Ligue 1 2021-22

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Heard Lauren’s (espn pod) talking about Paqueta trying a rainbow flick toward the end of the Lyon/Troyes game - the (woman) ref bollocks him, so he tells her it’s not up to her to tell him how to play football, so she books him.

fucking outrageous, hope Lyon appeal it.
 

L’Équipe have broken down the much-scrutinised transfer of striker Victor Osimhen from Lille to Napoli in the summer of 2020, revealing that the current title holders only received around €36m out of the €71.3m fee.

Former Lille president Gérard Lopez had explained to RMC after the transfer that the transaction was set at €71.3m along with €10m in potential bonuses. Speaking to La Voix du Nord, current president Oliver Létang reported the fee to be only €68m, with the current club management indicating that only €10m has been brought in by the Nigerian’s move.

According to the documents read by L’Équipe, the €10m bonus brought up by Lopez is dependent on Napoli reaching the Champions League quarter-finals over the next four years – €2.5m for every time the Italians reach the last eight.

Part of the €71.3m fee includes €20m made up of four players which went the opposite way, a transaction which allowed Napoli to ease their Financial Fair Play obligations by registering incoming transfer fees. Gérard Lopez had accepted the offer as a result of the immediate cash injection it would provide, contrary to offers from other teams who would have paid in instalments.

One of these players is goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis, who is currently injured and has played one match so far with Les Dogues. The three others are Italian players whose contracts have been terminated and currently play in the lower leagues – Ciro Palmieri, Luigi Liguori, Claudio Manzi. All three young players were evidently sold for far beyond their worth, having been earning between €5,000 and €10,000 a month at the time of their sales.

LOSC were also made to pay out €3m of the transfer fee to Osimhen’s previous clubs in compensation, under FIFA’s recent scheme. An additional €8.3m was paid out to Charleroi as a signing-on fee. €6m are to go towards agents’ fees, although these are currently blocked by the club, who are investigating the legal nature of these.

Finally, Lille also paid interest on a loan from Banca Ifis, who billed the payment of the transfer fee in return for an interest rate of 4%. Lille received €40m from Banca Ifis. According to an internal souce, Osimhen brought in €36m to the club, which greatly relieved its financial issues during the summer of 2020.
 

L’Équipe have broken down the much-scrutinised transfer of striker Victor Osimhen from Lille to Napoli in the summer of 2020, revealing that the current title holders only received around €36m out of the €71.3m fee.

Former Lille president Gérard Lopez had explained to RMC after the transfer that the transaction was set at €71.3m along with €10m in potential bonuses. Speaking to La Voix du Nord, current president Oliver Létang reported the fee to be only €68m, with the current club management indicating that only €10m has been brought in by the Nigerian’s move.

According to the documents read by L’Équipe, the €10m bonus brought up by Lopez is dependent on Napoli reaching the Champions League quarter-finals over the next four years – €2.5m for every time the Italians reach the last eight.

Part of the €71.3m fee includes €20m made up of four players which went the opposite way, a transaction which allowed Napoli to ease their Financial Fair Play obligations by registering incoming transfer fees. Gérard Lopez had accepted the offer as a result of the immediate cash injection it would provide, contrary to offers from other teams who would have paid in instalments.

One of these players is goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis, who is currently injured and has played one match so far with Les Dogues. The three others are Italian players whose contracts have been terminated and currently play in the lower leagues – Ciro Palmieri, Luigi Liguori, Claudio Manzi. All three young players were evidently sold for far beyond their worth, having been earning between €5,000 and €10,000 a month at the time of their sales.

LOSC were also made to pay out €3m of the transfer fee to Osimhen’s previous clubs in compensation, under FIFA’s recent scheme. An additional €8.3m was paid out to Charleroi as a signing-on fee. €6m are to go towards agents’ fees, although these are currently blocked by the club, who are investigating the legal nature of these.

Finally, Lille also paid interest on a loan from Banca Ifis, who billed the payment of the transfer fee in return for an interest rate of 4%. Lille received €40m from Banca Ifis. According to an internal souce, Osimhen brought in €36m to the club, which greatly relieved its financial issues during the summer of 2020.
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RMC Sport report that Marseille are set to press charges against a person unknown after Dimitri Payet was struck by a waterbottle during last night’s match against Lyon, leading to the fixture being called off.

The individual who had thrown the projectile was eventually apprehended by security and later placed in police custody.

Dimitri Payet, described by his president Pablo Longoria as “psychologically affected”, did not attend OM training today. The midfielder will now see a specialist to evaluate the mental and physical effects of the incident.

The Bad Gones, the principal Lyon supporters’ group, have released a statement condemning the bottle-throwing, and indicated that the individual was not part of their ranks, nor was he a season ticket holder. They ended their statement by pointing out that they would continue to collaborate with Lyon to prevent such cases happening in the future.
 

Attitude of fractious PSG squad under question​

The attitude of some PSG players is becoming a concern for the club report L’Équipe.

Notably, Brazilian forward Neymar’s attitude has drawn the ire of the PSG hierarchy this season. For an engagement with sponsors in the autumn, the sports daily say, Neymar arrived late and unfocused. The club wanted to sanction the player but feared the situation being leaked and eventually passed his lateness off as indecision over whether he should take a Covid test.

Neymar isn’t the only one. Earlier, two teammates turned up late to training still tired from the night before and chose not to train without seeking the approval of the coaching staff. This allegedly happened again a few weeks later as Lionel Messi and Leandro Paredes were allowed to miss training. Officially, this was blamed on gastroenteritis but it seems a gathering to celebrate Messi’s seventh Ballon d’Or triumph the night before at a venue in Paris’ eighth arrondissement was the cause. This upset some of their teammates after various PSG players attended the event.

Ill-discipline, double standards and even a hint of unprofessionalism seem common within a famously fractious squad split into two groups roughly defined by language. Mauro and Wanda Icardi were seen arguing in the PSG training ground car park before their martial issues became public in the autumn. Mauro was later allowed to fly back to Italy and take a few days off without authorising his reduced working time (RTT or paid leave) which saw him miss the Champions League game with RB Leipzig in October and annoy some of his colleagues.

Sergio Ramos, meanwhile, has been surprised since his arrival that squad collective lunches are not compulsory. Issues with squad birthday parties have also been difficult to handle for the club for some time too with Neymar’s infamous birthday parties and a joint party for Edinson Cavani and Angel Di Maria most notably drawing headlines. Although this has, of course, been far less of an issue during the pandemic.
 

Ouest-France have revealed that 24-year-old French attacker Jean-Kévin Augustin’s absence from professional competition was due to a bout of long COVID and subsequent diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome. The regional paper have tracked the striker’s 14-month recovery which culminated in his return to the professional side this month.

Having signed for Nantes in October of 2020, by December he had made two short Ligue 1 appearances and had been separated from manager Christian Gourcuff’s training sessions to be put on a individual plan. The club’s physio had scheduled two sessions a day for the forward to return to fitness, but Augustin’s physical condition meant that any efforts were difficult, which also meant his mental health took a hit.

Reserve team manager Pierre Aristouy explained that for the forward, “Everything was very difficult – running, making efforts, controlling a ball, finding his bearings. He had motor functions problems. We were under the impression that everything was going by too quickly for him. He was very sad and it was difficult for us”. After a litany of tests, it was discovered that the former Leeds man was suffering from long COVID and had contracted Guillain-Barré syndrome, a condition causing muscle weakness. In Augustin’s case, this acted in particular on his calves and feet. Nevertheless, having identified the issue he was able to begin proper treatment.

During this time, Augustin acted as a “big brother” in the reserves team, picking up younger players on the way to training to avoid them being late. He would give the young players advice, asking them to be patient and listen to their manager. His teammates during this time explain that the forward sought to downplay his achievements so far and never acted as if he were above the reserves. He bought the training room’s portable speakers, bought the team breakfast and called up teammates who had been transferred elsewhere to ask them how they were settling in. Aristouy concludes that “he was very classy”.

The road to recovery was long – he would improve with every training session, but every time the workload increased he would end up back in the physio’s hands. On returning with the reserves last summer, his level was still far below what was required. New reserve manager Stéphane Ziani nevertheless noted that although Augustin was “nothing“, he was “leading by example” and “taken things in hand“.

The striker had hired a personal trainer and chef, and with no set return date in sight – although all eyes were fixed on January – the next five months would be series of steps forwards and setbacks. He would eventually be given 15 minutes of playing time in November against Trélissac, before another three hour-long appearances. Slowly, his explosiveness and positioning returned. By January, he was tracking back and closing down spaces – tasks which he previously hadn’t had to do at PSG. Aristouy noted that “he is light-years away from what he was doing in April, he’s become a football player again”.

Augustin made his long-awaited return to the first-team squad last week, as Antoine Kombouaré included him in the squad to face Nice and gave him a ten-minute cameo. It was a short spell that saw him take a shot, but nonetheless a major step forward. Ziani, on watching him play against Andrézieux, noted that “behind the player, it was the man that needed to be saved, and football was just a means to that”.

Former reserves teammate Charly Jan explains that “he always told me that he had something to do here”. “He works hard, he never let go. He has real force of character as well”.
 
hey John Thomas John Thomas - thank fuck we're not PSG eh?


“Incomprehensible at all levels” – PSG ultras “fed up” with the running of the club says long statement​

Detailed in the posting of a lengthy statement on their social media accounts, PSG ultra group the CUP (the Collectif Ultras Paris) aired their extreme frustration with the running of the Paris club after recently displaying a banner reading ‘our patience has limits’.

“For too long now the club offers us something that we can no longer support,” said the statement. The “club wants to be a global brand, obsessed with selling shirts, to the point of forgetting its heritage and insulting the fans at the Parc by playing in an away kit at home. This is a club that piles up the stars like a spoiled child, without concern for a coherent sporting plan. This is a club that dreams so big that it feels like the season starts in February while it despises domestic trophies. We no longer recognize our club which seems to have lost its DNA.”

The statement describes the management of the club as “incomprehensible at all levels” and bemoans the “constant changing of coaches while a project with consistent with recruitment is never put in place, the underused players for whom football no longer seems to be a real priority, the incomprehensible management of young players and a blatant lack of respect for the women’s team.”

The CUP also highlights the drama off the field in recent years as “episodes more worthy of a telenovela than a professional football club.”
 

During the game against Stade Rennais at the Parc des Princes last night, the Parisian ultras protested against a number of issues they deem to be affecting the club, including results, kit and branding and the players.

Having been absent in protest for the first 25 minutes of the game, then silent for the remaining 20 of the first half, the Collectif Ultras Paris presented around 20 banners.

The most overarching protest read: “Disrespectful managers, players without desire, tops without our colours. The only triple for PSG this season,” making reference to their home kit without the central stripe designed by Daniel Hechter, president of the club between 1974 and 1978, and the club’s elimination from the Coupe de France.

This protest comes at a time when PSG have won 6 of the last 7 Coupe de France competitions, 7 of the last 9 Ligue 1 campaigns and sit 16 points clear at the top of this season’s league table.

One banner read: “We sing with passion for players with no motivation.” While targeting the attitude of the players, Marquinhos alone was spared from criticism, with another banner reading: “Marquinhos, the example to follow.”

In the second half, this criticism continued. Yet another banner targeted the players, saying: “They also choose their matches. We’ll do the same.”

This criticism comes just days before PSG’s home Champions League fixture against Real Madrid.
 

As reported by Le Parisien, for several weeks PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino has been complaining of internal friction between his coaches and the club’s performance team, with the medical staff caught in the middle.

The coach has become frustrated with the processes by which players return from injury. To pick a player for a matchday squad, Pochettino must gain the approval of the performance team beforehand but, given his regular conversations which each recovering player, the Argentine coach has become irked by the time between a player’s apparent recovery and him being allowed to return to the pitch by the performance team.

With this in mind, the club are set to make personnel changes. Gian Nicola Bisciotti, head of the performance unit, will be reassigned and will no longer be in direct contract with the senior team on a daily basis. He is to be replaced by Nicolas Mayer, a fitness coach and member of Pochettino’s staff, in a bid to improve communication and ease tensions between club coaches and the performance team.

This reorganisation is not meant to affect the medical staff, who Pochettino recently defended at a press conference over Sergio Ramos’ repeated injury issues amid reports in Spain that Ramos was unhappy with club doctors over his long running fitness problems.
 

PSG dressing room is starting to fracture after Real Madrid loss​

As reported by L’Équipe, the already fragile harmony at PSG is under threat following the dramatic loss to Real Madrid and subsequent exit from the Champions League last week.

After rumours of a bust up between Neymar and Gianluigi Donnarumma in the aftermath were denied by all concerned, the sports daily report utter silence in the PSG dressing room at the Bernabéu and on the plane back to Paris, as players stared into space. It took nearly an hour for some to get up and shower having returned to the dressing room.

PSG captain Marquinhos’ lack of leadership has not gone unnoticed by the Paris squad say the paper. Some have complained to those around them that the team lacked a leader capable to stabilising the game at 1-1 or 2-1. The Captain’s lack of calmness during the game has worried his teammates, with some thinking he may not be up to the task of leading the squad despite his popularity.

Lionel Messi’s failure to deliver, after he was given extra holiday this winter, and Neymar’s swift return to posting whimsically on Instagram over his sister’s birthday after the defeat has irked some in the squad who have been concerned by the “7+3” style of play under Pochettino. One club source told L’Équipe last week: “I don’t remember ever having experienced such a heavy atmosphere at the training ground as I have over the last two days.”

Pochettino was reportedly seemingly on the verge of tears at his presser before the Bordeaux game this weekend, throughout which Messi and Neymar were whistled repeatedly. The former Tottenham coach has never seemed so downtrodden and defeated.
 
PSG have made itself toxic. I’m sure they have built the narratives that surround them, of a Club that accepts nothing but “winners” that they have pushed this mantra so hard that winning the CL is the only measure of success.

Pause on that for a moment, is Pep Guardiola a failure? Is this how he is seen, a man who has managed Barca, Bayern and City hasn’t won the CL in 11yrs!

This is a hole they have dug themselves, a Club that will still attract players and managers like fly's dose to shit but given the choice of another elite club you just feel they would opt for the other.

There is no football soul at the club.
 
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In speaking with So Foot, former Lyon, and now Rennes, sporting director Florian Maurice discussed his philosophy in scouting players after a raft of astute signings helped propel Rennes into the Champions League spots in Ligue 1 this season.

What is your thinking when scouting players? Do you have criteria that are more important than others?
“I’m immediately drawn to technique. When I watch a player, I like to observe his pace, what he gives off. I like graceful players and, as a former striker, I’m attracted to attacking players. I made a mistake by basing my ideas solely on those areas at the start, forgetting the physical aspect. The French championship is special, harder than you think. I made the mistake of looking for players in much less athletic leagues, but that was a learning experience.”

Your transfer windows are often compared to the game ‘Football Manager’. Have you ever player it?
“I’ve heard of it, but I don’t know what it is! Honestly, I don’t know at all. Faitout Maouassa [former Rennes left-back] came to talk to me about it one day to tell me that he’d spotted a great player in the game. (Laughs) He told me a little about the principles of the game, but I’ve never touched it. It seems that clubs use it, I imagine that it could be a source of information.”

Bruno Cheyrou, Lyon’s head of recruitment, thinks you have to have been a professional to know the value of a player. Do you agree?
“For me, that’s wrong. I’ll give you a good example: Gérard Bonneau [Lyon’s former head of youth recruitment] was not a pro and he’s undoubtedly one of the best youth recruiters I have seen. In the recruitment unit at Rennes, there’s no former pro players. It means nothing. Gérard, who is at Dijon now, is a beast, he is a monster in this area. He played in non-league football but he has an eye.”
 
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