Red Bull In Paris : RB Paris

Patrice Evra and management have been very open about avoiding midseason moves barring youth signings. You usually spend too much, few teams want to sell, and you drop a player in the middle of team that has already been playing together. It can be messy, but a few things forced their hand as well as some good luck.

Jason Kikonda, with his contract expiring at the end of the year, has been asking for a rather substantial increase in his contract. With the BBM position so thin the club has been on the lookout for someone to sign over the summer, but the temperamental midfielder pushed the timetable forward and they pulled the trigger on an offer for Greg Docherty. Docherty wasn’t starting for Rangers so the increase in playing time was rather attractive. He had RB Paris over a barrel on some level, the transfer went down as €97K but really cost the club north of €250K thanks to agent fees and getting him to take a pay cut from €7K a week. Once Docherty was signed Kikonda was transfer listed but nobody came in for him.

Ousmane Kanté would greet the window by announcing he would retire at the end of the season, killing his market value, but he has been the 5th choice CB since the addition of Pierluigi Pinto and Haytham Al-Louz so there wasn’t that much pain felt on Evra’s side.

The drama, or excitement, generated in this window came from youth players. CM Youssouf Camara, who was purchased from Hafia FC, was loaned back to them as part of the deal and looked like he was ready to help with the senior squad. He was recalled from his loan to serve as a bench player and the coaching staff are already in love with him. LB Kévin Blanc has also been getting people excited, but in this case it was people with deep pockets. Tottenham and Arsenal both tried a €1.1M swoop for the player RB Paris are hoping to build around.

“It’s nice to see teams recognizing his talent, but we won’t be selling him” said Evra of Blanc, “not for ten times that.”

Outside of that, the window was rather quiet with any additional transfers being planned for the summer.

Senior / Major Transfers (Out)
Moustapha Name (CM, ASC Diaraf) €22.5K

Senior Transfers (In)
Greg Docherty (CM, Rangers) €97K

Final Transfer List (Impact Signings)
Pedro Guilherme (CM, Alverca - Portugal) €22.5K
Bartomeu Marcos (CB, C.E. Campos - Spain) €6K
Günther Feldhaus (CAM, Free Agent - Germany) Free
Mesut Güzel (CF, Free Agent - Switzerland) Free
Rauf Äliyev (RB, Free Agent - Azerbaijan) Free
Tiago Simoes (CM, Free Agent - Portugal) Free
Mirko Pagliuca (CM, Free Agent - Italy) Free

More stockpiling of talent as General Manager Thomas Linke and Chief Scout Morgan Boullier try to fill RB Paris 2 and the U-19 team with future talent. Free transfers are still a source of value with a number of them, mainly Rauf Äliyev, offering enticing upside. Bartomeu Marcos is thought to be the best player they landed, a fast CB with good passing skills will fit right in with Evra’s squad.

2022 started with some good news that most assumed was a foregone conclusion, Patrice Evra would be named Ligue 2 Manager of the Year in a landslide. The award would come a little late thanks to the timing of the award voting, but Evra wouldn’t be too upset by it.

“That feels like ancient history after half a season in Ligue 1” joked Evra upon being given the award “but I appreciate the honor, my first season was memorable.”

An easy 3-0 win over AS Magenta in the Coupe de France ninth round would be spoiled by an injury to Abner Felipe. A damaged heel, suffered sliding into the hoardings, would rule out the Brazilian for up to two weeks. At this rate any wingbacks missing time could be serious, especially considering the Lyon-Marseille run that ends January and any added Coupe de France games.

As things turned out, the month of January would be particularly long with six fixtures thanks to the Coupe. A tense 1-0 win over Toulouse FC, where a Hannibal Mejbri penalty was the only goal, would move RB Paris into Europa League contention in fifth. The club were expected to struggle against relegation so staring at continental competition seems unbelievable. A close 2-1 win over Montpellier in the Coupe de France, with Diego Raposo winning it at 90’, would stretch the fixtures to their maximum and add a tough road draw at LOSC Lille to the mix. More concerning would be Lyon and Marseille in the league, the last time RB Paris faced them back-to-back it ended in a 2-2 draw and a 1-0 loss at Marseille.

Groupama Stadium would be the stage for a humiliating loss for Rudi Garcia, one that Lyon managed to make a mess of right from the start. It only took 7’ for Benito to score off a smart exchange with Danny Malitoli out wide on the right. Malitoli made his way up field from the edge of the box and drew Houssem Aouar out wide to prevent the cross, but he left Benito open in front of the back line and Malitoli was quick enough to see the opening. With Lyon ready for a cross Benito was able to hammer the ball in from the near side with little opposition. Going down 1-0 wasn’t the humiliating part, that came at 30’ when Axel Bamba collected a second booking on an ill-advised tackle. Down a man and only up 1-0 looked like a prime opportunity for Lyon, Lamine Diaby-Fadiga came off for Haytham Al-Louz and RB Paris was ready to gut this one out in a 4-2-3. RB Paris did more than gut it out, they went all in and added two more with João Paulo scoring on a corner and Aliou Traoré showing they didn’t need a striker. Lyon were now 3-0 down despite having a man advantage, Karl Toko Ekambi would finally score at 80’ but it was too little too late. Even down a man RB Paris would enjoy a 59-41 possession split and put eleven of nineteen shots on target.

“It looks like we are still better at ten!” joked Evra following the win, “we still need to work on that. This is going to kill us soon enough.”

Evra may have spoken too soon, but nobody would have disagreed that reds will come back to bite you. A trip to LOSC Lille in the eleventh round of the Coupe de France would be ample proof as Pierluigi Pinto would get a stupid straight red (despite already having been booked) after nearly breaking Diego Laxalt’s leg. A ten man RB Paris, already exhausted at this point in the month, would provide little resistance. LOSC Lille would take over the game and add two in the second half, which should have been three because Boubakary Soumaré missed the penalty awarded by Al-Louz’s horror tackle, and Evra was out of the Coupe de France in one of the worst ways possible.

The final game of the month would be a dull and frustrating draw at home to Marseille, something the visitors were more than happy to pull off. RB Paris dominated this game, getting off twenty three shots with 61% of the ball but barely making Jaume Domènech work in goal. A number of those shots were just plain lazy or fanciful attempts as if they would make the game finish faster. The 0-0 was everyone’s reward, but OGC Nice and Dijon FCO would be waiting around the corner with games on February 2nd & 5th halting any chance of a rest.

A nice 7 points added onto the tally for this year. A cup run would've been nice given that Europe might be out of reach at the current rate. However, the rest that having no cup competition can give your team could be beneficial.

Firstly congratulations on the promotion last season and the board have seemed to push a bit further. A new and improved backroom team and improvement in the scouting range is great to see. So far so good this season and hopefully the improvement at the club will continue under Evra.

A good set of results. It has been a very good debut season in Ligue 1 with plenty to build on. Keep it up!

Very nice to have an scenario made like this, never thought of something like that, not such an active relation with Leizpig and Salzburg?

Very nice to have an scenario made like this, never thought of something like that, not such an active relation with Leizpig and Salzburg?

Tired legs would meet February after a long slog through January, the decent results would help cushion the team as Patrice Evra would need to navigate three games in just about a week. Getting Conrad Wallem back from injury would be huge, Aliou Traoré was exhausted as the only viable LW available and desperately needed a break.

The OGC Nice / Dijon FCO stretch would turn out to be a mixed blessing. The now-healthy Wallem would score in a 1-0 win at OGC Nice, a penalty but still a goal, and then more injuries would hit the team through a 1-1 draw with Dijon FCO (also a penalty). Abner Felipe would be out for almost two weeks with a pulled abdominal, more concerning would be Cristian Ferreira being ruled out for up to five week with a sports hernia. Whatever the result, RB Paris was desperate for a full week before the next game.

A road game against Angers SCO would end 2-1, a solid result considering they went down 1-0 after 8’ when Wilfried Kanga scored on a set piece. There was a sense of “here we go again” but Evra managed to settle his squad quickly and Axel Bamba leveled it at 14’ off a corner. A Morgan Guilavogui goal at 40’ would be his last appearance this month as reports would leak out that he played with flu-like symptoms. They weren’t bad enough to stop him from playing but the team would announce that he would be held out for up to two weeks to recover, if the flu spread through the team it would make things even harder for Evra. On the bright side, the win would extend RB Paris’ unbeaten streak to eight games and allow them to sneak back into fourth place. At this point in the season there would be a mad rush for those continental competition spots, only four points separated Lyon in third and Toulouse FC in seventh.

The month would end on two downers, but points still matter when you need to avoid relegation. A pair of 1-1 draws at home, against FC Nantes and Bordeaux, would keep RB Paris in a three way tie for fifth. The FC Nantes game would cost Evra Benito again, this time sprained knee ligaments would knock him out for six weeks. A solid goal differential was the only thing keeping them in contention, there is a concern that losing Benito will seriously hinder the attack.

2021-01-04 16:28#280449 Wolf : Very nice to have an scenario made like this, never thought of something like that, not such an active relation with Leizpig and Salzburg?

Yes, we are affiliates.

Dropping six points at home in your last three home games is disappointing, but you still sit in a comfortable position considering the aim is to avoid relegation. Maintaining this top five spot is going to be a tough one, but hopefully a nice end of season run will see European football at RedBull Paris next season.

2021-01-06 12:10#280495 TheLFCFan : Dropping six points at home in your last three home games is disappointing, but you still sit in a comfortable position considering the aim is to avoid relegation. Maintaining this top five spot is going to be a tough one, but hopefully a nice end of season run will see European football at RedBull Paris next season.

I'm not quite good enough to move into the "dropping points" mentality, I still see it as earning a point on some level an just not-losing is more important (though I'm clearly not going back to Ligue 2).

March would turn out to be a mercy, with only three games on the schedule the club could get some much needed rest and hope that injured players make it back. Even facing PSG in the middle of the month couldn’t damage those hopes as everyone assumed they would lose. The most trouble the club faced was quickly hiring some youth system coaches as José Costa, the U-19 head coach, would be poached to take over at Leixões. It would be hard to keep the Portugeuse manager from heading back to Portugal, but RB Paris would move quickly to elevate U-19 Assistant Manager Muhammed Yıldırım to manager and bring in the experienced Michel Padovani to take his place.

Those extra days off would be needed more than expected with more players filing into the physio’s office. Both Manchester United loans, Hannibal Mejbri and Dillon Hoogewerf, would end up missing a decent amount of time. Mejbri’s pulled abdominal would cost him almost two weeks where Hoohewerf would suffer a sports hernia that would sideline him for five weeks. Sports hernias are oddly common, hopefully that means the team is working hard rather than the fitness staff working them too hard.

Even without Mejbri and Hoogewerf, RB Paris would make short work of their first opponent thanks to a career day from Aliou Traoré. Reims would go down 4-1 thanks to a Traoré hat trick, the first coming less than 1’ into the game, and an assist on the fourth to Florent Hanin. The win would mark an eleven game unbeaten streak that most assumed would die against PSG.

“Aliou was truly special today” said Evra following the win “he’s becoming what I thought he could be at United, I’m glad we could bring him over.”

The 3-1 beating PSG handed out at Parc des Princes was five months ago, but the memory of the first Ligue 1 matchup between the two was fresh in the player’s minds.

“We aren’t going to be the little brother anymore, they won’t be able to take us lightly today.” Lamine Diaby-Fadiga was rather chippy before the game, after scoring the only goal in the first meeting most were looking for him to improve on that performance.

On some level, Diaby-Fadiga would do just that. Thomas Tuchel would make use of a 4-4-2 and end up with a rather subdued performance from his star studded roster. With PSG just completely blowing away the league, entering the month twenty three points clear in first, there was a sense that the soon-to-be champions just didn’t care about their yappy neighbors. That lack of interest led to a rather level game where RB Paris managed to hold their own and take the lead at 51’. Diaby-Fadiga would take a well placed through ball and underlap Marquinhos and Samuel Umtiti on his way to the right corner of the goal area. A hard hit shot with his right foot would skitter back across the mouth of the goal and catch the far post just under Keylor Navas’ armpit for a 1-0 lead. Fabián would level things at 80’, but the flag would be up and PSG would need to suffer a few more minutes before righting the ship. Marquinhos would knock the ball in after RB Paris would fail to clear it on a corner, the ball banging around the box before PSG could draw even and save themselves from minor embarrassment.

For once, chaos would be on Evra’s side with their last game of the month. AS Saint-Etienne would fire manager Ricardo Gomes just a few days before the game and leave assistant manager Razik Nedder almost a full day to prepare. While RB Paris would only win 1-0, AS Saint-Etienne was lucky to lose by that much. 64% possession and an 8:1 shots on target advantage paint the picture of a team just trying to avoid getting wrecked.

The month would end with PSG crowned champions and RB Paris right in the middle of a tight fight for third through sixth with only two points between the places. Goal differential is still keeping RB Paris in fourth, but a slip up by Lyon could see Evra staring at a place in the Champions League.

An excellent few results following on from a month where I imagine you would have liked to take a few more points.

Brilliant stuff to take a point against the Champions, and that could be vital in your run at taking European football.

RB Paris is still far off from bringing in classes like PSG or AS Monaco, so this class is little different from last year. They aren’t doing well in France, though one of them is listed as French he’s more likely to make the international squad for another country.

Rafik Zidane (CB - France) : Listed as French he has Algerian roots, no relation to THE Zidane outside of the heritage. Likely the best signing as he fits more closely into what Patrice Evra / RB Paris are trying to do tactically with quicker ball playing defenders. He isn’t all that tall (6’-0), so he won’t solve all their problems with set piece defending, but his ability to play a higher line and comfort on the ball should help the team play out of the back more effectively. He definitely needs to work on his conditioning and physical attributes but nobody is disputing his leadership abilities or work ethic. If he can position himself as a defensive leader it could hasten his path to the senior squad.

Johan Loussouéké (CM - Gabon) : A diminutive midfielder who has the advantage of being a natural box to box midfielder, fitting right in with the current tactics. He isn’t all that quick but tries to make up for it with decent positioning and teamwork / hustle, he’s also jokingly referred to as the next N'Golo Kanté because he’s running all over the field and never seems to get tired. His ceiling might be a bench option or a Ligue 2 starter, he’s still an upgrade

Mohammed Benzai (LB - Morocco) : Definitely more of a defensive option who is currently limited going forward. Considered more of a no-nonsense full-back he’s a tough defender who isn’t afraid to bruise some shins (or egos), there is some concern that he isn’t as focused as most on his career with a rather jovial attitude to the game. Unless he can improve upon his ability to fit into an attacking wing back role he might be limited to RB Paris 2 or loan purgatory.

RB Paris also experienced some unpleasant events that actually point to an improvement in youth intake; poaching. Inside sources reveal that two players the club had expected to sign abruptly backed out and went elsewhere. CB Charly Fontaine went with OGC Nice, an upgrade in youth experience, but LW Bernard Renard was snagged by Inter. The fact that Inter was interested in him probably shows that RB Paris missed out, perhaps in the future these players will not decide to go elsewhere.