When Christophe Galtier takes his Saint-Etienne side to the Parc des Princes on Sunday evening to face league leaders PSG he will do so in the knowledge that his team are yet to score more than twice in a match in the league this season and have lost two of their last three in Ligue 1. Despite this they will go to PSG in fourth place and as the most obvious candidates for a Champions League place.
No matter how turgid and dull they will be in doing so, PSG will win the league, there’s no getting away from that. The excitement in France comes from the battle for the other two Champions League spots as well as the relegation struggle. Two teams expected to be embroiled in the latter fight, Angers and Caen, weirdly find themselves in the former. Both teams have rightly taken the plaudits for their achievements thus far, but there is a case for pointing out how well Saint-Etienne are doing.
Their high placing is all the more impressive when one considers that they haven’t been playing particularly well and over the summer, not for the first time, they lost one of their biggest stars: 17-goal Max-Alain Gradel decided he was done with Ligue 1 and a push for European football and went to join newly promoted Bournemouth with their Premier League TV money. They also lost Mevlut Erding who, whilst not prolific, chipped in with eight, and Yohan Mollo, who scored four, also left. That’s 29 goals, well over half of the 51 Sainte managed in the league last season.
To be fourth, therefore, is a pretty impressive achievement; this year’s top scorer in the league to date is Loic Perrin with three. There is a reason however that Galtier has been called the “French Jose Mourinho” with his side conceding just ten goals all season. Considering four of them came in a heavy defeat at home to Nice they have let in just six in nine, a record only PSG can beat.
Perrin has, as usual, been outstanding and it really is remarkable that no Premier League side has considered signing him. Yes Arsenal were linked a while back but they were tentative at best; he continues to be one of the finest centre-backs in the league. Florentin Pogba and Moustapha Bayal Sall have also been solid when they’ve played whilst Stephane Ruffier continues to do his weekly impression of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde between the sticks.
Partially thanks to the performances of the defence Saint-Etienne can dream of Champions League football but in reality most of the credit should go to the abysmal start of the usual suspects, Lyon, Monaco and Marseille, with the latter in particular really disappointing. Saint-Etienne’s Rhone rivals Lyon are catching up but if Galtier’s men can be in this position whilst underperforming just think what they could do if they turn it on.
Realistically if Marseille can’t find their form Saint-Etienne, Lyon, Monaco and maybe one more will be fighting for two spots. Saint-Etienne will back themselves to shut down both of their rivals in a one-off match and concede fewer goals over the season. The problems come further forward. Rather unsurprisingly Nolan Roux hasn’t managed to ease the blow of losing Gradel and Erding, but there is hope that Robert Beric, signed on the last day of the transfer window, could blossom into a serious goal threat.
The 24-year-old Slovenian has scored twice in four starts. 180 minutes per goal isn’t great – but when they are going in off your stomach, it says something about his ability to be in the right place at the right time. When he settles in, he could be the 15-goal man Galtier is looking for.
Romain Hamouma and Kevin Monnet-Paquet both flatter to deceive on a regular basis (although the former is doing a fair bit of creating) and unless they both produce consistently Saint-Etienne will find themselves drawing more games than they win. The answer might be 19-year-old Neal Maupay but he is still very raw and it would be a massive ask of the teenager to carry the hopes of a club chasing a European spot.
Perhaps the greatest irony in this being Galtier’s best shot at Champions League football is that he has had far better sides during his time at Saint-Etienne. The 2012/13 team, in particular, is the one that stands out as the side that should have really pushed on and got into the top three. Unfortunately, the vast majority of that team has left. Ironically it’s hard to see too many of the current crop moving on even if Saint-Etienne do well.
With limited finances, it’s hard to see how Galtier could obviously strengthen the squad in January and if they are to succeed in the ultimate goal it will all come down to the defence. If they can remain tight at the back and improve, even marginally, up front they’ll be a match for anyone. Getting this squad into the Champions League would undoubtedly be one of Galtier’s greatest achievements.
Why always the hate for Ruffier?