Montpellier (AFP)

At the end of an October revolution carried out in peace and on the rubble of a derby lost to Nîmes, Montpellier led a deep offensive change to settle among the top five in Ligue 1 before the trip to Lorient, Sunday (3:00 p.m.) for the 12th day.

The three consecutive successes in Saint-Étienne (1-0), in Bordeaux (2-0) and in front of Strasbourg (4-3), with a shower of goals in attack, brought Michel Der Zakarian's team back to the race. to Europe.

Yet October was dark.

The two slaps at the Mosson, the derby lost against Nîmes (1-0) on October 4 and the crash against Reims (4-0) three weeks later, had not only shaken his certainties at home, but above all hurt his pride of a whole club.

Call to order from President Laurent Nicollin, rant from Andy Delort, promoted captain, tactical renovation (4-3-3) and choice of Der Zakarian: Montpellier has made a major reshuffle.

In the aftermath of the failure and the "non-match" in front of Nîmes, Laurent Nicollin let the emotions fall, gave himself time to digest without giving in to the crisis.

The son of "Loulou" Nicollin, who had the gift of resounding rants, faced his first hitch with cold blood.

- "Our mea culpa" -

Ten days after this humiliation, and before the trip to Monaco (1-1), he nevertheless expressed his cold anger to his players in the privacy of the locker room.

"We missed the derby, we missed each other, and we moved on. We did our mea culpa: we weren't good, we were even bad. All of them. Not just the players, me , also, the staff too ", had told Nicollin a few days ago.

"We must keep it in the back of our minds, use it to have motivation. As I told them, it is a question of knowing if this quality group wants to have a good season", he testified, refusing publicly to blame one or the other.

As the rebound was not immediate, and Montpellier relapsed in front of Reims, center forward and scorer Delort echoed the president's speech to raise awareness among the players.

"It was important to tell each other things between players. To discuss the situation, to let go a little more and find the solidarity that we had not so long ago. It's up to the players, me first, to show their c ... on the field, to find this stuff. We need to find all together the soul of the club ", he had then alerted.

- "I like this system" -

"Der Zak", who faced the turmoil, took advantage of the circumstances, and the absence of several players (Hilton, Le Tallec, Souquet, Omlin, Savanier, Ristic injured or suspended), to abandon his system in 5 -3-2, untouchable for three years, and turn to a more offensive game through the establishment of a 4-3-3.

A choice that caused a cascade of changes within its workforce.

Der Zakarian has dismissed the veteran Hilton (43), boss of his defense and emblematic captain, or the side Arnaud Souquet.

With Delort as captain, leader and scorer found, with Téji Savanier and Florent Mollet associated in a more technical environment, or the tenure of English rookie Stephy Mavididi in attack, Montpellier has displayed another collective mastery.

He gave and above all took pleasure through this game to return to victory away from home, where he had not won for nine months, and therefore at La Mosson.

"I like this system, especially as it is less predictable for our opponents. In addition, it corresponds well to our offensive potential, very interesting, but requires more energy in defensive control", assures the central defender Daniel Conger.

By responding to the more or less secret expectations of its players, "Der Zak" has also placed them in front of their responsibilities.

And faced with the challenge of a European conquest.

© 2020 AFP