Ligue 1 -2009-2010

This year might be interesting - for once- because the big clubs haven't sold their best players like they did so many times in the past. Not only they have kept their key players but they have strengthen their teams with quality players. Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux

Here were the main transfers:

Lyon

Players bought

Ederson Honorato (Brazilian), 22 years old, played well for Nice. Have my question marks for him.

Lloris Hugo (Nice) - decent young goalkeeper who was supposed to sign for either Barcelona or Milan but changed his mind at the last moment.

Makoun Jean (Cameroon)- a good CDM, in the mold of an Essien but not as attacking.

Mensah John. The Guinean rock that will form with Cris a very good defensive block.

Pjanic Miralem. The new Pires according to some. He's only 18 years, but he seems like a very promising player. Will become world class for sure.

Players sold

Coupet (Atletico)

Ben Arfa (Marseille)


Marseille

Players bought

Hilton (solid Brazilian Defender)

Erbate El-Amin . Know fock all about him.

Ben Arfa

Kone, from Ivory Cost (scored 14 goals last year for Nice)

Players sold

Nasri (Arsenal)


Bordeaux

Players bought

Gouffran (France under -21), was on Wenger's list

Gourcuff (on loan from Milan)

Placente (Don't know much about him, played for Leverkussen

Players sold

Micoud (end of career)


P.S.G


Players bought

Makelele (Chelsea)

Guily (Roma)

Sessegnon (Nancy)

Hoarau (scored 28 goals in league 2)

Players sold

Diane (Al Rayyan)

N'Gog (Liverpool)

Pauleta (end of career)

Mendy (Hull City)

Digard (Middlesbrough)

P.S.G are now targeting Kezman or Saha


Meanwhile Klasnic signed for Nantes from Bremen who undergone a kidney transplant operation last year.


Here's my prediction

1 Lyon
2 Marseille
3 Bordeaux
4 St Etienne
5 Lille
6 Rennes
7 Paris

Has Micoud retired?

John Mensah - he's a clever player

He was awful in Italy but looks solid over the last couple of years (he is Ghanaian BTW)

I'm unhappy with Lyon's signing of Ederson - Bodmer will pay a price for his versatility.

They will look to replace Juninho with Ederson:

Bodmer---Makoun

.......Ederson........




Really it should be:

....Makoun......??????....

...........Bodmer............


There are lots of players like Ledesma, alonso, Pirlo and Xavi who are called great passers (quite rightly) because of the range and consistency of their passing.

But if you are ranking players on the ability to see and execute a defence-splitting pass then Bodmer is top 3 in Europe with Totti and Gerrard - he should be given more freedom.

Talking of Ederson - when did you ever go to a game where there were two goals of this quality scored ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqi-TP0Zdis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDGaH8Lwx1Q

they are lovely goals pierre

so how will lyon lineup next year then? the amount of midfielders in the squad would indicate that it will be some sort of 4-5-1 formation

bodmer, delgado, makoun, toulalan, ederson, Juninho, pjanic, keita, govou, kallstrom,

maybe kallstrom will move on, but that seems a ridiculous amount of midfielders

i imagine only Toulalan & Juninho are the only nailed on starters?

Two fantastics goals, particularly the second one. I do remember Valbuena scoring two absolute wondergoals in one game last season, I can't remember the opposition.

I forgot they signed Makoun II, he should be a good signing for them although Toulalan should still be the first choice midfielder for them.

*
I renamed the thread from 'League 1' to 'Ligue 1' as obviously this is the name of the third tier in Englsih football, I hope people don't mind.

Pierre Littbarski wrote:John Mensah - he's a clever player

He was awful in Italy but looks solid over the last couple of years (he is Ghanaian BTW)

I'm unhappy with Lyon's signing of Ederson - Bodmer will pay a price for his versatility.

They will look to replace Juninho with Ederson:

Bodmer---Makoun

.......Ederson........




Really it should be:

....Makoun......??????....

...........Bodmer............


There are lots of players like Ledesma, alonso, Pirlo and Xavi who are called great passers (quite rightly) because of the range and consistency of their passing.

But if you are ranking players on the ability to see and execute a defence-splitting pass then Bodmer is top 3 in Europe with Totti and Gerrard - he should be given more freedom.

Talking of Ederson - when did you ever go to a game where there were two goals of this quality scored ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqi-TP0Zdis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDGaH8Lwx1Q

The second one is Gigliotti not Ederson.

Here's a quite good video on Ederson: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/the-best-of-ederson-honorato-campos/194805141

I think he can become good in the future and replace Juninho. He can score from free kicks and score goals. It will be interesting how Puel will play Bodmer this year. He however said that Bodmer's best position is attacking midfielder so we might see the best of him this year.

I can see Kallstrom leaving us because there are far too many players in this area.

Cesc Soler wrote:Two fantastics goals, particularly the second one. I do remember Valbuena scoring two absolute wondergoals in one game last season, I can't remember the opposition.

I forgot they signed Makoun II, he should be a good signing for them although Toulalan should still be the first choice midfielder for them.

*
I renamed the thread from 'League 1' to 'Ligue 1' as obviously this is the name of the third tier in Englsih football, I hope people don't mind.

Thanks! U did well

that's a nice compilation (the song sounds very familiar too). as you say, he looks like someone who will get a fair few goals from midfield

how do you think Lyon will lineup then?

I think it will look like this:

------------------------Lloris-------------------------
Clerc--------Cris------------Mensha---------Grosso

---------------Makoun-----Toulalan------------------

------------Pjanic----- Juninho ------ Govou--------

------------------Benzema - Fred---------------------

In bold are the players that will be starters.

In fact there are many options with Bodmer, Delgado , Keita

Alive and Kicking wrote:I think he can become good in the future and replace Juninho. He can score from free kicks and score goals. It will be interesting how Puel will play Bodmer this year. He however said that Bodmer's best position is attacking midfielder so we might see the best of him this year.

I can see Kallstrom leaving us because there are far too many players in this area.

Shame he forgot that for the 1st leg v Man U in 2006/2007

It was Perrin last year now it's Puel the ex Lille manager. Puel is lucky because he will have his three ex stars from Lille(Keita, Bodmer, Makoun), and unlike this twat of Perrin he will know how to use them effectively.

A few questions about the Lyon squad this season.

Will Lloris make the step up? He was great for Nice, but he's got to step in Coupet's massiv shoes.

How is Puel going to cope with that plethoric midfield? I'm pretty sure he can assemble an excellent first team: but there's too much depth. Makoun, Ederson and Keita are all going to be regularly on the bench. And that's 60 odd million euros worth of talent!

Who'll play between Boumsong and Mensah? Boumsong's arrival was the reason Squillaci left. Mensah should start, but Boumsong had a good season with Lyon last year.

Is Benzema going to suffer from SSS? Fred is very hit and miss, L'Équipe are saying that Eto'o could come which seems doubtful. Lyon need another striker imo.


In other French news, I don't think a club has ever been pillaged like Le Mans this season. Their manager has gone to lille to replace Puel, Sessegnon, Romaric, De Melo, Matsui, and probably Basa and Gervinho are all gone, all of them first teamers. Next season is going to be very hard for them.

Bordeaux and Marseille (Koné is probably going to be the transfer of the year) are looking very good, and so are Saint Étienne, Maitsui is a brilliant buy. I think Rennes will struggle without Mensah, let's see who they bring in to replace him.

PSG and Lille I can also see having real difficulties.

1 Lyon
2 Marseille
3 Bordeaux (but to get past the first round of the CL)
4 St - Étienne
5 Monaco
6 Nancy
7 Rennes

theflyingfrenchman wrote:A few questions about the Lyon squad this season.

Will Lloris make the step up? He was great for Nice, but he's got to step in Coupet's massiv shoes.

How is Puel going to cope with that plethoric midfield? I'm pretty sure he can assemble an excellent first team: but there's too much depth. Makoun, Ederson and Keita are all going to be regularly on the bench. And that's 60 odd million euros worth of talent!

Who'll play between Boumsong and Mensah? Boumsong's arrival was the reason Squillaci left. Mensah should start, but Boumsong had a good season with Lyon last year.

Is Benzema going to suffer from SSS? Fred is very hit and miss, L'Équipe are saying that Eto'o could come which seems doubtful. Lyon need another striker imo.


In other French news, I don't think a club has ever been pillaged like Le Mans this season. Their manager has gone to lille to replace Puel, Sessegnon, Romaric, De Melo, Matsui, and probably Basa and Gervinho are all gone, all of them first teamers. Next season is going to be very hard for them.

Bordeaux and Marseille (Koné is probably going to be the transfer of the year) are looking very good, and so are Saint Étienne, Maitsui is a brilliant buy. I think Rennes will struggle without Mensah, let's see who they bring in to replace him.

PSG and Lille I can also see having real difficulties.

1 Lyon
2 Marseille
3 Bordeaux (but to get past the first round of the CL)
4 St - Étienne
5 Monaco
6 Nancy
7 Rennes

Hi FFM,

For this year it will be very important for Rennes and Marseille to have a good start because they often struggle in August and after they sack their manager and have a bad run. It will interesting to see how Marseille will do with Gerets for a full year. They better keep Cisse if they want to do well.

Normally Le Mans, Nancy and Lille should struggle because they've lost a lot of players (and their managers), but last year everyone was writing Bordeaux Off and they did a fantastic season.

I expect St Etienne to do well but I have a feeling they will disappoint.

As for Puel, he is going to have some headache preparing his team. I hope he does well and brings Lyon further than the quarter final in the C.L

Today's Fixtures:

Day 1

Saturday
Rennes - Marseille
Le Mans - Lorient
Auxerre - Nantes
Monaco - Paris-SG
Valenciennes - Saint-Etienne
Bordeaux - Caen
Nancy - Lille
Le Havre - Nice
Sochaux - Grenoble

Sunday
Lyon - Toulouse


Very exciting first day lot's of shitty teams, but 5-6 good teams.

Theflyingfrenchman/Alive and Kicking - what's your opinion on Stephane M'Bia? Never looked close enough at him, now I am trying to fix it (hoping to catch him on Olympic Games), but I would be thankful for opinion. Plenty of rumours in recent days about him joining Everton.

I'm sorry I don't know much about him. Yes there are rumors he will join Everton. He personally asked to be transfered but I don't know if Rennes will let him go because the Ligue is starting today and clubs are now reluctant to sell their players. Maybe if Everton's offer is big Rennes might consider it.

Rennes 4 - 4 Marseille

6' Olivier Thomert 1 - 0
12' 1 - 1 Bakari Koné
15' 1 - 2 Hatem Ben Arfa
28' 1 - 3 Mamadou Niang
51' Olivier Thomert 2 - 3
89' Steve Mandanda (og) 3 - 3
90' 3 - 4 Eliot Grandin
90' Bruno Cheyrou 4 - 4


https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6e6ga_resume-rennes-om_sport

Will Lyon have any trouble beating Toulouse today?

Easy game for Lyon 3-0

Makoun (12)
Benzema (58-66)

Clerc was injured so Bodmer played as a defender... again. Good game from Benzema and Juninho.

Pierre Littbarski wrote:Rennes 4 - 4 Marseille

6' Olivier Thomert 1 - 0
12' 1 - 1 Bakari Koné
15' 1 - 2 Hatem Ben Arfa
28' 1 - 3 Mamadou Niang
51' Olivier Thomert 2 - 3
89' Steve Mandanda (og) 3 - 3
90' 3 - 4 Eliot Grandin
90' Bruno Cheyrou 4 - 4


https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6e6ga_resume-rennes-om_sport

Great game from Kone and Ben Arfa but really poor game from the defense Erbati and Hilton. Funny that these four players are the new players. Kone will do very well for Marseille, his partnership with Ben arfa will be a great advantage for Marseille this year.

Looks like Gourcuff is off to a great start:
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1464742/

Lyon's Clerc signed off for long term

Olympique Lyonnais right-back François Clerc will be out of action for "five or six months" after tearing ligaments in his left knee during his side's opening Ligue 1 game on Sunday.

Grim prognosis

Clerc, who was in France's squad for UEFA EURO 2008™, lasted just 27 minutes of the champions' 3-0 win against Toulouse FC. Scans on Monday morning revealed that he had torn ligaments, with the club confirming that "Clerc will be out for the next five or six months". The 25-year-old landed awkwardly after leaping to control a ball on the flank and was replaced by fellow French international Anthony Réveillère. Clerc now looks certain to miss the whole of Lyon's UEFA Champions League group stage campaign as well as France's FIFA World Cup Group 7 qualifiers against Austria, Serbia and Romania.

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=738214.html

Sounds nasty, I'm certainly fearing injuries for my teams paper thin squad at the moment.

Even though Réveillère replaced him in that game, I thought Clerc was only second choice to him last season. Will it hurt Lyon that much?

Well I guess it means they'll play Bodmer there, and their midfield depth will be put to good use. Probably Kallstrom won't leave now.

Clerc is going to be out for around 5 months. Last year Cris and Coupet had similar injuries. Quite unlucky too be honest.
Poor Bodmer. I'm not too sure this change anything with Kallstrom because there are far too many midfielders and some of them will have to be sold.

Just saw recap of today's St.Etienne vs Lyon game. OL won thanks to nice shot from Benzema, but I am in heavy shock seeing Kim Kallstrom as left fullback!!!!. How is this happened?
I am also kind of angry for Moyes for not trying to bring him at Goodison Park, since it looks like Kallstrom as a central midfielder doesn't have any future for french powerhouse.

what a goal from cavanaghi

Messiah wrote:what a goal from cavanaghi

There were some other great goals too, it's worth to look at highlights of Ligue1 games from this weekend.

Lyon won 3-2 yesterday with a 90th min winner from Benzema, after being 2-0 down

That's why they're champions

Very lucky penalty at the last minute of the game, a Nice player hardly touched the ball with his hand in the penalty area. Nice played quite well.

Did anyone else see Bordeaux's equaliser against Marseille. Brilliant team goal.

Gourcuff get's a for his recent performances as well.