This was Olivier Guégan’s objective before this first trip of the season. Against Grenoble, the coach wanted to maintain the defensive balance found in the draw against Paris FC. And at the same time: create imbalance in the last third of the field, bring more danger to the opposing surface. In the end, the Sochaux coach will have had neither. And the FCSM concedes its first defeat of the season (1-0) this Saturday August 6th.
A Grenoble block too rarely worried
To face a GF38 orphan of many frames (including the central hinge), Olivier Guégan trusted the same eleven lined up a few days earlier during the first day of Ligue 2. Viltard on sentry, Kalulu and Mauricio on the sides, all arranged in 4-3-3. Unlike the previous encounter, the Sochaliens have never been able to impregnate the same pressing, this aggressiveness on the ball carrier. Something to annoy Olivier Guégan at the end of the match.
“It’s more the performance that I judge, beyond the result. Yes it’s only the start of the season, we played on Monday so we had two days less of recovery and it’s not easy with the hot weather. But we can do a lot more in all areas! We have to put a lot more intensity in the duels, especially against teams like Grenoble, very compact blocks”, Olivier Guégan
Without being flamboyant, the GF38 managed to be consistent. An eleven very well in place who attacked in transition. And almost every transition has wreaked havoc on the Sochaux defense. If Bamba scored the only goal on a personal feat in the 32nd minute, the addition could have been much heavier. The Grenoble attackers were clumsy, notably with a missed penalty at the start of the second half.
“Put the church back in the middle of the village”
On the Yellow and Blue side, not much to eat from an offensive point of view. Sissoko failed to stand out, even though he was found a few times in a good position in the Grenoble area. The Sochaliens never gave the impression of being able to speed up the game : too much waste in the transitions and not enough movements between the lines to stretch this opposing block.
One of the rare satisfactions, it is the entrance of the young Mayenda in the second period, which caused a penalty. Aldo Kalulu then missed it. “I don’t think we deserved much betterconcedes Tony Mauricio. We will have to analyze this match and question ourselves.“Olivier Guégan, he warned: the coach expects an immediate reaction from his players next Saturday with the reception of Amiens, in order to “put the church back in the middle of the village.“After this second day of Ligue 2, the Sochaliens are in 15th place in the championship.