After a season away from European football’s top table, the Red Devils returned to action at the Parc des Princes, where just 19 months ago they secured one of their greatest ever comebacks in this competition. Playing against an extremely poor Paris Saint-Germain side, the away team were able to secure a late 2-1 win thanks to, once again, Marcus Rashford.

Bruno Fernandes had opened the scoring with a retaken penalty but the hosts looked on course for a point after Anthony Martial turned a corner into his own goal.

United got a relatively easy game as PSG players seemed uninterested. In this analysis, I will try to break down what both teams have done right and what they could have done better. 

Thinking behind both line-ups

Thomas Tuchel had to deal with the injuries of Marco Verratti, Thilo Kehrer, Juan Bernat, Mauro Icardi, and Marquinhos. Four of them started the Champions’ League Final last August. With Ángel Di María not being able to feature in PSG’s last three Ligue 1 games due to a red card and the not completely fit Ander Herrera, Danilo Pereira, and Rafinha, Tuchel had quite the difficult task to find a competitive team.

The German manager decided to opt for a 4-3-3, changing from his usual 4-4-2 he uses in Ligue 1. The aim behind this was to have more bodies in midfield to prevent transitions from occurring, something United are excellent at.

On the other hand, United started the game in a 5-2-3 with Bruno Fernandes as a False nine. They adopted their usual plan for big games by conceding possession and hitting the opponent on the counter. This is why Fred and Scott McTominay were picked ahead of Paul Pogba in the starting line-up. Alex Telles was making his debut, while Axel Tuanzebe was playing his first game in ten months, with Maguire was out because of an injury.

PSG lacked players in the opposition box in the first half

My main criticism regarding PSG’s approach was the fact they lacked players in the opposition box as a result of option for the 4-3-3 instead of the 4-4-2. I do not know if Kean was fit enough to start but if he was not, it is difficult to see what Tuchel might have done differently, even though this switch prevented PSG from effectively implementing their attacking play. The French side has been designed to play to both Mbappé and Neymar’s strengths, which is to all for them to both interchange off the left side with the left-back making late overlapping runs to find a cutback. The space they have to find out wide can only be created if someone pins the opponent’s centre-backs. This repetitions only successfully occurred at the start of the second half when Moise Kean came in.

In the still below, you can see Layvin Kurzawa crossing the ball even though nobody was there to get on the end of his cross.

Kylian Mbappé had to drop deeper to collect the ball from time to time as there weren’t enough bodies to pin United’s defence, so the Frenchman used his intelligence to attempt to disrupt the opposition’s back line, thus creating space between the lines for Neymar to run into. However, Manchester United remained compact and didn’t allow for any space in behind to their opponent.

These dynamics in this specific play resulted in Neymar releasing the ball as he attempted a pass to Di Maria in a one against two situation.

In the second half, Moise Kean allowed PSG to switch back to a 4–4-2 which consequently drew United deeper at the start of the second half. PSG were finally able to find pockets of space between the lines to then play their usual overloads on the left-side for either Kurzawa or Mbappé’s overlapping runs.

In the instance below, Neymar is found by Di Maria and faces the play. He is then able to pick out Mbappé with a simple ball, which created momentum for PSG as Mbappé’s overlapping run coincided with Tuanzebe deciding to leave his backline to press Neymar who was the ball-carrier. Unfortunately for PSG, Kean didn’t sense the opportunity by making a run to the near post, the Everton loanee instead moved behind Lindelöf, which failed.

United were still able to defend well enough, even following the 4-4-2 switch, even though they should also say a massive thanks to Kurzawa who was exceptionally poor with deliveries and dribbling once the ball came to his side for a cutback. He never provided the ball in the right space at the right time.

In the still below, Di Maria was able to find Neymar between the lines. Both Mbappé and Kean pinned United’s centre-backs which created the space for Neymar to receive it. The Brazilian then passed the ball back to his teammate who finds Kurzawa on the overlap. The left-back completely mishits his low cross and United recovered the ball pretty easily.

In the 82nd minute, PSG could have scored from a mistake by United’s pivot as they left space to Neymar in the middle of the park. However, Neymar’s shot was stopped by David De Gea, who was remarkably good on Tuesday night.

No intensity from PSG’s front three

I have watched this game three times and still came to the same conclusion: Kylian Mbappé and Neymar were not anywhere near their usual levels on Tuesday. Di María has an excuse as he was out of form, but the former two have nothing to hide behind. PSG are the team I’ve watched the most last season after United so I know both teams inside and out and frankly, it has happened way too many times that both Neymar and Mbappé were not good enough on major occasions (against Dortmund away or against Liverpool away two seasons ago among others). But, we should also definitely give credit to United’s defence who were compact off the ball (albeit in some occurrences I already showed you above).

However, what was borderline unprofessional and disgraceful from PSG’s front three was their total lack of tracking back in United’s transitions and failure to press the United defence when they were out of possession. You can be underperforming going forward or even be shut down by the great work of the opponent (it was a bit of both on Tuesday) but you have to work for your teammates when you don’t have the ball. In the second minute of the game, you can see the front three not pressing United players, with Tuchel screaming at them to push higher. They simply were not willing to do the work for the team.

United’s second goal is an example of where Pogba has all the time in the world to find Marcus Rashford. Many more examples are depicted below.

In the still below, you can see Fernandes picking up the ball with time to take the shot. PSG’s forwards were still in United’s half, which shouldn’t be happening as they should make more effort for the team.

The only time they worked for the team was during the first twenty minutes of the second half and this is when PSG dominated United. You can see all the PSG players in their own half attempting to defend as a unit and be compact.

Finally, I wanted to pick up on what was the most telling lack of off the ball work from PSG. Luke Shaw picked up the ball deep and in wide areas, which often provoked delicious opportunities for PSG to press or produce traps. However, nothing happened. Shaw was able to find his teammates in wide areas and United players were able to put together quick combinations to take the ball out from the back and find teammates in the opponent’s half. This was possible as both Neymar and Di Maria didn’t move at all during this 10 second sequence.

Knowing United’s struggles to play out the back against a press, it would have been interesting to see PSG trying to press immediately in their defensive third. Nothing as such happened, which helped United gain confidence throughout the game.

J.K.

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Ouest-France report that Ligue 1 side Angers’ striker, Stéphane Bahoken, was on Tuesday arrested by police and taken into custody on suspicion of threatening his partner with violence and physically assaulting her on previous occasions.

The 28-year-old refused his right to a lawyer and admitted partial guilt, per the local outlet, all whilst defending his actions.

He will be tried by prosecution tomorrow (Wednesday 28th October 2020). It is a busy week in court for the Ligue 1 side, as on Thursday, club colleague and winger Farid El Melali will be tried for exposing his sex organs to unwitting members in his apartment block.

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Speaking in an interview with Canal Football Club, Sevilla’s French central defender Jules Koundé confirmed that he spoke with Pep Guardiola during the summer transfer window about a move to Manchester City, but that his Spanish club rejected the €55m offer.

“Yes I spoke with Guardiola, I had him on the phone, it went very well. We had a discussion, in Spanish, he has some words in French, I was interested in going it was a super opportunity, I had guarantees around playing, but it wasn’t done. They could have said it was a very good sum and that they were not going to do any better (than the €55m that Manchester City offered Sevilla), but it shows what they think of me, that I am a boy who works hard and who can improve, which is why the declined I think.”

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Paris Saint-Germain held on to claim the three points with a vital 1-0 win over RB Leipzig at Parc des Princes on Tuesday. This win gives them new hope of qualifying from Champions League Group H as they now sit in second and have destiny in their own hands – if they win their last two games, they will go through. It took just 11 minutes for the hosts to go in front through Neymar from the penalty spot after Angel Di Maria was admittedly very softly fouled after good pressing from the home side.

The visitors grew in confidence during the second half and PSG were forced to stay back and defend against the ball. Thomas Tuchel was under major pressure coming into this game, but PSG got much needed three points.

While Julian Nagelsmann opted for a 4-4-2, Thomas Tuchel decided to play a 4-3-3 with Neymar as a false nine. Presnel Kimpembe was replaced by Abdou Diallo because of his red card against Leipzig in the last game.

Leandro Paredes started because Marquinhos was back to his more natural centre-back position. Finally, Mitchel Bakker was favoured by Tuchel.

A lack of control throughout the game

PSG had 37% possession throughout the game, they had no control and often relied on long balls to progress the play.

There were two main reasons for this issue. Firstly, the midfielders didn’t make themselves available between the lines to offer a passing lane to the centre-backs. But the second one was of a different nature. When PSG had to play out the back, they were either in a two or in a three. When they were two, they didn’t have numerical superiority against Leipzig’s two forwards to bypass the first line, which meant that Leipzig’s forwards were pressing them intensely. The midfielders didn’t offer themselves as options for the ball-carrier (often Diallo), consequently leading to hopeless long balls to their forwards. However, when they were in a three, they had this numerical superiority which meant Leipzig forwards couldn’t press them. They had more time to find their partner and it led to Neymar or Mbappé being found in the half-spaces with a good pass from Pereira or Diallo.

Neymar was able to take the ball deep and progress it thanks to his carries, he was also able to get one or two free-kicks but it was a poor performance from him overall on that side of the play. He often slowed down move construction with extra touches something that he is unlikely to have done to the same extent had he not been lacking in fitness.

Mbappé was better than usual in the context of his very difficult 2020 when he had to use the ball. He was found in the half-space from time to time and played simply to find a teammate. He was hard to find behind Leipzig’s imperious defensive line of Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahim Konaté but the French forward put in a strong effort.

It was Marco Verratti’s presence, coupled with Moise Kean and Pablo Sarabia coming on that brought a bit more control at the end of the game and PSG desperately needed this as Leipzig sustained pressure for 20 minutes in the second half. Les Parisiens were then able to get out of pressure situations thanks to a combination of the diminutive Italian playmaker but also to Rafinha. Both were helped by Sarabia and Kean who pressed immediately after PSG lost the ball, which helped PSG to sustain pressure in their opponent’s half, something Neymar, Mbappé and Angel Di Maria simply didn’t do towards the end of their time on the pitch.

PSG were pretty lucky – Leipzig are struggling to find the dynamism that they were used to having last season. It’s mostly due to the fact they have lost Patrik Schick and Timo Werner, who excelled between the lines. They were able to circulate the ball from right to left much better in order to find the wing-backs into space. They struggle to do that currently.

They were able to find Dani Olmo or Yussuf Poulsen between the lines like highlighted below but those players struggled making the difference.

Disjointed press

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PSG’s press was disjointed because players didn’t make the effort as a team.

Neymar’s pressing completely disappeared in the second half while in the first 45, he was quite good in that regard. It is probably due to his lack of match fitness. He made 25 pressures during the whole game, which is quite impressive overall. Much more impressive than Mbappé who was PSG’s laziest forward. He didn’t have the will to make the efforts Neymar often did in the first half for instance.

However, both were often making the press for the sake of it. If you press as high as PSG were willing to do in the first 30 minutes, it is either you go all in to try to win the ball back or you don’t do it at all and close down space in a different manner. This is highlighted below.

While Mbappé was “faking” the press, Di Maria and Neymar decided to press, but too late. Their press made Leipzig’s holding midfielder available between the lines and Péter Gulácsi was able to pick him up, effectively bypassing the first line of pressure.

They then didn’t track back which caused PSG to defend with only seven players because the front three didn’t react to being bypassed. This is depicted below.

The lack of cohesion is also highlighted below. While Di María closes Dayot Upamecano’s passing lane to his right-back Nordi Mukiele thanks to his cover shadow, Neymar is barely jogging when he should have already been close to Di María to close down the space that Upamecano had to drive forward. The Frenchman drove forward in the space highlighted in the still and found a teammate higher up the pitch.

However, not everything was bad when it came to PSG’s press. The penalty followed a really good press from the whole team and they recovered the ball high up the pitch to immediately get to the box in less than three passes. Di María then got fouled.

The still below is also a good example. Di María was closing down the left-hand side with his cover shadow while Neymar made the effort to close down the immediate access to the half-space. Upamecano could have passed the ball back but he wanted to play it forward so he made a long ball that PSG won back.

Once again, PSG could have been more effective if they were more consistent in their pressing. They could have sustained pressure a bit more and their counter-pressing that became effective at the end thanks to fresh blood would have helped them even more in sustaining this pressure earlier on. The lack of fitness is obviously a reason for this but the lack of consistency they show week in and week out in Ligue 1 when it comes to repeatedly making efforts costs them in the Champions League as they are not used to doing it.

Conclusion

Because football isn’t black or white, you can’t pinpoint one guilty character. Tuchel and the change in philosophy, Leonardo and his poor decisions on the transfer market this summer, the constant injuries from major players since the start of the season, or even the lack of implication from most players are all massive issues that explain the poor performances from PSG so far this season.

J.K.

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Premier League side Liverpool made contact with 20-year-old Dutch central defender Sven Botman’s agent in November about a possible future transfer, according to our colleagues at Foot Mercato.

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LFC are without Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk for an extended period of time and could move to sign a central defender next month. Talks however have not advanced past the stage of simple contact, according to sources contacted by Get French Football News.

Inter Milan have also made initial enquiries for the ex-Ajax man. LOSC are telling clubs that they want €50m in order to sell Botman, but owing to the very public nature of their recent financial disarray, it seems probable that Les Dogues would be willing to sell the player for €30m, which would triple the fee that they paid just 6 months ago for him: €10m.

Speaking in an interview with Nemzeti Sport, German tactician and ex-PSG boss Thomas Tuchel’s assistant Zsolt Löw has given his side of the story after he and the rest of the German’s staff were fired on Christmas Eve.

“We were surprised because on the 23rd December, after winning a match 4-0 against Strasbourg, Leonardo, brought us together to say that the club was no longer counting on Thomas for the future. After having to face considerable difficulties in 2020, after achieving historic success with PSG, after going through the group stage of the Champions’ League in autumn, and we were in full swing in the league, it made the decision very difficult to understand. And the fact that we were impacted by numerous injuries throughout the season, and had to come up against COVID-19. I think that it was a great professional success to finish the year the way we did. We overperformed, that is the truth.”

“We were shocked by the announcement. The summer window did not go as we wanted, the main players who left after the Final 8 were not correctly replaced. That created tensions between certain board members and the staff, as well as with the Sporting Director who was espousing management principles that were different to that of the coach. I don’t want to delve into the details. They had different ideas in a number of domains, and the difference in viewpoint accrued over time. This led to Leonardo deciding to create a future with a different staff. To be honest this situation could not have lasted. It was better to stop now, nearly at the summit, to say goodbye with a great majority of wonderful memories. Not to have followed Thomas would have gone against my values. Before, I had the opportunity to take the place of managers at Salzburg and Leipzig, and I did not take those opportunities. When I fight alongside someone, it is for better or worse.”

“The professional relationship between Thomas and I is extremely tight, he keeps his word, he counts on me, that is why I feel part of the successes. And the failures too. I arrived at PSG upon his call 2.5 years ago, I was alongside him at all times.”

On Nasser Al Khelaifi:

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He appreciates our work and our results. However, you have to also note that when he brought Leonardo back to PSG, he gave him free rein, so from a professional standpoint, it was above all the Sporting Director who decided. The president sent two messages in recent days, writing kind words. He thanked us for what we had done for the club, underlining the fact that we achieved historic success… At this level in football, deep human relationships are quite rare. Clubs like PSG are exposed to that, colossal sums are spent, things boom quickly. Sporting success is paramount, close human relationships are rarely achieved. The stars live in a bubble, as closed off to people as possible, to protect their private life. Why do I say all that? Because one of our biggest successes was that the players felt over the course of time that we were professionally and on a human side capable of winning titles with them. Over the course of two and a half years, we tried to remain human in all circumstances, we found the right balance. 

We were setting the course, we treated the players like partners, they could talk to us anytime, on anything. Give and receive. I think that a group and a unit, unprecedented at PSG, has emerged. And yes, from Kylian Mbappé to Marco Verratti to Presnel Kimpembe or Abdou Diallo, almost all of them have sent me a message. Reading the messages, I realised that those two and a half years made sense. In addition to being successful, feelings developed. It really helped us come to terms with what happened to us on December 23rd/24th. We have won the respect of the players. We couldn’t have gotten more than that. 

Téléfoot Chaine report that Ligue 2 side Châteauroux are in pole position to land Polish international goalkeeper Marcin Bulka on loan until the end of the season from Ligue 1 leaders PSG.

The 21-year-old joined FC Cartagena on loan in summer, in an arrangement which was initially accepted to run until the end of the 2020/21 campaign but one that is now going to be cut short.

In Germany, Wolfsburg would like to bring Bulka in as a substitute option, but the Polish goalkeeper wants to move to Ligue 2 and play.

The strong relationship between PSG and key Châteauroux decision-makers, Benoît Cauet and Jérôme Leroy, is expected to have been essential in getting this deal done.

Bulka is able to play for another team this campaign owing to the exceptional ruling that FIFA introduced in June 2020 that allows for player for this season only to represent 3 clubs rather than the usual rule of two owing to the COVID-19-induced economic crisis in football.

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Ligue 1 side Marseille on Tuesday confirmed the departure of 26-year-old central midfielder Morgan Sanson to Premier League side Aston Villa in a deal worth around €18m.

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The player passed a medical on Monday in Paris and yesterday signed a 4.5 year contract with Aston Villa.

Sanson posted a message of thanks to the French club on social media on Tuesday night:

“4 years… Life moves fast, a career moves very fast. The end of an incredible and unforgettable adventure here in the city of football. I arrived in Marseille, a young guy at 22, I am leaving as the father of a family. This club has made me grow on the sporting and the human sides. Thanks to OM, such a big club that it is, renowned across the world for all the moments I have had here, some sometimes tricky situations, difficult moments with periods of crisis… But so many incredible moments, extraordinary and indescribable atmospheres that I will never forget, an unimaginable fervour and immeasurable passion that makes the charm of this club so unique. My thoughts are with all the people who helped me on a daily basis and made my time here better: my teammates, the different sporting and medical staffs, the board, the communication department, people in the administration department, the fans and of course coach AVB. It is with a heavy heart that I tell you goodbye. A page of my life and my career is turning, with the feeling of also having achieved good work and having always given everything for this shirt… Thanks for the hundreds of messages of thanks, love… I did not arrive as a Marseillais but have become one.”

As reported by L’Équipe, Championship side Watford’s attempts to sign French midfielder James Léa-Siliki have hit a stumbling block in that Rennes President Nicolas Holveck does not want to deal with the Hornets until they have made the €8m payment due to the Ligue 1 club for the transfer of Senegalese winger Ismaila Sarr, who the London club bought from Rennes in 2019 for €30m plus bonuses.

Léa-Siliki’s priority is to join the English club, as he views the Championship as a good place to springboard a career in England, but he has been caught in a situation bigger than his own future. SRFC had already accepted a loan with a €4m option to buy bid from Anderlecht for the midfielder, but he is not interested in joining Vincent Kompany’s club. Genoa have also positioned themselves with a virtually identical proposal.

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Watford are trying to convince Holveck to let them do the deal for Léa-Siliki with promises that they will make the delayed Sarr payments between now and the end of the current season. It is currently unclear whether or not this will be enough to convince Rennes to do the deal. SRFC will come to a decision on the matter definitively this weekend.

New interest in “JLS” is appearing all the time, with an unnamed Spanish side making a loan without option to buy proposal for the Frenchman in recent hours.

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Bordeaux have often been forced to take bold decisions, usually in tumultuous circumstances. This was seen in July 2020, when the club were reported to be interested in hiring their former assistant coach, 67-year-old Jean Louis Gasset. This came after reports of then-manager Paolo Sousa looking likely to resign.

However, Get French Football News then reported that Sousa was determined to stay, just weeks after attempting a resignation. As a side effect of this u-turn, was Bordeaux sporting director Eduardo Macia being sacked. This all came in a summer that show Bordeaux spend nothing on transfer fees. When Gasset arrived in late August, the odds were stacked against him.

Bordeaux had finished 12th in the cut-off 2019/20 season, yet expectations were low. They had lost powerful young midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni to AS Monaco. Their top scorer was Jimmy Briand, a 34-year-old striker, who had just mustered 7 in the 2019/20 Ligue 1 season.

Regardless, there were still lots of promising components at Bordeaux. Yacine Adli, Josh Maja, Samuel Kalu and Remi Oudin were considered as one of Ligue 1’s best quartets of young attacking talent. However, under Sousa, all had failed to click.

While Bordeaux were not in the picture for relegation in Get French Football News’ predictions in August 2020, little attention was paid to Les Girondins. Yet Jean Louis Gasset had some plans in store to make a great impact on his new side.

What has Jean Louis Gasset done?

Paulo Sousa operated Bordeaux in a three-at-the-back system in 2019/20. While they generally performed well, finishing just four points off of fifth placed Reims, the football was very stale.

This season, Jean Louis Gasset has reverted Bordeaux to a 4-2-3-1 (And some other 4 at the back shapes). The effects have been huge for Bordeaux on and off the field. It is also easy and interesting to see the thought behind this system change. 

In 2019, the club spent £9m on attacking player Remi Oudin from Stade de Reims. Yet he received less than 500 minutes under Sousa in Ligue 1 in 2019/20. This season though, he has found a home in a free-flowing attack created by Gasset. He is given more space and freedom to float across the pitch.

The decision to switch to a formation with a designated “number 10” was also no doubt done to accommodate Bordeaux’s single summer signing. On his day, 33-year-old Hatem Ben Arfa is one of the most dangerous forwards in the world. On other days, he is a luxury passenger not even PSG could effectively utilise.

When analysing Ben Arfa’s last three spells in French football, it is easy to understand why Gasset has switched to a 4-2-3-1. Ben Arfa flourished at Nice in 2015/16 while playing exclusively as a lone attacking midfielder behind a pair of strikers, scoring 17 goals. At PSG the following year, he struggled to break into the side playing 4-3-3. Then at Rennes in 2018/19, he was once again productive as an attacking midfielder, in a 4-2-3-1. This no doubt helped Gasset choose the system he would pursue.

These two factors, along with the criticism that fans had last season for Paulo Sousa’s style, would help drive the style of football chosen by Gasset to pursue. While Get French Football News wrote a great piece on how Paulo Sousa steadied the Bordeaux ship, fans were still left wanting from players like Maja and Kalu. Gasset would have to win matches in a more convincing and entertaining manner.

Has it worked?

On face value, the differences in Bordeaux’s performances seem small. They finished last season just 10 points clear of the relegation spots. They had a +6 goal difference. In 20/21 they are six points off fifth placed Rennes. They also have a -2 goal difference, conceding 29 goals in 24 matches. The side has just managed to score 27 goals.

Chart shows where Bordeaux league goals have come from 2019/20 compared 2020/21 (Understat)

Yet the manner of these goals, and the manner of the nine victories, have been far brighter than last season’s same number of wins. On matchday two, Jean Louis Gasset proved that Bordeaux had already improved under his management when they beat Angers 0-2 away from home. Bordeaux lost the same fixture last year 3-1. 

Bordeaux were also unlucky to lose away at Lyon recently, when Léo Dubois scored one of the goals of the season in the dying seconds. Lyon had been shut out by a well-organised, defensively astute Bordeaux, but a Les Girondins side that also posed a dangerous threat on the counter attack. 

Rudi Garcia’s men had been undone by simply beautiful football by Bordeaux. 20 year old Yacine Adli intercepted a clearance, drove into the box before laying it to Remi Oudin, who pulled it back for a belting finish for Samuel Kalu to originally make the tie 1-1.

Who has benefitted?

The previously struggling Yacine Adli had churned out another composed performance against Lyon. Last season he continuously and needlessly lost the ball, and he won less than 45% of his tackles.

Yacine Adli 2019/20 (FBREF) – Ligue 1 stats compared to 2020/21

In 2021 though, a well built and more tactically astute Yacine Adli bossed the midfield against Lyon. He even grabbed a goal in Bordeaux’s brilliant 2-2 draw against Adli’s old club, PSG. This is largely down to a positional change – Adli is now playing in a 2-man pivot, allowing him to create from deeper and have his back to goal less.

Remi Oudin has also seen his fortunes transform. He has been one of the key performers in Ligue 1, scoring four goals and assisting four more times. The 24-year-old even has two man of the match awards, given for his performances against Dijon and Lorient.

Samuel Kalu and Ben Arfa are also major actors in the Gasset revolution. Aside from the goal against Lyon, Kalu has scored twice more in Ligue 1 as he looks more confident than ever before. He even assisted Ben Arfa’s winner away at Rennes in November, a marquee victory in the new Gasset era.

Ben Arfa is once again producing goals and assists. His six goal contributions have helped Bordeaux on multiple occasions, as well as his progression of the ball. In fact, no one in all of France has completed more successful dribbles than Hatem Ben Arfa in Ligue 1 this season (3.6 p90). He even recently reached a landmark of 600 career dribbles completed in Ligue 1.

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What Gasset has done is fantastic. While Josh Maja has left for Fulham after once again struggling to make a large impact, Gasset has gotten value out of every other single one of Bordeaux’s talented players. Remi Oudin, Yacine Adli, Samuel Kalu, Toma Basic and Mehdi Zerkhane are all exciting footballers on the young side of 25 and are all experiencing great form. Even last season’s signing from Korea, Hwang Ui-Jo, has 6 league goals plus 2 assists. Jean Louis Gasset looks to have been a masterstroke in the dugout for Bordeaux. It will be interesting to see how the club can grows from this season onwards, and what potential heights it reaches.

A.B.