AS Saint-Etienne : ASSE / The eye of Denis Balbir: “A small derby with a small result” | ASSE News

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“Many say that this last OL – ASSE (1-0) was one of the worst of the 21st century. It is true that he was not transcendent… For me, it was a small derby with a small result. At the same time, given the state of the two teams and the absence of an audience, it was quite clear that we were not going to see great football. For long weeks, Lyon has been in difficulty in the game and Saint-Etienne in accounting difficulty (not to say in danger). The derbies that ended in 3-2 or 4-3, the exploits of Janot, the free kicks of Juninho and the goals of Govou in the money-time, it was another era.

We are in a time when OL and ASSE are struggling. Not for the same reasons or the same goals but they still struggle. Lyon are struggling to regain their shine and return to the top of the table. Saint-Etienne is fighting for its survival. There were all the ingredients for an average match. Personally, I just liked the performance of Paul Bernardoni in the goal of the Greens because, even if Lyon was not transcendent, the note could have been more salty without the three big stops of the doorman from Saint-Etienne.

In this match, ASSE quickly conceded a penalty. While one would have thought that this goal from Moussa Dembélé would transcend or knock out the Greens for the rest of the match, it was not. It was flat. Even if I do not like to stigmatize the performance of a player, I am still embarrassed by the error of Timothée Kolodziejczak. I think that’s still a lot of blunders. Especially for an experienced player who wears the armband. I hope he will make me lie about the end of the season and that he will help save the Greens with great performances and important goals.

“The trip to Angers will condition the rest of the story”

In the race to maintain, the victories of Bordeaux against Strasbourg (4-3) and Clermont against Rennes (2-1) hurt. If we still want to see the glass half full, we can also point out that Troyes, Metz and Lorient also lost. The former Saint-Etienne Fabien Lemoine had a very apt sentence after the defeat of the Hakes: “By looking at the positive, we hide a little from the negative that exists”. I agree with him, but we’re not going to shoot ourselves in the head either by looking in the mirror…

Over the next few weeks, there will be direct confrontations and Saint-Etienne must win them all. Starting with the late match in Angers. Even if we really overuse the word, it will be a real turning point. If ASSE loses on the SCO lawn, it will be very difficult to save themselves. It would really take an incredible series – which Saint-Etienne has never done in a good way – to consider maintaining it. I read that Denis Bouanga, who has just been eliminated from the CAN, absolutely wanted to be on the field for this match. That says it all. The players understood the urgency of the situation well and I really see this Angers – ASSE in the same vein as the trip to Nîmes last year. It will really condition the rest of the story…

“Saint-Etienne must apologize to Beric and repatriate him”

Regarding the end of the Mercato, I saw that ASSE was still waiting for two to three players… including Robert Beric, currently in the waiting room to be an additional striker with the Greens. It was time to act. The arrival of Beric seems important to me – not necessarily to be a starter, captain and expect him to score 2-3 goals per game – but for everything he can bring to the locker room. For me, Saint-Etienne must apologize to Beric and repatriate him. In the situation of the Greens, any small detail can tip the club and Beric can be this detail. Attention, I am not here to say that Robert Beric came to play the pomp in the locker room, to amuse the gallery or to become Pascal Dupraz’s assistant coach, but if he can bring his technique and his vision as a scorer to tip matches…

In any case, what I note in the club’s desire for this end of the Mercato is that we want to accumulate recruits. When it was Claude Puel, we were told that there was no money. Today, we suddenly have good ideas and we pile in the reinforcements… There is a happy medium to be found. I am in favor of the return of Robert Beric and, for the top scorer, I am waiting to see. I especially hope that Sainté will not only take players who are totally out of shape. We don’t really have time to wait for them to be in shape on May 1st. We need players who will perform as quickly as possible. Even if it is not an objective, the Greens to use the Coupe de France as a booster to rev up all these winter reinforcements. A qualification at Bergerac would allow some minds to be aired…”