Lyon (AFP)

Where is the Brazilian revolution? Hope after the enthronement last May of the duo formed by Juninho and Sylvinho, it is slow to materialize, and OL enters the Champions League and the reception of Zenit St. Petersburg Tuesday without certainty on his game.

Now, time begins to press and the excesses are jostling. In addition to the entry in the fight in C1 against the leader of the Russian championship, the reception of Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the week and the derby at Saint-Etienne, October 6, will be a real test for this revamped OL.

- Three games without a win -

Olympique Lyonnais is struggling at the start of the season and remains in three games without a win (two draws, one loss) after two initial victories to put into perspective.

Defeated 3-0 in opening of the Ligue 1, Monaco had played at ten for an hour and has, by far, the worst defense of the championship (14 goals conceded) while Angers, swept 6-0 in Lyon, had passed totally through the image of his goalkeeper, Ludovic Butelle.

In the league, the Lyon team ranks 8th and still displays the lack of irregularity and concentration decline that was criticized with much more resonance to the coach Bruno Genesio (January 2016-2019) from a fringe of the public more discreet now on the subject.

For the time being, his successor, 45-year-old Sylvinho, remains under the protective wing of sports director Juninho, who has chosen him, but the grace period is probably coming to an end.

- Mentality still in question -

For the coach, former deputy of Tite in the Seleçao, the problems are similar to those of the time Genesio.

"I repeat what I already said We are paid to play games of 90 minutes and not for 50 or 60 minutes," he hammered Friday night after the draw conceded to Amiens (2-2 ).

"In Montpellier (1-0 defeat), against Bordeaux (1-1) and again on Friday, it's a question of mentality to win, we are paying dearly because we could have led 3-1 at half-time but it's not an excuse, "insisted the Brazilian technician, a novice coach N.1.

"We lack character," he said. "In the second half, we lacked the will to outdo ourselves and do better than in the first," added the former Barcelona player and Arsenal, who seems struggling to get his message across.

And the language barrier should not be an excuse: many players in the workforce practice English fluently or speak Portuguese.

- Sylvinho on the front line -

These remarks on the state of mind, already held by the past by Bruno Genesio, return, once again, to the responsibility of the players, without however raising doubts on the capacity of Sylvinho to solve them.

Because some choices were surprising in Montpellier, with substandard substitutions post for position while the team was led against Bordeaux with the top scorer (5 goals), Moussa Dembélé maintained on the bench, or in Amiens where Memphis Depay (4 goals) remained in his turn on the sidelines.

The pre-season with a single win, happy at Arsenal (2-1), five losses and thirteen goals conceded for seven entries had raised some fears too quickly dissipated by the results probably misleading the first two days of the championship.

Before the trip to Amiens, Sylvinho evoked "a confidence to acquire" and declared to place himself in the "construction of a group mentality".

But it must go fast because in Lyon, there is no place for a transition season.

© 2019 AFP