NOTe left swollen with hope, at the start of this Ligue 1 season. French football, on the brink of an economic abyss, finally seemed to take the side of daring with exciting coaches, playing its all-out to survive a unprecedented crisis under the combined effects of the Mediapro fiasco and the pandemic.
Halfway through, the results are ambivalent. It is first of all a stammering PSG in the game, plagued by evils that its flattering transfer window has only accentuated. For once a Golden Ball evolves in France, Messi does not shine, while Neymar is in decline and the legend Sergio Ramos joins that of Hakan Yakin among the black files of the club’s infirmary.
This PSG nevertheless prances at the top of the standings, like a woozy greyhound would dominate a basset race. While several unexpected challengers (Montpellier, Monaco and Lille) have stolen the title from him since he flew the Qatari flag, the two clubs, a priori the best armed, are still absent: OM and OL – none title since 2012.
The Olympics crisis
However, we had reason to believe at the end of the divorce of these two with their respective audiences. The flame had returned to Marseille with a passionate president and coach, but passion did not long serve as an excuse for the difficulties in the game. 13 points behind the leader, OM are nevertheless second.
We could also believe in the institutional revolution of OL. Two years after his arrival as sporting director, Juninho leaves his post prematurely. Like others, he is paying the price for Jean-Michel Aulas (JMA) ‘s difficulty in renouncing power and his way of exercising it. The post-JMA is more nebulous than ever.
European performances, ordinary standard of national mediocrity, blow a breeze of optimism with an unusual number of qualifiers
To the discharge (or not) of the President of Lyon, the bet of appointing a foreign coach with strong ideas, departing from local habits, does not appear to be paying off. OL emerge in thirteenth place, and Peter Bosz, yet with more ambitions, does not manage more than his predecessors to make the most of a good squad.
On the side of emerging powers, Lille, solid in the Champions League, remains stuck in the middle of the table, from which Rennes and Nice stand out despite checkered results. In the absence of suspense for the title, there should be some for the European places… and for those of relegation.
While we rather saw FC Nantes in the role of the monument in danger which ends up collapsing, the Girondins de Bordeaux are back in the doldrums and the Greens of Saint-Etienne sink into it. A club bought twice in three years, a club for sale for three years. We were waiting for a start, we only have spasms.
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