Ligue 1 Superthread 2016/17

Mr.Nice Guy

Well, that was an entertaining game! It ends 3-1 to Lyon.

The first half started off pretty evenly balanced with both keepers called into action but Lyon took the lead through a nice strike by Ghezzal. Then the game changed when Mendy, who'd been arguably Monaco's best player, got himself stupidly sent off for lashing out at Tolisso with a kick. This was brainless.

Monaco lost the head in the second half too: Glik conceding a penalty with players surrounding the ref complaining. But Lacazette missed from the spot with Subasic going the right way and catching the soft shot. However not long after Valbuena made it 2-0 to Lyon with a nice strike on the volley.

I figured Monaco would be out of it by that point but they made it 2-1 with Bakayoko, who had a good game, getting the goal. But Lyon sealed the points with Lacazette getting his revenge on Subasic after he lamely palmed a cross into his path which Lacazette fired home.

It was almost 4-1 near the end but Monaco made some clearances off the line. Subasic's confidence looked totally gone near the end.

I feel the red card was a hammer blow for Monaco in this game. With ten men they caused Lyon problems and with it 11 vs 11 I think they could have at least got a draw. Thomas Lemar was the standout player for Monaco I'd say, though Bakayoko did well too. For Lyon, Tousart was very good in midfield and Ghezzal had an impressive first half.

Big winners this weekend were Nice. They are 4 points clear of nearest challengers Monaco and with just one game left before the winter break, they're guaranteed to be on top for Christmas and into the New Year. Terrific achievement.

Mr.Nice Guy

Last Ligue 1 games of the year taking place tonight before the winter break. Pity none of them appear to be on TV.

PSG currently leading Lorient 3-0. Meunier scored a superb goal. Monaco leading Caen 1-0. Lyon leading Anger 1-0 too, but Nice are goalless away to Bordeaux - I hope they can win this game and end the year on a high.

Update: Full-Time scores:

Bastia 1-2 Marseille
Bordeaux 0-0 Nice
Dijon 2-0 Toulouse
Lille 1-1 Rennes
Lyon 2-0 Angers
Metz 2-2 Guingamp
Monaco 2-1 Caen
Nantes 1-0 Montpellier
PSG 5-0 Lorient
Saint-Étienne 0-0 Nancy


Disappointing for Nice that they failed to win unlike their rivals; even so they finish the year with a lead of 2 points over Monaco. Nantes are Marseille are continuing their good form. They'll probably be disappointed with the break since they have been doing well.

It will be interesting to see what business takes place when the window opens. Will PSG make a big move, I wonder?

- bo -

I'm starting to like football again

Thanks Mr.Nice Guy for the thread and posts throughout the season so far. Great to have someone else with an interest in the league share their views.

I'll hopefully get planning a trip over in the new year, been over a year since I took a match in.

Happy Christmas!

Mr.Nice Guy

- bo - wrote: »

I'm starting to like football again

Thanks Mr.Nice Guy for the thread and posts throughout the season so far. Great to have someone else with an interest in the league share their views.

I'll hopefully get planning a trip over in the new year, been over a year since I took a match in.

Happy Christmas!

Thanks, bo. Been great to get your perspective as a Nantes fan this season. Hope you have a great Christmas too. :cool:

I realised today we are at the halfway point of the season so I thought I'd do a Ligue 1 team of the Half-Season. This is what I came up with:



Goalkeeper: I felt I had to go with Stephane Ruffier. I think Saint-Etienne would be in pretty bad shape without him since they're not offering much in attack. He's earned them loads of points already. I know he's injured at the moment but hopefully he's fit for Man United in the Europa League as I'd like to see him showcase his talents. Karl-Johan Johnsson of Guingamp also deserves a mention. He's been excellent whenever I've seen him.

Right-back: I was torn between Pereira and Djibril Sidibe of Monaco for this spot but I went with Ricardo Pereira as he's impressed me with his pace in attack for Nice this season. Sidibe's done well also but I saw him have a tough evening against Dijon a few weeks back which stuck in my mind. Also he has played left-back quite a few times too. Meunier has done pretty well when I've seen him for PSG but often he's been benched in favour of Aurier. As for Aurier, on his day he's immense but he's been a bit underwhelming lately.

Centre-backs: I had several players in my thoughts for this position. I went with Kamil Glik who I think is in the argument for signing of the season. I've been very impressed with his performances in Ligue 1 and in the Champions League; he had an excellent Euros with Poland too. I felt I had to go with Dante or Malang Sarr of Nice due to their superb defence so far and I went with the more experienced Dante over the youngster. I thought Dante was great against PSG recently and he's helping bring Sarr on nicely in his development. He's been a great bit of business as Glik was. I had the two young Toulouse defenders in my thoughts: Issa Diop and Christopher Jullien. I think they have bright futures. Marquinhos and Thiago Silva looked great a few months back but they've had some very dodgy games of late. I like Glik's partner at Monaco, Jemerson, too but for me Glik was better.

Left-back: There were a few I considered here but I plumped for Guingamp's Fernando Marcal as I felt Guingamp deserved a mention and he's done well when I've seen him. He has something like 5 assists which is a great return and has been consistent. Dalbert of Nice had a good season too and was in my thoughts. Kurzawa started the season on fire for PSG but fell away; Maxwell did well at times but didn't feature enough. Mendy did well for Monaco at times - destroyed Spurs - but I couldn't forget that stupid sending off against Lyon which cost Monaco big time.

Wingers: I went for the two Monaco wingers, Bernardo Silva and Thomas Lemar, who have both been excellent this season. They have been a massive threat out wide for Monaco. I feel bad that I left out Wylan Cyprien of Nice and I considered having him out wide instead of Silva since he's a versatile player, but I thought Silva suits this system better. Another that came into my thoughts is a player I've become a big fan of and he's another on Monaco's books but currently on loan at Bastia: Allan Saint-Maximin. I love watching this guy and he's got bags of quality. I also think he's unlucky with the goal tally he has because I've seen several chances he had that were unlucky not to go in either through great saves or just narrowly missed. He's one to watch for the future. Lucas of PSG has been quality at times but I think he could be more consistent.

Central midfield: This was the hardest position because there were a lot of candidates in my mind. Cyprien, who I mentioned above; Marco Verratti, who when he's on form is world class; Fabinho, who has been excellent for Monaco; but in the end I went for the other Monaco midfielder, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Nice's Jean Michael Seri.

Bakayoko has been immense for Monaco this season and I see shades of Yaya Toure when he's at his best. Rumours that Chelsea are interested don't surprise me, though I hope that doesn't happen (Kante and Bakayoko in the same midfield? Bloody hell). I remember away to Dijon recently, at a time when Monaco were scoring goals non-stop, they rested Bakayoko but played Fabinho - and the game ultimately ended 1-1 with Bakayoko having to be thrown on in the latter stages. That suggested to me that Bakayoko is slightly more important of himself and Fabinho (at the moment at least).

I went with Seri because he has been a joy to watch orchestrating things for Nice from deep and has not just creativity but the ability to win the ball back and stifle things when he needs to. He has the most assists in the league with 8 and he played well in the recent draw away to PSG.

Strikers: With 18 goals I think you have to have Edinson Cavani in there. He divides opinions with some saying he's overrated and others saying he's one of the world's elite. I believe he's elite in terms of his movement and his ability to create chances, but not elite in the sense of being clinical enough to finish them off. I wouldn't have him in the same bracket as his compatriot Suarez or a Lewandowski but the guy is very dangerous and would likely make my top 10 strikers of the world list.

My last spot goes to Alassane Plea of Nice. He doesn't get the headlines of Balotelli but he's been Nice's top scorer and has a great knack of getting himself into goalscoring opportunities. A bit like Cavani, I feel he can score more. He's missed a few good chances this season, some of which were costly misses. But unlike Cavani he's younger at just 23 and if he can improve his finishing he could be a big player in future.

Falcao's had some good moments but missed a lot of games with injury. Lacazette has a decent goal tally but I think he can do better than we've seen in some of his performances; he missed some important penalties too.

So my team is:

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S. Ruffier (Saint-Etienne)

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R. Pereira (Nice)----K. Glik (Monaco)---Dante (Nice)---F. Marcal (Guingamp)

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T. Bakayoko (Monaco)

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J. M. Seri (Nice)

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B. Silva (Monaco)

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T. Lemar (Monaco)-

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A. Plea (Nice)

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E. Cavani (PSG)

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Manager of the Half-Season: Leonardo Jardim

Most will go with Nice's Lucien Favre and I won't quibble with that but based on the face Monaco did well on two fronts, domestically and in Europe, unlike Nice who pretty much threw in the towel for the Europa League, on that basis I've gone for Jardim. He's got Monaco playing as one of the most exciting teams in Europe, with an impressive defence to boot, Glik's been a great signing, Falcao is doing well, and he's also handled the young, exciting Kylian Mbappe really well (unlike Emery who could have done a lot more with the young Jean-Kevin Augustin at PSG imo). Antoine Kombouaré is another who deserves a mention for his great work at Guingamp so far.

Star of the season so far: I would say it's between Seri and Bakayoko and based on the league table having Nice just ahead, I'll go for Seri. He's the one that makes things tick for Nice.

Disappointment of the season: I'd say it's between Grzegorz Krychowiak and Jese. I will say Krychowiak who I fancied would do well under Emery but he's not played well when I've seen him. I give Jese some slack - even though he looks to be on his way out in January - on the basis that he had to have appendix surgery a week or so after his debut and was then struggling to get into the side. It's hard to show what you can do without a run of games and I don't think he even got five. Areola is another who is in the argument because having started well he has gone to pieces the last while, losing the jersey back to Trapp. My theory is that those errors in the Champions League to Ludogorets shattered his confidence.

Ones to watch for the rest of the season: Allan Saint-Maximin at Bastia who I mentioned above is a very exciting attacking player and the best thing about Bastia. Malang Sarr of Nice is excellent for a teenage defender. Maxime Lopez at Marseille is another teenager who has been excellent since securing a spot in the first team in midfield. Corentin Tolisso should continue his impressive season with Lyon. They're the ones that come to mind.

Prediction to win the title: Still going to say PSG, though I hope not. I expect they will buy big in January. Rumours suggest Draxler is a done deal. You would fancy them to be thereabouts when the season reaches its climax and I'm not confident Nice will be, though I would be more confident in Monaco lasting the pace.

I've enjoyed the season so far; I hope the second half proves fun too.

Mr.Nice Guy

So Ligue 1 is officially back this weekend. There was an interesting development in the French Cup with Nice getting knocked out, meaning they now have no distractions: just 19 games between now and the end of the season unlike Monaco and PSG who will be fighting on several fronts. I wonder how big a help that will prove to be?

Julian Draxler joining PSG would probably count as the biggest transfer signing of the window so far, although reports suggest Dmitri Payet is pushing for a return to Marseille. Morgan Sanson has also reportedly agreed terms with Marseille which I think is an excellent signing. Marseille could have a super window. I was disappointed to see Paul-Georges Ntep leave Rennes for Wolfsburg. He was arguably the best thing about Rennes, though I guess Kamil Grosicki can step up now from his super sub role. Also surprised Clement Lenglet left Nancy for Sevilla in this window. Great move for the player, but it's going to be far tougher for Nancy to stay up without him.

Tonight's game is Lille vs Saint-Etienne on BT Sport 3 (k.o. 7.45). The team news:

Lille XI: Enyeama; Corchia, Basa, Soumaoro, Béria; Sankharé, Amadou; Terrier, Rony Lopes, Benzia; Eder.

Saint-Etienne XI: Moulin; Malcuit, Perrin, Théophile-Catherine, Polomat; Lemoine, B.Dabo, Veretout; Monnet-Paquet, Roux, Hamouma.

Both teams are missing players due to injury and the African Cup of Nations. I like Rony Lopes for Lille and I think he can cause problems. Eder on his day can be useful. I would worry about Saint-Etienne looking toothless up front. Robert Beric is missing and will be a loss. Also no Stephane Ruffier in goal due to injury who for me is the standout keeper of the season so far. I'm not sure about Jessy Moulin as his replacement.

I'll go for a 1-0 home win.

Mr.Nice Guy

There goes my prediction. Hamouma smashes in a goal for the away side off the underside of the bar.

Update: 1-0 to Saint-Etienne at half-time. Corchia, the right-back, has probably been Lille's best player. He's doing well against Polomat. Lopes hasn't been as effective as I hoped, though Lille have had some decent chances via set-piece situations; Saint-Etienne look vulnerable here. Could go either way this one.

Mr.Nice Guy

OMG the sub de Preville just scored a glorious goal. 1-1.

Mr.Nice Guy

Full-Time and it ends 1-1. I think a draw was the right result. I wouldn't say either side did enough to take all 3 points. Corchia played well for Lille and the sub Nicolas de Preville when he came on.

The best moment came from de Preville's equaliser. You'll do well to see a better goal than this in any of the top leagues over the weekend...

https://twitter.com/Score_365/status/820018838120972288

And he was only on the field for 61 seconds before he did that.

- bo -

Great to have the league action back, I'll be watching Toulouse-Nantes tomorrow. Great to have got through in the cup (though not a great draw with Lille away in the last 32), and a really disappointing evening on Wednesday getting knocked out in the quarter-finals of the League Cup against Nancy. 0-2 loss at home and the scoreline could not have been any more flattering for them.

Also, got a few Nantes bits as presents over the Christmas :pac:

- bo -

3 league wins from 3 since Conceicao took over. Caen at home on Tuesday (re-arranged match), and a win there sees us jump to 11th. That would be some turnaround. Great performance tonight and should've scored one or two more.

Mr.Nice Guy

Good win for Nantes. I thought they would struggle to score in that game. Draxler has got off to a good start with PSG. Very surprised at Lorient beating Guingamp 3-1. Also one of my favourites this season Allan Saint-Maximin got himself sent off against Nancy. :pac:

Interesting evening game tomorrow on BT Sport 1 with Marseille at home to Monaco. Not sure how that will go. Nice at home to Metz in the early game in a top vs bottom clash. They have to take 3 points in that one.

- bo -

Also worth noting that Metz have been deducted 2 points for the incidents again Lyon a few weeks ago, with a 3rd point suspended. Lyon keeper was hit by pyro.

I hadn't even copped Marseille creeping up the table before the winter break. They had been lingering around 12th-15th for most of the season, had a look last night and they are 6th? :eek: granted, they had a favourable run of fixtures but that is some job.

Mr.Nice Guy

Surprising results today so far. Nice and Metz played out a 0-0 draw. That's a blow to Nice's title aspirations. Also Caen beat Lyon 3-2.

Marseille vs Monaco is the final game of the round, coming up tonight at 8 on BT Sport. Team news:

Marseille XI: Pelé; H.Sakai, Fanni, Rolando, Rekik; Vainqueur, Lopez, Anguissa; Thauvin, Gomis, Cabella.

Monaco XI: Subasic; A.Touré, Glik, Jemerson, Sidibé; B.Silva, Fabinho, Bakayoko, Lemar; Falcao, Germain.

Looking forward to seeing how young Lopez gets on against probably his biggest test. I like the look of the Monaco line-up a lot. I think they will be too much for Marseille. I'll go for Monaco to win it 2-1.

Johner

Jammy goal for Monaco, looked like a cross.

Mr.Nice Guy

Thomas Lemar makes it 1-0 to Monaco with a dink over the keeper from the left side. Commentators think he meant that but I don't think so. It looked to me like it was meant as a cross.

Johner

Lovely goal from Falcao there.

Mr.Nice Guy

Falcao with a nice finish to make it 2-0.

09_09_09

Any thoughts on Bernardo Silva (Monaco one) chap? He seems to me a very good player.

Mr.Nice Guy

09_09_09 wrote: »

Any thoughts on Bernardo Silva (Monaco one) chap? He seems to me a very good player.

I like him a lot. He was unlucky to miss the Euros with Portugal due to injury. I think he will be a big player for Portugal in the years ahead.

Johner

2-1! Goals.

Mr.Nice Guy

2-1. Rolando header from a set-piece.

Great game so far.

Mr.Nice Guy

Monaco are so exciting on the counter.

Mr.Nice Guy

What a great header from Bernardo Silva. 3-1 to Monaco.

Mr.Nice Guy

Half-Time and it's 3-1 to Monaco. Very entertaining game of football.

All those people who said City got an easy draw in the Champions League when they landed Monaco...if they were to play each other this week I'd be backing Monaco. Plenty can change between now and February but Monaco should not be dismissed. Against that City defence and John Stones I think Monaco could get plenty of joy.

Mr.Nice Guy

Silva makes it 4-1 after great work from Fabinho.

Mr.Nice Guy

Full-Time and Monaco win it 4-1. Monaco were excellent and continue to be great entertainment. Cool stat here:

https://twitter.com/OptaJean/status/820746895807090688

I thought Bakayoko and Fabinho were excellent. Silva was great as well.

Reports coming out tonight that Morgan Sanson to Marseille is a done deal and that move, plus Payet if he arrives this window, would be great signings; but Marseille need to get some defenders in too.

Monaco are on top now via goal difference and it's looking like they will be tough to dislodge. Having said that, I'd still fancy PSG as favourites.

Johner

60 league goals for Monaco so far, very impressive an average of 3 goals a game. :eek:

09_09_09

Johner wrote: »

60 league goals for Monaco so far, very impressive an average of 3 goals a game. :eek:

Poch mentioned during CL campaign Monaco are similar to Stoke . I do not know what kind of drugs he was taking that time.

I love to see Silva in PL though.

- bo -

4 wins from 4 and no goals conceded. Up 8 places to 11th and 5 points off the European spots. Getting sick of seeing us win now

Mr.Nice Guy

Exciting live match tonight with title contenders Nice in action away to Bastia on BT Sport ESPN (k.o. 7.45). Oh and Balotelli's back.

Team news:

Bastia XI: Leca; Cioni, Djiku, Rose, Bengtsson; A.Keita; S.Diallo, Mostefa, Cahuzac, Oniangué; Danic

Nice XI: Benítez; Souquet, M.Sarr, Dante, Burner; Cyprien, Walter, Koziello, Dalbert; Pléa, Balotelli

Bastia are coming off two straight defeats and are missing the exciting Allan Saint-Maximin due to his red card against Nancy (I'm gutted he's missing as I watched the highlights and I thought it was very harsh to send him off). Nice, however, aren't in good form either and are coming off two goalless draws. I saw highlights of their recent game against Metz - who are bottom - and Metz looked the more dangerous side from what I saw.

If Nice are going to keep pace with Monaco and PSG then you feel 3 points are a must tonight. I'll go for Nice to win by 2 goals.

HalloweenJack

Glorious chance for Bastia wasted at the start. He even had two bites of the cherry.

Mr.Nice Guy

Yeah Bastia should be leading.

Edit: But now they are!

HalloweenJack

Bastia 1-0 up. A bit scrappy in the end but really good approach play and a great run by Danic.

Mr.Nice Guy

Nice defending very poorly in this opening 20 minutes. Can't afford to concede another one.

Nearly an equaliser there.

Mr.Nice Guy

Souquet equalises. And he's been poor in the game so far.

HalloweenJack

1-1.

Very poor defending from Bastia, GK was especially poor.

Mr.Nice Guy

And that's half-time. Nice need to be much better in the second half, particularly in defence. Young Sarr is struggling. Oniangue causing problems. Could swing either way this one.

Update: Early second half chance for Balotelli but Leca saves.

Update II: Bastia down to 10 men. Cahuzac gets a second yellow.

Mr.Nice Guy

It ends 1-1. Bastia hang on for a deserved point.

Despite going top, sadly it looks like Nice's title challenge is slipping away before our eyes. They didn't do enough to get the 3 points. Cyprien had one of the poorest games I've seen him play. The youngster Sarr had a nightmare. Nice badly missing key players like Seri and Ricardo Pereira. The squad strength just isn't there to compensate key players being absent.

dr.kenneth noisewater

2 bad draws for Nice in the past week. Title challenge slipping away

Mr.Nice Guy

Good 2-0 win today for PSG away to in-form Nantes. Cavani back to his scoring ways. Also Metz off the bottom now and up to 18th after beating Montpellier 2-0 at home. Very close down there.

Monaco at home to bottom of the table Lorient tomorrow. You'd fancy them to win that comfortably. Lyon vs Marseille in the evening game should be good. Not sure how that will go. I wonder if Depay will make his debut...

Johner

Another 4 goals for Monaco so far.

Mr.Nice Guy

Good win for Monaco as expected to take them top by 2 points. Saint-Etienne beat Nancy 2-1 after being 1-0 down and they go 6th as a result, though Marseille can go above them if they get at least a point tonight.

Lyon vs Marseille is the evening game on BT Sport 1 (kick-off at 8). Team news:

Lyon XI: Lopes; Rafael, Mapou, Mammana, Morel; Cornet, Gonalons, Tolisso, Valbuena; Fekir, Lacazette.

Marseille XI: Pelé - Sakai, Fanni, Rolando, Doria - Zambo Anguissa, Sanson - Thauvin, Lopez, Sarr - Gomis.

Depay begins on the bench.

I would be concerned about Marseille's defence as Doria isn't a natural left-back; Rafael could get some joy there perhaps bombing forward.

I reckon a home win.

Mr.Nice Guy

Valbuena scores against his old club! Quality goal. Best moment of the match.

Update: Lyon go in at half-time with a 1-0 lead. The game started off brightly but became scrappy as the half went on. Marseille were better early with left-back Morel having to make some important challenges to stop Marseille taking the lead. Lyon got into it and had some chances but Cornet has been poor out on the right. If Depay is coming on, I hope it's for him. Valbuena's lovely curling shot was a badly needed bit of quality.

https://twitter.com/InsideGones/status/823270858412138497

Mr.Nice Guy

2-0 to Lyon. Lacazette capitalises on a mistake to score. He's been wasteful tonight but has his goal finally.

Mr.Nice Guy

Doria scores for Marseille from a set-piece. Lifeline for the away side with 20-plus minutes remaining.

Mr.Nice Guy

OMG what a defensive howler. Lacazette scores and makes it 3-1 after one of the worst defensive mistakes you'll see all season from Rolando.

Just threw the game away there. Shocking.

Mr.Nice Guy

Lyon substitution: walking in, Memphis.

Mr.Nice Guy

It ends 3-1 to Lyon. A deserved win for the home side. Lacazette got 2 goals but he wasted good chances for more. It was a Cavani-esque display in that respect.

Gonalons and Tolissso won the midfield battle. Morgan Sanson is a player I like and I think he will do well at Marseille, but he had a disappointing debut.

Marseille are really poor defensively and while Payet would be a big coup for them and a star name, I think they should concentrate on the defence for this window and go for him in the summer. They need a new left-back and a new centre-back. They can't rely on the likes of Doria and Rolando.

Depay wasn't on long enough to assess properly but he had some decent touches. I look forward to seeing how he gets on.

Next Sunday's evening game is not to be missed: PSG vs Monaco. Gonna be great.

sky88

Still surprised lacazette hasn't got a move to one of the bigger clubs

Mr.Nice Guy

Coupe de Ligue semi-final tonight at 8 between Bordeaux and PSG. Live on BT Sport 2. Team news:

Bordeaux XI: Prior - Gajic, Lewczuk, Pallois, Poundjé - Toulalan, Vada, Sertic - Kamano, Rolan, Malcom

PSG XI: Trapp - Meunier, Marquinhos, T. Silva, Maxwell - Verratti, Rabiot, Matuidi - Lucas, Cavani, Di Maria.

Strong line-up from PSG. I wondered if they might leave out some big names with Monaco at the weekend but Emery's decided to take no chances.

PSG heavy favourites and I can't see anything other than a win for them.