A place on the podium at the foot of the tree. This is what Sochaux supporters are asking for for Christmas. For this, we must hope for a victory on Tuesday evening at Bonal against Valenciennes at the end of the first leg of the Ligue 2 championship (8:45 p.m.). And for the FCSM, 5th, a possible place in the TOP 3 on condition of beating the Northerners, 17th. A success would above all be the best reward for Tony Mauricio’s teammates, “It would validate our very good start to the season” loose the midfielder of the Yellow and Blue, spared against Nantes in the Coupe de France.
“We do not calculate but we want to end the year well” – Omar Daf
Finishing the year on the podium, obviously the fans of the Yellow and Blue dream of it, would console them especially for the elimination in the Coupe de France against Nantes. For Omar Daf, it would surely be the icing on the log, but this match against Valenciennes is not decisive for the Sochaux coach “We do not calculate, we lost points where we thought we would take, and conversely, we will do everything to win, we focused on recovery and freshness as much as possible before and after the Nantes match, to be in our best form against VA. But this match is not decisive, the season is still long, nonetheless, we want to win to reward the team for all its efforts since the start of the season “. The FCSM coach should re-align his typical team, with the exception of Prévot and Ndour still injured.
Kalulu back, Kitala on the right track and promising young people
In contrast, Aldo Kalulu, preserved against Nantes due to ischios “in fire” dixit Daf after the draw in Bastia, is back against Valenciennes. Gaëtan Weissbeck, substitute without coming into play against the Canaries, will also resume the armband against the Northerners. As for Yann Kitala, his match full of courage and self-sacrifice against FCN, pleased the Sochaux coach “He was responsive, he won a lot of aerial duels, he did us a lot of good by helping our block to go up at times, I’m very happy with his performance, even, and that’s normal, if he he still misses to find the feelings of the striker, but he is coming back little by little “ says Daf. From there to associate it with Kalulu entry? Unlikely, while young people like Mayenda or even Viltard and Faraj leave the group despite their beautiful entries on Saturday “It was a good experience for them against Nantes, it’s good, they took their responsibilities on the shots on goal, but we have to renew these performances over time, and this is the difficulty of learning the high level” warns the Sochaux technician who also wanted to defend Christophe Diedhiou for his missed shot “Everyone took their responsibilities and wanted to shoot, but even the greatest miss it, each with their own style, when it’s done well, we say it’s mastered, and there the Nantes goalkeeper started on the right side, c ‘is like that “. Penalty or not against VA, the FCSM must force its destiny to put three points under its tree!
The Sochaux-Valenciennes match can be seen live and in full on France Bleu Belfort Montbéliard from 8:30 p.m. in the pre-match with comments from Hervé Blanchard from the Bonal stadium (kick-off at 8:45 p.m.)