Continue to drive the Chamois crazy so as not to pass for donkeys. The formula is trivial, but the stakes are high for AJA (5th, 39 points) who travel to the field of Niort (7th, 35 points) this Saturday (7 p.m., 25th day L2). After four games in a row without winning and a final disappointing draw at home against the Nancy red lantern (1-1, 24th match L2), the Icaunais are at a turning point against a competitor from the Top 5. Admittedly, Auxerre will remain among the first five no matter what, also having this mattress in advance of four units on the 6th, Le Havre, which moves to the leader Toulouse on Monday. But the Ajaist club must bounce back to get out of its current bad patch, which has been going on since early November (two wins in nine games). For that, it will be necessary to keep a good old habit taken recently: to beat the Poitevins, and if possible in large widths.
The challenge: finally taste victory again by continuing the good series against the Niortais
Because the numbers make you dizzy. AJA remains undefeated against Niort in eight matches. Better, during the last three clashes, the Auxerrois have won cleanly and flawlessly: 6-0 and 4-0 last season, 4-0 in the first leg of the current exercise. That’s a cumulative score of 14-0! Inevitably, here is an opponent that coach Jean-Marc Furlan appreciates: “In the first leg, we won, but I liked this team a lot. Unlike some other teams, they take a lot of risks, and are very daring. I loved it. At home, they are very successful . We’re going to have to be very competent. It’s a very solid, very dynamic, young team, and it’s going to be a very important challenge for us!” Because even if AJA can boast of being the pet peeve of Niort, Sébastien Desabre’s team is not to be taken lightly: it is the only one in the championship, with Caen, to have managed to beat the Toulouse leader (2-1, 17th day L2)! It also disposed of the runner-up, Paris FC, with a wide score, still at home (4-1, 10th day L2).
But despite everything, the open game proposed by the Poitevins can perfectly suit the Ajaist plan insists the midfielder / defender from Auxerre Alexandre Coeff: “Perhaps it’s a team that will suit us better because they are players. We have just had four or five matches against teams that were all playing behind, grouped together. Of course, that’s what we hate. the most. There, it could be a little more animated match. In any case, we prefer to play these teams, where it offers real football. They will be revengeful compared to their last defeat in Grenoble. Now , we will above all focus on pleasure: to have fun, to please our supporters because generally, that is what brings points. An Alexandre Coeff who wishes not to return empty-handed from Deux-Sèvres, in more ways than one. “I hope we can have a little party on the bus on the way back, because I turn 30 on Sunday. We can see very well!
The icaunais group: Bernard in the group, Furlan still upset by the lack of depth
We take almost the same ones, and we start again! Compared to the group summoned against Nancy, only one element changes: the goalkeeper number Théo De Percin returns as number 2 and it is Sonny Brass who pays the price. Otherwise, defender and vice-captain Quentin Bernard, injured in the knee at the start of the game against the Nancy, is well on the trip, declared fit by the icaunais coach. A group whose lack of depth Jean-Marc Furlan pointed out again insistently in the pre-match press conference when he was again questioned about the current bad pass. “The problem is mainly in relation to the competition, the width and thickness of the squad. When we went to Toulouse, Montanier (the TFC coach) said to me: ‘I have 23 players very high level.’ He would have slapped me, it was the same (laughs). You see, for example, today (Friday) in training, out of 20 players, I had seven youngsters. And so compared to some teams competitors, we don’t have a very, very wide range of staff. It’s also linked in fact that over a season, after a while, if you don’t have a turnover, you always have one or two months, because of injuries and minor ailments, which make you find yourself in difficult times. “
And to continue:It’s just a question of the fluidity of the game, of physical conditions. And there are two, three, four leaders who allowed us to cross the levels and who are less well now. Any supporter will tell you: ‘Change the players, put young people!’ But me, I am in the field, every day, four or five hours with them. And you don’t have the same prospects for the future!” A refrain that is more and more heard from the coach lately. And this while only Gautier Lloris and Ousoumane Camara are unavailable, and the group, wanted to be tightened by the coach himself, seems complete, with the luxury of doing without young people Iyad Mohamed, Kévin Danois, Nicolas Mercier and Mohamed. Ben Fredj (the last three mentioned under professional contract), made available to the reserve. A workforce reinforced this season by the significant arrivals of Gaëtan Charbonnier, Gaëtan Perrin, Alexis Trouillet (on loan from Nice) and Théo Pellenard, despite the restrictions of the DNCG. A group largely capable of doing better at the moment, and which, in any case, will have to finish the season in the highest possible place. To have no regrets.
The opponent: Niortais not far from the Top 5 and who have the answer
After a good series of invincibility of six matches (four wins including three in a row, two draws), the Niortais have been marking time since the beginning of February. They who had the opportunity to overtake the Icaunais in the standings lost their last two meetings, in Amiens last Saturday (3-1, 24th day L2) and in Grenoble on Tuesday (1-0, 22nd day L2 late). The Chamois club, rather comfortable in defense (25 pawns conceded and ten clean sheets this season for goalkeeper Quentin Braat), does not necessarily seem exceptional in the opposing area in view of the statistics in attack (28 goals scored). But on the offensive front, there will still be a lot of people to watch closely on the Niort side.
First, the twirling right winger Bilal Boutobba, five goals, six assists and 54 successful dribbles, the highest total in L2. Then, the efficient Ibrahim Sissoko; six goals and an assist in 14 matches for the one who did not play last season due to a knee injury and author of 15 goals in 24 matches during the 2019/2020 financial year. Then, the revelation at the post of leader, Moataz Zemzemi, two goals, three assists and only player to have exceeded the 14 km traveled in a match – even two – this season. And then there is Yanis Merdji, the former Auxerrois (2018/2020) who seems to flourish in his role as a left winger sometimes starting, sometimes replacing (three goals in his last seven matches, 22 games played including 12 aligned in the starting 11). The icaunaise rearguard will have a job!