With this sometimes disarming naturalness, Lucien Favre is not the type to sidestep questions or disguise his opinions. Without jargon, but with an idea in mind, the Swiss technician put his attacking trio aligned in Toulouse on the grill on Friday. Gouiri – Delort – Stengs, the three men chosen by Favre to animate his attacking trio did not convince. “Delort needs to move a lot more, stand out a lot more in this system. Of course I saw that it wasn’t…well, he knows, we both talk about it. He also lacked support from the two midfielders.”
Wingers who don’t fly high
A center forward too isolated, and wingers who do not have the profile of the position. “Gouiri has been making progress lately in terms of technique and shooting, but I think he would be more effective in the middle. On the side you need speed, power, percussion.“Qualities which are therefore not the main ones of number 11 Nice. Nor of number 22 Calvin Stengs, established on the right in Haute-Garonne. “Calvin is more of a 4-4-2 midfielder than a winger. He prefers to play inside where he receives more balls than a true winger. In this 4-3-3 system he can’t play in the heart of the game in 8 so I put him aside. He hit the bar in Toulouse, gave a good ball to Gouiri. It was not uninteresting.“
Hard to find a definitive system when you don’t have everyone
Not uninteresting but not convincing, we understand. Except that the three men could start together again this Sunday against Strasbourg, for want of anything better. “It’s difficult to find a definitive system because we don’t have everyone yet. It’s a bit annoying,“regrets Favre, who was hoping to welcome Ghanaian left winger Francis Amuzu this week. But the Anderlecht player seems finally on his way to staying at Anderlecht.”It was on track for him to come but today I don’t know. It’s the transfer window. Players agree to come and then they receive another offer.“
The offensive tracks are narrowing
Amuzu who is moving away, Thuram who is snubbing the Gym, Mudryk who prefers to stay in Ukraine, the doors are closing one after the other on the Aiglons’ noses. There are two weeks left before the end of the transfer window to bring the offensive reinforcements expected by Lucien Favre. Who does not panic. “You know when I arrived in 2016 it was already like that. We were waiting for the recruits and all of a sudden we took three players in the last week (Dante, Belhanda and Balotelli) and that made the difference.“Three players who this time will have to fill the gap on the left side of defense and therefore in attack. In the meantime, the Swiss could launch a hard-hitting Brahimi and decisive passer in Toulouse after his entry. Or the young Rares Ilie, also interesting in the use of the ball, but who does not look like the robot portrait of the typical winger drawn up by Lucien Favre.
Bulka present against Strasbourg, Schneiderlin and Boudaoui absent
To face Strasbourg on Sunday at the Allianz Riviera, Lucien Favre has summoned a group of 21 players including Marcin Bulka, who was hit in the back this week. The Pole should nevertheless give up his place in goal to Kasper Schmeichel, for his first in red and black. On the other hand, no Morgan Schneiderlin (pushed towards the exit) nor Hicham Boudaoui (injured in the back). The Aiglons can count on a good turnout on Sunday for their reunion with the Allianz Riviera. Despite the suspension of the first ring of the Popular South, after the controversial song about Emiliano Sala at the end of last season, between 20,000 and 25,000 spectators are expected. The club also announced that it had already beaten the number of subscribers with more than 14,000 Rouge et Noir supporters who took their card for the season, against 13,500 last year.