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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August ’24

It was a chastening defeat to Rennes, and showed how far we have to go. Aside from that, we are scoring much more freely, but also conceding like there’s no tomorrow – our eight conceded after four games is not only completely against every fibre of my footballing philosophy, it is also the worst outside of the bottom five. We won’t become Kevin Keegan’s entertainers. They lost the league. I won’t allow it.

The positive is that we are sixth after playing four of our nearest rivals. Champions League aside, I count just three especially challenging fixtures over the next four months. PSG and Marseille will wait until October, but first up in September we take on Monaco.

Monaco were inarguably disappointing last season, finishing much closer to the relegation places than the European. But they recruited well in the summer, the star being Ousmane Dembele coming in from Barcelona, and have won two and drawn two of their opening four. More concerningly for them is that they have played three teams looking at the relegation zone, and only Troyes who shouldn’t be. So there is a chance here to get back on track. If we can get a decent result, and the confidence that will bring going into the run of easier fixtures, it could set up a good season.

It’s a really even game. Defensively, we’re solid again, which is promising, but we don’t create too much of concern. Whenever either side breaks forward, they seem unable to hit the target, although Fofana is forced into a couple of saves. Just after the break, Tattevin turns home a Fomba cross to give us the lead. We try to hold on, but Dembele is too good and breaks down the left, drawing Camara over to cover and laying back to Volland to equalise. They come at us a little in the closing stages, but it ends a draw, and another point not to be sniffed at.

Christ Mukelenge has picked up a knock and will miss between three and six weeks, which is a blow. He has that youthful electricity – he’ll take anyone on, he’s not afraid of going forward – and he’ll be missed. But our thoughts turn to bigger fish.

The Champions League anthem comes in quite suddenly at the packed out Stade Jean-Bouin. We are at the state-of-the-art facility for our European games, and I walk our changed team out into unfamiliar surroundings. It may be the biggest game in Red Star’s history, but it’s still midweek, the league is still the most important, and the players are tired. We are expected to get beaten, heavily, in every game, but we’re here. At Europe’s top table. Equals with Real Madrid, with Liverpool, with Bayern, and yes, with PSG. Let’s show the continent who we are.

All in all, that’s a bad night. The first half is just Porto camped in our half peppering the goal, and Yahia Fofana stepping up to the big occasion, but right before the break he is beaten. I get into them at half time and demand more, and we push forward. But we are undone by a corner, with Samuel Umtiti nodding home, and then a penalty where I couldn’t even see a challenge, to put us 3-0 down. Doukansy picks up a second yellow just to compound a terrible night, and Benrahou nabs a consolation late on.

We’ll pick ourselves up and go again, against Montpellier at the weekend. They are a side that are talked about as relegation candidates, but finished last season safely mid-table and have started the season well, sitting third. But there are problems afoot. Stephy Mavididi is on the transfer list after refusing to sign a new contract. He is perhaps the first player in history to throw his toys out of the pram because he wasn’t allowed to join Sunderland, who are still in League One. Perhaps he thought that was the top flight, like it is in France. Who knows. Mukelenge’s injury gives Ehling a chance, and Barroso comes up from the under-19s and onto the bench.

That’s more like it! A really professional performance, and we spend the first half soaking up pressure. We have Fofana to thank for going into the break level, and it’s a foundation we can build on for the second half. Doukansy scores from a corner to give us the lead, and as Montpellier push forward for an equaliser we are clinical, first Brahimi firing home an Daclinat cutback, and then Daclinet getting one for himself after some excellent play from Tattevin. Three points, and confidence up.

Metz have won three and lost three, so unsurprisingly are right in the middle of the table. They are the most average of sides in every respect – they have scored the average amount of goals, conceded the average amount of goals, and spent the average amount in the transfer window. If we’re going to fight at the top again, we’ll beat them. If we’re going to struggle (my performance analyst calls that “regressing to the mean”) then we’ll struggle against them. It’s midweek and I refuse to learn my lesson, so it’s a whole raft of changes. Barroso gets a start.

It is almost like a caricature of a Red Star performance, in that we score early, miss the chances we do have, and stifle the game down to a boring, drab finish. There’s not even twenty minutes on the clock when Barroso finds some space on the left, cuts back onto his right foot, and slides it across to Barreto, who fires home, but Metz don’t offer much of a threat and, although we have more chances, neither do we. Daclinet has a goal disallowed after the break for offside, but other than that, it’s another of our boring 1-0 wins.

It’s the first XI back in for our weekend game against Nantes, and I’m expecting a better performance. Or, at least, something more exciting. Although a couple of clean sheets in a row is pleasing, given how we started. Fofana has moved from the worst three trainers back into the best three (as he was all of last season), so perhaps he’s starting to warm up to the idea of staying with us.

We are well worth the win here, even though we go behind. We hit the post before falling behind to a cross that we clear well – something we haven’t been doing – but Durdevic recycles the ball across to an unmarked Bergstrom to fire past Fofana. But we don’t panic, we come in at half time, and we regroup. The second half sees Sissoko beat Durdevic on the right and play a long, glorious through ball between the right back and centre back, and Tattevin slides it past Lafont to level. We smell blood in the water, and Nantes drop back to try and defend the point. Daclinat comes on to add extra firepower, and we fight for it. It takes it’s time and Daclinat and then Barreto hit the bar, but as we enter the last five minutes Daclinat sends Ehling down the right and he crosses. Tattevin steals in behind the defence and stabs home, for a deserved second. Nantes try to get a late equaliser, but it’s too late and it’s three more points.

Three wins and a draw in the league is a pretty good month in my book. Sure, Porto smashed us in Europe, and they are probably the weakest of the teams we will face at that level, but we are about four years ahead of ourselves and don’t have the finances to compete at that level at all, or even to field a decent strength side both midweek and at the weekend. The Champions League is just a learning experience for us. Which is lucky, because the players are exhausted and Roma are next.

October ’24

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