Only the goal difference prevents the Girondins de Bordeaux from finding themselves in a Ligue 1 play-off position on Monday. With 13 points in 14 league games and a 16th place, he does not miss much to sound the alarm while Vladimir Petkovic, him, still claims time. At this point in the season last year, Jean-Louis Gasset’s Bordeaux had 19 points and two benchmark matches against Rennes (1-0 victory) and Paris Saint-Germain (2-2). Between a crumbly defense, a permanent imbalance but a prolific attack, Should we be alarmed at the start of the Navy and White season?
Worst defense in Ligue 1 …
Even if the former Gironde coach had erected defensive solidity into an absolute paradigm, the comparison with the 2021-2022 vintage hurts, once again. After 14 days, the Girondins de Bordeaux had conceded 15 goals last season against the double (30) this season, under the orders of Vladimir Petkovic. It’s the worst record since the 1959-1960 season (49 goals conceded). That season, the Marines and Whites had finished the red lantern. The historical statistics are as inglorious as the current ones: Bordeaux at the worst defense in Ligue 1 (30 goals conceded, ex-aecquo with Metz) and it is the team that concedes the most shots on target (77 in 14 games).
Adept of a system with three central defenders, Vladimir Petkovic’s hesitations are also due to repeated injuries in his hinge. “We knew we needed patience, but injuries and absences meant that we never had the full workforce“, he regretted in a press conference after Metz (whose video summary is here). Mexer and Koscielny have a few passages in the infirmary to their credit this season, not to mention Paul Baysse whose return is hoped for in early 2022. If Mangas and Gregersen have imposed themselves in the Bordeaux defense, doubt still reigns in the right lane between Kwateng and Pembélé.
… but the 6th attack of the championship
If the permeability of the Bordeaux defense is no longer to be demonstrated, this team is the most efficient in the second half of the table. Tied for goals scored with Olympique Lyonnais (21 goals scored), the Girondins have the 6th attack in the championship. If Hwang Ui-Jo (4), Alberth Elis and Rémi Oudin (3) who stand out, the fact remains that 12 players in the workforce have scored this season. Only PSG and Stade Rennais (13), both on the podium, have such a wide range of scorers.
The Navy and White might not have scored so much without this imbalance which destabilizes the Girondin bloc. For football observers and fans, Bordeaux is no longer the boring team who dare not attack, it’s clear. This Sunday, against FC Metz, the Girondins often counter-attacked four or even five to set the defense of the Garnets on fire, to the detriment of the defensive withdrawal at the origin of the equalizer on the 3-3.
A hackneyed communication
“Silly mistakes“,”avoidable bullet losses“,”concentration errors“, so many expressions that come back tirelessly every weekend at a press conference. The coach and the players may well convince themselves of”continue to work“,”do the best” or “do everything to win the next match“, the facts are there to remind that Bordeaux only won two out of fourteen matches. If the Ultras retain a certain indulgence with regard to the new sporting and economic project carried by Gérard Lopez, the question is how long it can last.
a real stage can be achieved in mid-season in order to determine the sectors to be reinforced during the winter transfer window. Before that, the Navy and White have an important streak to negotiate by facing teams of their caliber: Brest, Strasbourg, Troyes; and top names: Lyon and Lille.