Bis repetita? In 2019, the derby against Olympique Lyonnais (OL) finally allowed AS Saint-Etienne (ASSE) to start its season, after nine days of Ligue 1. In 2020, the situation is hardly brighter for the Stéphane footballers, who advance weighted with five consecutive defeats in the league before moving to Lyon, Sunday, November 8, at the end of the 10e day.
The first of the two derbies for the 2019-2020 season cost Brazilian OL coach Sylvinho his place after his 1-0 defeat. The current coach of the Greens, Claude Puel, made his first match on the Stéphanois bench. Then ranked last in Ligue 1, Saint-Etienne had then chained five wins and two draws and had taken to the air.
This time, it is the former coach of Lille, Nice or even… of Lyon, who is in difficulty. Everything was going wonderfully after a promising start to the season, and even unexpected, punctuated by three victories during the first three days of the championship, culminating in a success on the lawn of Marseille 2-0.
“Saint-Etienne leader, it was an anomaly. But it did not come from nowhere, the summer was positive, for example with the final of the Coupe de France ”, lost with honors (1-0) against PSG, recalls Faustine Digonnet, supporter in the group “In green and against all”. Since then, the trend has turned, the team conceded a draw and then five defeats. It went down to the 13e Ligue 1 place, just two points ahead of the barrage.
Worse, in the last two games, against Metz and Montpellier, the Greens did not frame a single shot. ” No cause for hope », Laments Faustine Digonnet. Stéphane midfielder Yvan Neyou tried to minimize at the end of the match against Montpellier, the 1er november: “The team is not in crisis. Maybe sometimes we lack intensity. It will turn out, we are not worried. “
His trainer spoke of a ” lack of confidence “ and mentioned the injuries that affect the group. Sunday, against Lyon, he still deplores many absent, such as defenders Mathieu Debuchy, Alpha Sissoko, Panagiotis Retsos and Yvann Maçon, as well as striker Arnaud Nordin, injured in a toe.
Wesley Fofana’s departure has left its mark
The Stéphanoise defense has especially a big absent since the resumption: Wesley Fofana. The 19-year-old, revelation of last season, left for England this summer, in the last days of the transfer window. The 35 million euros (not counting bonuses) offered by the English Leicester, the biggest sale in the history of the club, were too tempting for the leaders, who accepted the offer, despite the opposition of Claude Puel.
“I was opposed to Wesley leaving because he was very important to us and we couldn’t afford to replace him. We will not have more resources following his departure “, explained the coach at a press conference.
If the former Stéphanois made a strong impression for his first performances in England, this is no longer the case for the Greens. Without the central defender, ASSE only took one point in six games, in which the team conceded thirteen goals.
To make matters worse, the attack does not work either: the Stéphanois have scored only one goal in the last five games, nine since the start of the season. Only one team did worse in Ligue 1, Dijon, last in the standings.
Reconstruction with fragile bases
From now on, the Saint-Etienne project is to rebuild. “The club was going straight into the wall. He got into a lot of debt ”, attacked Claude Puel in a daily interview The team, mid-October, referring without naming them to the most flashy purchases, such as those of Yann Mvila, Matthieu Debuchy or Neven Subotic.
Their visit had helped bring Saint-Etienne to the 4e Ligue 1 place in 2018-2019. Since then, the club has been slimming down, giving way to young people, by choice or by obligation in the face of the number of injured players.
Former executives must accept the project or move away, like the goalkeeper Stéphane Ruffier, now persona non grata for Claude Puel after several months of a latent conflict and who will spend the last year of his ten years in the club with the reserve.
Problem, after a 17e place last season, the project is slow to materialize. But Claude Puel, who combines the function of coach and that of manager, requires time. “For me, the result before the match is secondary. What I want is to see my players express themselves ”, he explained in a press conference before the derby against Lyon.
“A derby is a challenge, the opportunity to express yourself, to raise our level of play, to have fun, to share between the players… There is only positive to playing this match”, he also assured.
Not sure that the supporters are of the same opinion, some having deployed a banner on which was written “No room for error, respect our colors”, on the occasion of the training open to the public. “We know, Puel can be divisive in his management. But I remain convinced that he is the man for the job ”, assures Faustine Digonnet.
If the Greens have their eyes fixed on the horizon, be careful not to stumble over the difficulties at their feet.
