, the opportunity of Bouanga from the kick-off even if Steve Mandanda is not the first comer … We always come to the same point: there is a real lack of realism in both surfaces. Defensively, ASSE rules it on certain matches. Not in Marseille where we saw errors on Marseille goals. Offensively, it’s a constant: it lacks a realistic scorer in front. We are going around in circles in terms of problems and solutions on the part of the Greens.
“The team is not necessarily unbalanced but …”
Saturday evening, I had the same impression as Claude Puel. I was at the stadium and I had the feeling to see a team timid by the atmosphere, more feverish than usual on its young players. We have not seen a player like Lucas Gourna-Douath in the day we know him … In this kind of meeting, it is obvious that the team lacks experience. That will be the whole debate this season. Perhaps a better mix of youth and experience is needed. After that, the experience is expensive in terms of salary and transfer. It is always the same dilemma for a Saint who does not have the means.
Yes, Saint-Etienne has a few executives such as Wahbi Khazri, Denis Bouanga or Romain Hamouma who still have the bottle but in the construction of actions, it is still laborious when the level rises as was the case in Marseilles. Experienced players who evolve in offensive positions are obliged to compensate for certain shortcomings. As they disperse, they lose their strength and lucidity in placement. At the Vélodrome, it was even more true for Khazri, who we saw winning, picking up the balloons, tackling, making mistakes … The team is not necessarily unbalanced but in this kind of poster, it is a little messy and it pays off on the overall copy.
Even if we are not yet worried, there is a delay which is becoming worrying in terms of points. After four days of L1, the Greens have still not won. In view of the calendar, we knew that August would be difficult with the outgoing champion, the trip to Marseille, to Lens but it lacks a victory and two points on the table for ASSE to be more serene. The inaugural draw against Lorient may leave some regrets because the Hakes were within reach of the Greens. I hope that the team will not start to gamble because other big games await Saint-Etienne after the truce.
“Sainté has an urgent need to seek his first victory”
I am naturally optimistic and I want to believe that ASSE – after what it experienced last year in terms of joy, defeats, fear and fears – has already passed this learning and will not be on the razor’s edge. I dare to hope that things are assimilated and that we will not fall back into the pit of feverishness and a difficult race to maintain. After that, we must not go into the opposite excess and tell ourselves that because we got away with it last season, everything will go like clockwork. Sainté urgently needs to get his first victory. Lille and Marseille were not in the same court as the Greens in this championship but the next two will be (Montpellier, Bordeaux) and there it will be necessary to take the points.
There is a little more than 24 hours of Mercato and I do not see the Greens recruiting. Unless I find a loan in the last hours of the Mercato as was the case for Anthony Modeste in January, I do not see much … Unless there are tracks of which nobody really knows the content. It would be good and surprising news, but I think there will be no one there. I hope I am so wrong … “
The ASSE chronicle by Denis Balbir
Present at the Velodrome on Saturday, Denis Balbir returned to ASSE’s defeat against OM (1-3). A logical defeat but which does not worry him more than that despite an insufficient balance sheet after 4 days. It also evokes the Mercato.
