Another week of Ligue 1 action, and another week of nothing too shocking. Most of the week went as many predicted. So, what did we learn from Week 17 of Ligue 1 action?
1. The planets will eventually align – Obviously this is something that Raymond Domenech could have told you weeks ago. Still, I am going to use it today. For the first time in the season, all the teams that were predicted by most to be in the Top 5 in Ligue 1, Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Rennes and Paris St. Germain, are finally in the Top 5 (sorry Bordeaux fans). While Lyon and Marseille started off slow, they have been able to bounce back. But, honestly, have they been that bad? What I find odd is that Lyon had some pretty poor results and they are only one point behind PSG and two behind Lille, who seem to always be winning.
2. Nene continues to be the best player in Ligue 1 – Some people might differ with me on this one, but it seems that Nene has really stood out as being the premier player in Ligue 1 this year. Yes, there are a bunch of other players that have stepped it up, like Moussa Sow, Marvin Martin and Dimitri Payet (who seems to be falling back to Earth after an amazing start). But Nene alone has made PSG an European competitor. His second goal against Valenciennes is our goal of the week. Here is it:
3. Monaco in crisis mode – What is PSG’s gain with Nene is another team’s loss. And Monaco are seriously looking to be flirting with relegation at the end of this season. While bringing in some players in the off season that they thought would make a difference, Petter Hansson and Laurent Bonnart have been average, while Daniel Niculae has been non-existent. Monaco has a good core of players. Yes, this assembly of players might not be challenging for the Ligue 1 title any time soon, but they shouldn’t be near the relegation zone either. And with the results, one would have to look at the coach. There is some talk in Monaco that Etienne Franzi, president of AS Monaco FC, will be “assessing” Guy Lacombe’s position at the team. But, honestly, lets look at Lacombe…except for a few good showings as Sochaux, a French Cup final last year and promoting Guingamp from Ligue 2, he hasn’t been a great coach.
4. Gignac is useless at Marseille – Now I am not saying this as an angry, bitter Toulouse fan (well kind of), but Andre-Pierre Gignac has been useless at Marseille. We will be featuring an article about Gignac’s role at Marseille later this week, but his “mostly average” performances along with being constantly injured should make people wonder if his time has already come and gone, even at 25 years old.
5. Lyon not really missing the “big name” – Is it me or does it seem that Lyon hasn’t missed a beat, even with Yoann Gourcuff being out of the line up? Was he just a waste of money? Of course, he is a great player, but I am starting to wonder if Lyon just picked him up so that Marseille or somebody else didn’t But both him and Jeremy Toulalan haven’t been the most impressive players on the team this year. True, Gourcuff started to play better right before his injury. But still, are these players needed? After the match on Sunday where Lyon dominated Toulouse, the answer is “not really”.
Ligue 1 Talk 