Coach: Olivier Echouafni
Stadium: Stade Bonal
Last Season: 10th in Ligue 2

DEFENCE

Sochaux have lost GK Yohann Pele to OM which is a blow because he was quite impressive last season. Replacing him is Olivier Werner who comes in from Belgian side Cercle Bruges. I have little idea if he’s any good but considering the level he was playing at, you’d think he will be fairly decent at the very least. The defence has lost young stud Jerome Roussillon to Montpellier, but Sochaux knew this was going to happen because the transfer was decided back in January. Replacing him at LB should be Brazilian Bruno Collaco, and if he flops then they have youngster Nicolas Senzemba waiting in the wings. This is the only real question mark because they are loaded in other areas. Centre back options include Lionel Zouma, Matheus Vivian and J P Mignot, all extremely strong guys to have at ligue 2 level. On the right hand side Julien Faussurier and Pierre Gibaud are both quality too, and will often start together with one of them playing right wing or midfield. With some decent youngsters adding to depth as well, this is probably the strongest defence in the whole ligue. On paper there are no excuses for it to fail.

MIDFIELD

Les Lionceaux have shipped off a couple of underperforming plays like Romain Habran and Houssine Kharja. I always said last season they were one or two players short in the middle of the park, but this seems to have been rectified. Johann Ramare has been signed from Brest and this is an extremely smart addition. He’s a really tough DMID with strong leadership, never shy of tackling hard. I would expect him to work well with Florian Tardieu who is proven quality at this level, whilst Marco Ilaimaharita can maybe rebound after an inconsistent previous campaign. He produced a superb first half to last season prompting many to ‘big him up’ predicting him to be the ‘next best thing since sliced bread’ etc. Unfortunately, he probably let this hype get to his head a bit and performed badly after the winter break. He has great talent though so could easily get back on track this year. Sochaux have signed new playmaker ‘Rayo’ from Israeli club Maccabi Haifa and talk is that he could be an extremely shrewd addition. They lacked creativity in the middle last year and he should supply both goals and assists. With younger players like Daham and Chikhaoui also waiting in the wings, Sochaux look strong in this department and have plenty of quality.

ATTACK

Karl Toko Ekambi caught the eye last season and weighed in with 12 goals. But truth be told he should’ve scored double that amount considering the amount of chances he had. At times, he honestly looked like a donkey and can have some very ‘off’ games in which he is effectively useless. Nevertheless, some ligue 1 clubs are reportedly interested and he could get sold before the end of this window. Either way, I don’t think Sochaux will come out badly because they would surely get a replacement using his transfer fee. It’s not like Les Lionceaux don’t have other options in the final third anyway. Guys like Moussa Sao, Raphael Caceres and promising youngster Marcus Thuram (son of the famous Lilian Thuram) are all capable of scoring goals. They have creativity out wide too thanks to Berenguer and Guerbert, although the latter is often injured and can’t be relied upon to play a consistent number of games. I wouldn’t say Sochaux have anyone exceptional upfront but they will be more than competitive in this department. They only managed 39 goals last season but they should theoretically improve upon that tally.

COACHING

This is an area in which there are some question marks and where some other rivals might have the edge on them. Coach, Olivier Echouafni will be in charge for his second season and lacks experience in management. I felt he was too negative last season, especially at home where they only scored a miserable 19 goals in 19 games. Sochaux had a great first half of the campaign but tailed off badly after the end of January. Quite how much of the blame can be put on Echouafni’s shoulders is hard to gauge but he does concern me. The other problem is their home record which could potentially let them down again. Les Lionceaux don’t have that many fans and some games are played in a morgue-like atmosphere. Le Stade Bonal isn’t a very intimidating place and teams don’t mind travelling here. On a positive note, they had the 3rd best road record though and I’d expect this to be maintained.

CONCLUSION

On paper I think Sochaux have the strongest squad in Ligue 2. They are loaded in virtually every area, especially defence and midfield. They have a great youth academy too and their U19 team finished runners up in last season’s Coupe Gambardella, which is a fantastic achievement. This is a team who have great depth and quality and they should be right up there in the promotion mixer. I have doubts over the coach and a couple of other factors, but from a pure footballing point of view I have to make them favourites to be champions.

Prediction – 1st