In Ligue 1, nine players scored at least 15 goals, a European exception which had not reached this level of the season since 1978.
Ligue 1 football is more and more spectacular, and it has been going on for several years. The number of goals scored has increased sharply compared to the 2000s. While the 32nd day takes place on the weekend of 22 and 23 April, what is obvious is the number of different scorers: they are nine to have scored at least 15 goals, which is a European exception.
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It had not happened at this level of the season since the 1977-1978 season. AT At the time, Carlos Bianchi, Bernard Lacombe and Michel Platini were among the top scorers. Kylian Mbappé, Jonathan David or Alexandre Lacazette succeeded them 45 years later. There is no generational gap between the two: the good attackers were also there in the 2000s.
Fifteen years ago, the objective was “not to take a goal”
“It is the mentalities that have evolved”, explains Benjamin Psaume, the former attacking midfielder of Toulouse and Troyes. Because if these players score more today, it is because the philosophy of play in the French championship has changed. “Ten or fifteen years ago, the first objective of a coach, most of the time, was not to concede a goal, details Benjamin Psalm. And now we realize that there are certain coaches in the league, certain teams, who think more about scoring than not conceding.”
Among the tactical evolutions, there is the democratization of the pistons, these players on the sides who defend and attack permanently. “At the time, the full-backs, their first job was to defend, reminds Benjamin Psalm. Now, the players on the sides are borderline wingers and it is these players who can help score goals. When a guy up front isn’t bad in the box, he’s going to be fueled even more by his full-backs and wingers than before.”
+25% goals in under 20 years
Franceinfo consultant Jérôme Alonzo even broadens the spectrum. For the former PSG goalkeeper, the role of all players has changed in recent years, “including that of the goalkeeper who, in many teams, becomes the first receiver and sometimes even the setter or the penultimate pass.”
Around a thousand goals have been scored per season in the French championship for the past five years, compared to around 800 goals in the 2000s. For Jérôme Alonzo, we owe this development in large part to AS Monaco, which imposed his style, more vertical, fast and killer, during his title of champion of France in 2017, with the advent in particular of Kylian Mbappé.
“A change in philosophy has taken place within clubs and recruitment units by saying that you can win matches by playing the ball well and quickly, and not just by swinging balls in front.”
Jérôme Alonzo, consultant and former PSG goalkeeperon franceinfo
If we compare with the other European championships over the last three seasons, with an average of almost three goals scored per game in Ligue 1, the figure is similar to what we find in England and Italy, and even higher to Spain.
Why are Ligue 1 football players scoring more and more goals? – Report by Thomas Vichard
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