Here we go again for the GF38 footballers! The Grenoble residents put on their crampons this Saturday July 30, direction Le Havre, for the first match of the Ligue 2 BKT 2022/2033 season. After a rather successful summer preparation (only 1 defeat in 5 games), the blues and whites therefore hope to start their season well in Normandy.
“We are always eager, when we are a competitor, to find the official competition. The preparation was long, the matches interesting but the only truth is the championship“, explains Grenoble coach Vincent Hognon at a press conference. As for their opponent on this first day, the coach is wary: “It is a team of a remarkable level – which did not prevent us from going to win there last year – which has experienced departures but also with players who have remained“.
“We are ready, a collective is born”
During the off-season, the GF38 saw several recruits strengthen the workforce, particularly in attack, with the arrival of Pape Meïssa Ba, top scorer in the National Championship last year with Red Star. The summer was therefore rather prolific, with 3 wins (against Auxerre, Clermont and Red Star), 1 draw (against Saint-Etienne) and only one defeat (against Villefranche). “Automatisms were created, defensively we showed a lot of solidity, we didn’t concede many goals and we didn’t concede many chances either.“, greets the goalkeeper and captain Brice Maubieu. “We are ready, we prepared very well with some good friendlies, I thought we were pretty sharp. And then a collective was born from our difficult past season“, recognizes the captain of the GF38. “If we have a good start to the season, I think we can hope for something different from last year, but first we have to start well in Le Havre, gain confidence“.
For his part, the coach does not give a quantified objective for the coming season: “The objective is clear in my opinion: it is to do better than last season. We are a growing club, but we still have a small budget. Last season was very difficult, even if in the return phase we are 13th and fifth in defense. So we must not lack humility“, insists Vincent Hognon. “It doesn’t stop us from wanting to win every game, but we have to stay humble“.
– Theo Hetsch
On the program: Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux, Metz… “They deserve to be in Ligue 2”
Stay humble, especially in a championship that promises to be very dense, with several historic clubs (Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux in particular) descended from Ligue 1 last year. But don’t tell coach Vincent Hognon that he doesn’t play in the same league…”They are in the place they deserved given their season last year. Ajaccio is in its place in the first division because they had a very good season and they have gone up. If Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux are there, it’s because they deserve to be in Ligue 2. However, I really like these clubs, they are historic, but sportingly, they missed their season and they went down“, insists the blue and white coach. “Now, it’s always fun to play in historically first division stadiums, with great atmospheres like in Saint-Etienne. Now, that doesn’t change the fact that we will really want to beat them, like everyone else“.
Especially since this season, the last four of the Ligue 2 championship will go down to National. This is the consequence of the ongoing reform of the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 championships, which will gradually move to leagues of 18 teams.
Le Havre-Grenoble, kick-off at 7 p.m. at the Océane stadium.