Search
On FM Scout you can chat about Football Manager in real time since 2011. Here are 10 reasons to join!

Olympique Lyonnais: The Lyons Will Leap Again

Started on 6 July 2014 by pompeyblue
Latest Reply on 2 September 2014 by pompeyblue
  • POSTS230
  • VIEWS60835
Pages  
MCox93: Thank you man!

AaronHJFT96: It's no problem mate, I could say exactly the same thing about your story too ;)

Purple Bananaa: Huge thanks for the support buddy :D

ASR-PSV: Cheers ASR, as you say hopefully we can reclaim the top spot next month :)
Well, duh, what you expect.. condoms?
Pauker: :))
pompeyblue's avatar pompeyblue
10 yearsEdited

FANS VIEW: Episode 2



After another month of football goes by, once again it has been an action packed period for Olympique Lyonnais. The season had been going excellently, with the team playing with a new found believe under the new man in charge, so it was only a matter of time before Juninho’s men would slip and find a loss of form. Although it hasn’t been too bad recently, the standards have been set high around Stade de Gerland following the superb start to the season, and in most games the players were playing nowhere near the required level.

Nonetheless, it’s once again time to get an insight into the minds of the clubs supporters on our article, ‘FANS VIEW’. We will ask for the opinions of the three loyal Les Gones supporters, Josh Slater, Neal Hasan and Jeremy Pauker, hopefully giving you a little more in-depth analysis of all the hottest topics around the club at the moment as well as entertaining you a little too.


Although the club still managed to achieve 3 wins this month, many fans have been left deflated with the poor performances in general and the even more deflating loss to Paris Saint Germain. Have the displays from the players, really been that bad though, or is it just we are expecting too much from this team after the incredible start to the new campaign?

Slater: “No, I don’t think that is the case at all, Our performances of late really have been really disappointing. Although we did manage to pick up three wins, we want to be entertained when we watch our side, and the entertaining attacking brand of football has been missing. I will be a reasonable man and say, that I didn’t expect us to get a good result against Paris Saint Germain, but what was so frustrating was the heartless, passionless display from the players, in what was such a big game.”

Hasan: “Maybe we are starting to expect too much, maybe not. The stunning start to the new season could have just been the immediate effect of a new manager coming in, and this effect could have just worn off. What I am hoping however, is this is simply just a very minor blip in form, because to be fair it wasn’t as bad of a month as people have made it out to be. We only lost the single game, drew one and won 3, so the results in general were good. But, yes I suppose this does show that we are starting to set the standards way too high from the players, when it is tough to maintain the high tempo we were playing at.”

Pauker: ”I think that most fans, have been taken back to reality this month, as we saw the Lyon we were used to watching last season. We haven’t been as dominant as we have been in games previously, and some players form is beginning to drop off too. The loss against PSG was horrific to watch, and although we did win a few games including a 4-0 win over Slovan Liberec, we should have put in a lot stronger displays.”

One man, in particular, who is being criticized is striker Alexandre Lacazette. Along with the entire Olympique Lyonnais side, he was in top form earlier on in the season, however he has really struggled lately and could only manage the single goal last month. What are your views on the Frenchman’s form at the moment, and where has it all gone wrong?

Slater: ”Obviously, Lacazette form has coincided with the team’s poor displays, and he has been one of the most disappointing players on the pitch in recent games. Not only is this worrying for himself personally, but it should worry us that our leading striker, is currently not firing on all cylinders as he should be. But to be fair, every striker can have a bad run, and hopefully he can put this behind him and push on next month.”

Hasan: “I think we have all been let down by Lacazette in the past few weeks, as we know he is capable of so much more. It could be that the midfielders are not supplying him many opportunities, and that would be down to their bad form too, or it could be that he is just having a bad spell that strikers sometimes endure. Nonetheless, it is still encouraging to see, that we have won games even without him scoring. But, if we are to enjoy some success, we really do need him to get back on a goal scoring run.”

Pauker: “Well, I don’t know entirely what has gone wrong to be honest, but I think the most logical answer would be what Josh and Emma have said. Lacazette’s lack of form has coincided with the team’s poor displays and a lack of service from the midfield players. Playing as the lone striker is always going to be tough, but we had been seeing past this due to the fantastic attacking play which created a ton of opportunities. Now that the team has not been playing to that level, thus there is a severe lack of chances for Lacazette to score goals from.”

Finally, to conclude this episode, do you think ‘Juni’s’ team can get back to their old ways next month and deliver some scintillating attacking football which was distinctly missing last month?

Slater: “Yes, I would like to hope so. It should be interesting either way, with many players needing to step back up to the mark and prove themselves again. I will also be keeping my eye on what ‘Juni’ does to try and re-galvanise the squad, it should be as much of a test for the players as it is for him, to prove his man management skills.”

Hasan: ”I am confident, that we can, so yeah. The squad just need to write any poor performances off as minor dips in form, forget about it, and push on. The players need to aim to keep up the high tempo in matches, play fluent, attacking football, and entertain the fans too while picking up points. Okay, it’s never going to be easy, but they are all very talented and with the helping hand of Juninho I think we will bounce back and get some very good results again.”

Pauker: ”yh ofc m8.”

That’s it for today’s episode of ‘FANS VIEW’, but be sure to join us and our three wonderful experts next time for more Les Gones talk!


yh ofc m8 :))

Nice update pompey, the fans have a lot to say! :P
Pauker: ”yh ofc m8.”
I like how Pauker straight just called me Emma :))
Josh, Walter and Neal: Silleh Pauker, its so typical of him though, isn't it? :))
wat ,-,
Pauker: lel.

December 2014 – A Very Merry Christmas.



After a slightly disappointing month in November, with questions raised from some of the fans, the festive period of December gave us the opportunity to hit back at the critics while trying to regain top spot in the league. It really was a pivotal period for the club and one which could possibly change the outcome of the season.

Results.



The month got underway with a league fixture away to Toulouse. As our opponents, have shown other the course of the season, they are no pushovers and were in a very impressive 4th place, as we prepared to take them on. Thankfully though, we did manage to come away with all three points, a 2-1 win doing this. It took 64 minutes until there was an opener, Yoann Gourcuff scoring to break the deadlock, but then after so long waiting for a goal, we had another straight after. Abel Aguilar hooked the ball past the goalkeeper and into his own net, just a minute later, and with 10 minutes to go the hosts had a goal of their own, but by then it was too little, too late.

Our next game, was the only home game of the month, a Ligue 1 clash against Stade de Reims. It took just 5 minutes for Clement Grenier, and from then on out, the result never looked in doubt. We dominated proceedings and could have had plenty of goals, but in the end Alexandre Lacazette was the man to round off the scoring, at only 2-0.

A trip in the league to Bordeaux followed, making it our 3rd game of the week. It was a fairly even match, throughout with both sides playing some nice football and creating a lot of chances too. Both keepers were in fine form as well, keeping their respective side with a fighting chance in the game still. It took an own goal from Cheick Diabate to put Les Gones in front on the stroke of half time and it looked like that would win them the game, heading into the 90th minute. But it proved not to be, as Julian Faubert hit an equaliser late into stoppage time, to snatch a last gasp point for the home side.

We faced our final Europa League group stage game thereafter, up against Hajduk Split, with qualification and 1st place already secured. Hajduk meanwhile, were guaranteed to finish bottom of the group no matter what, and so in that case it was a bit of a pointless game. The match itself was played out in this manner too, with none of the players putting much effort in, and instead the focus on the pitch was to stay fit. A own goal from Hajduk’s Mate Tomas, to decide the game, sums up the game perfectly, lacklustre. Regardless, it was another win for Lyon, a win which will help further in boosting squad morale.

Next up, was our first foray into domestic up action, with a fixture in the Coupe de la Ligue against Valenciennes. Naturally we controlled the game against the Ligue 2 opposition, with Alexandre Lacazette firing a brace in the second half to give us a 2-0 lead. But, the hosts did show good resilience throughout and were rewarded for their effort with a goal late on, but couldn’t do enough to stop themselves slipping out of the competition at the expense of us progressing.

The final game of December, saw us take on FC Nantes, in Ligue 1. Earlier on in the season, we walked over Les Canaris with a 5-0 home victory and once again we were dominant in this game, but not as dominant in the score line with a 3-1 win the final outcome. Tom Ince bagged a brace in the space of 9 minutes with Alexandre Lacazette chipping in with the other. Our opponents pulled one back from the penalty spot, but this was a mere consolation, as we rounded off an unbeaten month.


Standings.



We may not have reclaimed top spot in the league, still sitting in 2nd place, however we clearly have the upper hand on Paris Saint Germain. We trail the league leaders by just 3 points, but with two games in hand, we can have a 3 point lead over them ourselves if we are to win those two games.

As for the Europa League, the group stages have now been concluded, with us storming to 1st place. We didn’t lose a single game, and were a whole 6 points above Slovan Liberec, who qualified along with us.


Player of the Month.



So after a return to more usual form, Alexandre Lacazette collects the Player of the Month award, for December. The French striker hit home 4 goals in 6 games, answering the critics, after a poor month beforehand. He created opportunities for his team mates in addition to scoring goals, and was looking much more like the player he was at the start of the season, which is very encouraging.


Juninho’s Judgement.


Now that is more like it! 5 wins out of a possible 6 and an unbeaten run, was much more than what I expected to get out of this month heading into it, and is the perfect way to bounce back from the disappointment of November. The lads returned to playing slick, attacking football in all of the games, which got us results effectively and entertained the fans too. Every player put in a great effort and showed the critics up, that we are a very good team and our early season form was certainly not that of a fluke.


Thank goodness, if Lacazette didn't win this month I'd have stopped reading.
great month mate!
Neal: Good thing he won, then, I suppose ;)

AAN: Thanks man! :D

’Juni’ praises team’s response.




Olympique Lyonnais manager has praised his side for the way they responded to the 3-1 league loss to Paris Saint Germain last month, after enjoying an unbeaten month in December.

After an unbeaten start to the 2014/15 campaign, the clubs’ performances dropped off in November, prompting questions and even criticism from some fans. Despite 3 wins in 5 games, most of the games were evidently lacking a strong attacking showing from Lyon, something supporters had become accustomed to earlier on, in new manager Juninho’s tenure.

In particular, an abysmal display and devastating 3-1 loss to PSG in Ligue 1, signified the loss ov form. The team looked a far cry from a side which had been wiping many of its opponents away in recent games, and thus raised the topic that maybe the good form previously had just been a fluke.

But, after another month of football has gone by, the stars of the Les Gones side have proved otherwise with an unbeaten run in December. This includes wins against Toulouse, Stade de Reims, Hajudk, Valenciennes and Nantes, with all of these games serving up plenty of entertainment, unlike games of the month before.

After overseeing his team’s quick return to form, manager Juninho has admitted that he had some harsh words to say following the loss to rivals Paris Saint Germain, but praised his team’s response over the past month. The 38 year old Brazilian said;

”I will be honest in saying, I wasn’t easy on the boys after our loss to Paris Saint Germain. I want to see my players putting in 100% effort for the club, and doing every single one of our supporter’s proud, and I didn’t see that at all. I told them to step it up, get their act together, and start playing like they were playing, and to be fair to them they have.

What I watched from my side this month, was a huge improvement, and we were back playing our brand of football which proved so effective. Entertaining, attacking, quick football. I want this type of football to become the norm from a Lyon side, regardless of who the manager is. Not only do I want success this season, but I want huge success to follow after that too, quite obviously. I want to build a legacy at this club.”


Even after a great month though, ‘Juni’ as he is affection ally nicknamed by the club’s supporters, was still adamant that reinforcements were needed as we head into the January transfer window.

”Yes, we had a great run of games, but I do believe we need some reinforcements and will be looking to add to the squad in January. I won’t name any names, however, I am currently casting my eye over some players, and hopefully will be able to get some deals done soon.”

Meanwhile, the draw for the Europa League 1st knockout round is due to be made on Friday. Olympique Lyonnais are of course to be involved, having topped Group C, and could potentially face the likes of Manchester United, Napoli or Liverpool.


You are reading "Olympique Lyonnais: The Lyons Will Leap Again".

FMS Chat

Stam
hey, just wanted to let you know that we have a fb style chat for our members. login or sign up to start chatting.