Paris is perhaps the most productive city for player development in the world. But could you beat one of the richest, most global clubs in football using only players from the City of Lights? Martin Vert has been set that challenge.
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Our August exertions have served us well. We have played against some tricky teams, and against some of the big boys, and we’ve come through unbeaten. We’re very solid, though we are struggling to score as many goals as our play suggests we should, so I tweak the training and Arnaud Tattevin’s instructions to try to correct that. But if 40 points is the number we need for survival, as the press told me in the summer, we’re almost halfway there already. I’m not going to get complacent, and I’m not going to let the lads get complacent, but it’s a good start.
Steve, as ever, has a problem.
“We told you to play counter-attacking football!” I stare at him blankly. “And what about selling Durand, he was our most important player!”
“We’re third Steve. We have the second-best defence in the division. And Durand was questioning me.”
“But-“. Patrice puts his hand on Steve’s arm and cuts him off.
“We’re doing well Steve. We trust Martin. Don’t we?” That last bit isn’t really a question. Still, “play counter-attacking football” still gets marked as “disappointing” on my monthly review. I hate Steve.
We have a bit of a break at the beginning of September, and I focus in on our forward line’s finishing. If we could turn those draws into wins, we’d be at the top of the table with Reims. I don’t expect promotion in our first season, our first goal will always be survival. But lets get that wrapped up as early as possible.
Our first visitors to the Stade Pierre-Brisson this month are Auxerre. They feel like a Ligue 1 team, and spent 30 years at the top table, winning the division in the mid-90s. They won the Coupe de France in 2005. They are, by the standards of Ligue 2, one of the giants of French football. But they’ve been stuck in Ligue 2 for a decade now, and we got one over them last season in the Coupe de France. And we’re better now. El Hriti and Cestor are out, so Aajji and Homawoo will start.
The finishing training has yet to have any discernible impact, but our defensive solidity is still there. Auxerre have what can barely be considered a chance early on, shooting tamely from 40 yards, but other than that they don’t trouble Fofana’s goal. Instead, we create chance after chance, unable to hit the target. I bring on Mbala on the hour and he makes the difference, even if it’s late. He runs on to a Jason Tre through ball and crosses for Tattevin to turn into the far corner. Another win, and another clean sheet. If only we could make them a little more comfortable.
Jean Nicolai’s Grenoble side are a bit of a mirror of ours. They create a lot of chances, but don’t seem to be able to put as many away as they should. They concede more than we do, which is why they are sat in 10th, but they are a decent side and are full of hardworking players. Tattevin has picked up a knock, so Mbala comes into the side, and Cadiou replaces Ndoye. Aajji has some fitness issues but I’ll give him the first half, and Latouchent or Cestor can replace him depending on where we are.
It’s another very tight game with the two defences on top. Grenoble keep trying to come down the wings but our wingbacks are phenomenal, breaking up everything in the first half. I bring on Latouchent for the second period and he gives us a bit more impetus. They hold us at bay until 63 minutes, when Tre plays a perfect, defence-splitting pass. Kevin Mbala runs onto it and slips it past the goalkeeper. It hits the post, bobbles along the line, but slowly crosses into the net for his first goal for the club. I bring on some more defensive minded players and they don’t give us any trouble. Another 1-0 win.
Our final game in September sees us host Pau. Pau have not started the season especially well, and are only off the bottom of the league by virtue of having a single goal advantage in goal difference from Quevilly-Rouen. They have the worst defence in the division, conceding 24 in their opening 11 fixtures, and their goalscoring record is only slightly worse than ours. Despite Mbala’s goal against Grenoble, Tattevin is fit and starts again. Other than that, we’re unchanged.
Another day, another 1-0 win. This one is closer than it should have been Pau create a number of chances and Fofana does well to keep us in the game. Tattevin scores inside twenty minutes, and then although we push forward and create more, we can’t find a second goal. We can never find a second goal. I won’t complain at three more points, but at some point that is going to hurt us. So far, though, so good.
I’ll be the first to admit that three 1-0 wins in a row isn’t the most exciting form, but we’re new in this division and we’re performing magnificently. Three points is three points, whether you win 1-0 or 5-0, and we have managed to stay in the promotion places. I won’t ever call that a problem.
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