In any league table there are teams that avoid the relegation scrap, but also never get anywhere near the fight for European football. They are also the ones that can pull out a shock, just like Montpellier winning the league two years ago. Who in this group is going to break from the pack?
It could only go downhill last season for Montpellier HSC after winning the league title in 2011-2012. Downhill it went, perhaps even more steeply than had been anticipated as head coach René Girard confirmed his departure of the club before the season had even finished in May. The form of Remy Cabella was the only bright spark in an otherwise poor season; changes had to be made.
New boss Jean Fernandez’ first order of business was to bring in Djamel Bakar from his old club AS Nancy; the winger scored five goals last season and will act as a replacement for the departure of Nigerian John Utaka, and will be a voice in the new manager’s corner. The departure of Belhanda for Dynamo Kiev has left a void in midfield which the club is yet to fill, having only signed 18-year-old Morgan Sanson in that area of the field, although with Cabella being handed the Moroccan’s number 10 jersey it looks like he will be playing a more central role this season.
One really good piece of business by Louis Nicollin is the signing of Siaka Tiene on a free transfer from PSG. It looks even better now Henri Bedimo has move to Lyon for €2 million. Montpellier do not seem equipped to challenge a for European spot despite the experience gathered within the course of last season. No sufficient replacements have been brought in to fill the void left by Yanga-Mbiwa at the back, while one of Olivier Giroud’s putative replacements, Gaetan Charbonnier, did not make a similar impact in the Ligue 1 goalscoring stakes and has been sold on to Reims. Tiene will take Bedimo’s place in an otherwise unchanged back four, the midfield should also follow Girard’s previous selection with Cabella ahead of Stambouli and Saihi (if back from injury). With Cabella coming inside it leaves a space for Bakar to play in the right and Mounier to finally get a run on the left wing. Then take your pick from either Emmanuel Herrera or Soulyemane Camara upfront, unless Montpellier do finally manage to buy a centre forward.
With the side’s best players going away and being replaced by players of slightly inferior quality each time, the club is an outsider rather than a favourite coming into 2013-2014; solid enough to steer clear of the danger zone but not stable enough to challenge for a European spot this season.
Predicted position: 10th
In stark contrast to the way MHSC was run in past months, Lorient reached the 8th spot of the French league and semi-final of the French Cup last season thanks mostly to savvy business conducted by their coach Christian Gourcuff, under the guidance of crafty businessman Loic Féry. The obvious highlight of the season was former Arsenal hopeful Jérémie Aliadière (the club’s best scorer and passer in 2012-2013 with 15 goals and 7 assists) providing the goals up front and enjoying one of the best seasons of his life. The importance of Aliadiere was felt more when he couldn’t play.
The ability to keep key players and strengthen the team’s weakest spots, notably at the back, will be key for Lorient to improve this season, with the stable presence of Gourcuff and Féry (in his fifth year at the helm of the club) providing the environment needed to achieve great things. The team looks intent on keeping its brand of attractive football alive, the sharpness provided up front by Aliadière last season requiring supply from all sides of midfield.
The departure of star performer Benjamin Corgnet for Saint-Etienne may prove detrimental to the dressing room atmosphere, as may that of Ludovic Giuly, who for all his fading qualities on the pitch provided the dressing room with much-valued experience off it, making it uncertain that Lorient will succeed in building a backbone tailored for Europe next season. Former Arsenal prospect Gilles Sunu should be a regular feature after impressing in the first fifteen games last term before he picked up an injury which shortened his season. His pace, added to that of Kevin Monnet-Paquet on the other wing, and combined with the presence of Aliadière up front, mean we can expect Lorient to display a similar brand of attack-minded football this year, though the absence of Corgnet to orchestrate happenings will leave an unproven player (probably 19-year-old Mario Lemina, a recent winner of the U20 World Cup) in a crucial position on the pitch, with Mathieu Coutadeur being given the freedom to roam between defence and attack.
The signature of 19-year-old Caen left-back Raphael Guerreiro for €3m means Lorient’s talented left-wing will average 20 years old, which might call for a more experienced player (possibly Yann Jouffre) to cover that wing in defensive midfield. Powerful striker Vincent Aboubakar has joined on a free, if Gourcuff can get the best out of him he could be a devastating weapon for Lorient.
With a strong centre-back partnership and a fast front three, Lorient can cause major upsets to anyone in the league this season. Whether the depth of the squad is sufficient for the side to be consistent enough to challenge for a European spot is another kettle of fish.
Predicted position: 11th
The impending departure of promising midfielder Etienne Capoue is a tell-tale sign of the club’s inability to build on its numerous prospects, just mention Andre-Pierre Gignac, Achilles Emana or Jeremy Mathieu in the past or the 25-year-old midfielder today and you see the chain of talent Toulouse have to let go. The emergence of homegrown Ali Ahamada between the posts and expansion of talented striker Wissam Ben Yedder at the other end of the pitch were the chief highlights of a thoroughly forgettable season for the Ligue 1 side, at least proving a stalwart in the French top flight since coming back from Ligue 2 ten years ago. The influence of Jonathan Zebina provided experience to a side cruelly short on some, with just four players in the 22-player squad aged over 30.
No major reinforcements have yet heralded an upturn for the TFC side, with the planned exits of promising Adrien Rabiot and Yannick Djalo being added to the sale of Franck Tabanou to ASSE. Promising Red Star Belgrade centre-back Uros Spajic (20) may however provide the steel in central defence which the purple-and-white outfit cruelly fell short of on several occasions last year, while Argentinian acquisition Oscar Trejo (5 goals in La Liga last season, mostly from the bench) might add the attacking impetus the side was short of last season.
A highly inexperienced back four (with Cheikh M’Bengue on the move after attracting interest from Olympique Lyonnais and Bordeaux in recent weeks) will provide cover for Ahamada, perhaps the player to watch this season for Toulouse with all eyes turned on the home-grown goalkeeper to see whether he can have as successful a second season as his debut one was.
Predicted position: 12th
The Corsican outfit’s comeback to Ligue 1 turned out yet again to yield lots of drama and adventure as wonderkid Florian Thauvin burst onto a scene majestically orchestrated by iron-handed Frederic Hantz. Homegrown captain Yannick Cahuzac (28), who went through almost every position at the club before finding stability in the centre of midfield, will be the leader on and off the pitch having shrugged off the interest of several other L1 sides. The team still needs to address its frailties at the back, after conceding 66 goals over the course of last season to collect the accolade of worst defence in the league.
The winter arrival of experienced goalkeeper Mickael Landreau to marshall the defence was not enough and Bastia are in dire need of reinforcements in that part of the pitch if they are to seriously contend for a European spot this season. To address this, the club has brought in Sébastien Squilacci, who has not played a competitive game in 2013 and will require a strong pre-season preparation to be up to par in Ligue 1. On the other side of the pitch, Thauvin’s departure for Lille and Anthony Modeste’s return from loan to Bordeaux will be difficult to get over, and a mere €16.5m has been cashed by the club on TV rights (14th spot among Ligue 1 clubs) preventing major reinforcements both up front and at the back, which is the most pressing issue for the Corsican outfit.
A flabbergasting 23 transfers in and out of the club this summer will make it difficult for newly-arrived Claudiu Keseru (17 goals in Ligue 2 last season) and Squillaci to adjust to the first eleven in starting weeks, making the club’s Ligue 1 fate this season rather uncertain.
The Romanian forward, formerly at Nantes and Angers, will look to confirm the ability he showed in Ligue 2 by creating a partnership with Lille loanee Gianni Bruno, a potentially decent attacking force which, though lacking the individual quality of Thauvin, has the makings of a duo completing each other’s strengths.
Predicted position: 13th
After finishing 11th last year, it is hard to predict a much different outcome for VAFC this season, with the club suffering from a shortage of funds (yearly budget of €32m) which usually leads to a high number of incomings and outgoings every summer. The precious Gael Danic, ever-present last season at the heart of the side’s midfield, has gone off to bolster Lyon’s squad, a major loss to the fans who had already watched as they strengthened Olympique de Marseille with the January departure of Foued Kadir, and seen Nicolas Isimat-Mirin go to Monaco.
This appears to be the pattern for Valenciennes, condemned to surrender any player who would find himself a cut above the rest as soon as he emerged. Under such circumstances, next season will be about looking down rather than up for a side which does have some glimmers of hope in the form of France U20 defender Loris Nery and homegrown France U19 striker Opa Nguette, who will get a chance to shine (and eventually move to a better club) this season. The repositioning of the experienced David Ducourtioux in defensive midfield provides a solid fulcrum to the VAFC midfield, with the physical presence of Papa Abdou Camara next to him a difficult pitfall to overcome for any opposition.
Up front, the arrival of former PSG wonderkid Jean-Christophe Bahebeck, written off with the arrival of star foreign names but still just 20 years old, may be the shrewdest move of the summer for VAFC. Whether VAFC coach Daniel Sanchez will succeed in accommodating all three players (Gregory Pujol, Anthony Le Tallec and Bahebeck with Nguette’s shadow looming) expecting a starting role up front (Bahebeck having announced he will look to score “ten to fifteen league goals” in 2013-2014) is another matter, as Pujol will be made clear his personal achievements of last season may need being sacrificed for the sake of the team collective.
Sanchez may either go for a 4-4-2 with Bahebeck in a supporting role, or an attack-minded 4-3-3 in which Dossevi, Bahebeck and summer reinforcement Chitu will fight for a single spot.
Projected spot : 14th