Results in round 34 finally made it mathematically certain that Ajaccio will be relegated from Ligue 1, although their president seemed resigned to it before Christmas, at which point they had 9 points and were dead last, where they have stayed ever since. He said then that they needed to prepare for life in Ligue 2, so while the other relegation-threatened teams brought in some January reinforcements for the fight to stay up, along with new permanent managers, Ajaccio’s arrivés column in the transfer news round-up remained stubbornly empty, and they stuck with their ‘interim’ choice Christian Bracconi. Meanwhile, mercurial (and presumably expensive) striker Adrian Mutu had his contract torn up and, more surprisingly, midfielder Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi headed off to the MLS where they don’t really do this kind of thing.

PSG v Ochoa

Since then, other teams have been hovering, with a view to picking up those players who wouldn’t accept life in Ligue 2 (or who Ajaccio couldn’t afford to keep), most of the rumours revolving around Mexican international (sporadically) goalkeeper Guillermo ‘Memo’ Ochoa. You can see why. While Ajaccio have shipped more goals than anyone else (67 after 35 games) their concession rate (percentage of shots on target conceded resulting in a goal) is not that bad at 32.5%, five teams being worse, including Toulouse, who are ninth in the table. This suggests that Ochoa is doing a decent job but being rather let down by the rest of the defence who are allowing far too many chances to be created.

His importance was encapsulated by his epic performance against PSG in game 2 – with Pedretti putting the visitors ahead with their only shot of the game, Ochoa put in a stunning display to hold out for 86 minutes against the Parisian machine, who had over 80% possession, and 37 shots; 15 on target, 8 blocked, and 2 hitting the woodwork. PSG finally equalised, but should really have won 5-1, given their usual conversion rate. He is currently being linked with a move to Marseille. Our other pick from the Corsican side is midfielder and captain Mehdi Mostefa, who may also get a trip to Brazil in the summer. He most recently made an impact with the equaliser against Bordeaux that kept Ajaccio’s thread-like hopes of staying up alive, made even more poignant with the news that he had been dealing with serious family issues before the game.

Waris – from Moscow to Valenciennes to Brazil?

The first of Valenciennes‘ contributions will come as no surprise – one of the January acquisitions who are making the relegation battle interesting, on-loan Ghanaian international striker Abdul Majeed Waris, who is also likely to feature in the World Cup. Nine goals in 14 games is a pretty good return. With competition for the striker’s role at Spartak Moscow, he apparently requested a move with an eye to confirming his ticket to Brazil – could he want another one with CAN 2015 soon appearing on the horizon? Also of note is young Arthur Masuaku, who can play both left-back and on the wing; after not featuring much under Daniel Sanchez, he has been a constant pick for Ariel Jacobs.

Sochaux now look to be mounting a concerted effort to stay up – again – but even if they do, will probably lose several of their best players. Striker Cedric Bakambu is being linked with a move to Crystal Palace, and if the last few transfer windows are anything to go by, right-back/winger Sebastien Corchia will be linked with several places, and may even end up at one holding a shirt, before something goes horribly wrong. Subdued – understandably – at the start of the season after all that Lyon business, he has come back into his usual form, and displayed an ability to play higher up the pitch than in previous seasons, as FCSM have got their money’s worth out of his putative replacement Julien Faussurier (also impressive) in the right-back role. Finally, another of those cracking bits of January business, CAN-winning Zambian centre-back Stoppila Sunzu, who has helped shore up the defence, while chipping in with some goals (four in 14 games in the league).

Guingamp, hovering slightly nervously on 38 points, recently got thumped 5-1 by Bordeaux – yes, Bordeaux – and have a difficult run-in (Monaco away, Toulouse at home, Marseille away). However, they prevailed in the six-pointer against Valenciennes in game 35 courtesy of Claudio Beauvue, and also have the final of the Coupe de France against Rennes, a competition in which their run can best be summed up with the words ‘Yatabare brace’. Mustapha Yatabare has scored seven in the cup run, and ten in the league, and has a habit of scoring the important – and late – goals. There was a last-minute penalty to equalise against Bastia, and an injury-time winner against Nice – he also must have thought he’d pulled off a massive coup for Guingamp with an 84th-minute goal against PSG, only for Alex to out-late-goal him by equalising three minutes later. Joining him is central defender Christophe Kerbrat, who was noticeably absent for the no-legislating-for-that Bordeaux drubbing in game 34, and who has been a solid and dependable presence throughout, making more interceptions than anyone else in the league.

Evian are similarly part of Team 38 Points, and will also be concerned by a run-in that includes going away to Sochaux on the last day, which could be an absolutely huge match. A key player in that could well be Daniel Wass, another converted full-back who has really found his feet in a more advanced position. The Danish international now has seven goals which has been helpful in a team not scoring very many (34 in total, only Nice, Guingamp and Sochaux have fewer). Young left-back Youssouf Sabaly is on-loan from PSG, features in this year’s Le 50, and may well be looking for a new challenge after his loan is up, as the champions-elect have both Maxwell, who doesn’t appear to be losing his touch, and Lucas Digne in that position. We may not get to see him wearing pink again, after he copped a straight red in the 2-1 loss to Saint-Etienne for a challenge on Francois Clerc described as très engagé by L’Equipe. But apart from that, he’s been very good.

So, our TMUFTTWR features some very impressive players, including three who should feature in the World Cup as a further showcase of their talents. Whoever ends up dropping to Ligue 2, these players have fought hard to avoid it, and would be great transfer targets for top-flight teams in the summer.