This season in Ligue 2, the TFC creates danger everywhere, in the opponent as in his defense.

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Fred Scheiber / SIPA

  • Second attack in Ligue 2, the TFC only displays the twelfth defense, with more than one goal conceded per game.

  • This fragility could compromise the objective of an immediate rise in the elite.

Before moving to Nancy on Tuesday, among the poor Lorrainers, TFC is only two lengths behind on the Ligue 2 podium. L2's biggest budget shows the second attack (19 goals scored) behind Auxerre (22 ) and can legitimately hope to achieve its objective: the immediate rise in L1.

But, there is a but ".

A big “but” even: Patrice Garande's team has a rearguard that sometimes gives its supporters more shivers than a night under the stars at the top of Vignemale.

With 15 pawns cashed in 12 days by goalkeeper Maxime Dupé, yet globally flawless, the purple defense is only the twelfth tightest in the division.

“In the same match, we can show a lot of confidence and then a lot of excitement,” regretted Garande after the forceps success on Niort on Saturday (2-1).

Nine goals including four from a defender… This TFC-VA made history https://t.co/sCL1ctbOyq via @ 20minutes pic.twitter.com/P1k4xEkH27

- 20 Minutes Toulouse (@ 20minutestoul) November 8, 2020

Against the Chamois, the TFC “only” cracked once.

But his defense has very often been put out of position, on the sides (Kelvin Amian and Steven Moreira) as in the axis, with the pair made up of the Norwegian international captain Ruben Gabrielsen and the hope Bafodé Diakité.

A hinge often failing in the placement and, sometimes, in the recovery.

Five "clean sheets" and two shipwrecks

The fault of a tactical device changed due to injury to the left piston Deiver Machado, with four defenders instead of the usual trio?

Not only.

It is certainly behind a 3-5-2 that Dupé has already signed five "clean sheets", as the French Academy would say.

But it is also in this pattern that Toulouse has exploded twice: in Grenoble (5-3) then against Valenciennes (4-5).

Each time, Garande's team had taken three goals from set pieces.

The young striker Janis Antiste had spoken of "professional misconduct" after the drop in Isère, where the GF38 had scored three times from a corner ...

"A question of mind" for Garande

After the success on Niort, the Toulouse technician also pouted: "What bothered me was that we were put in difficulty on long balls, reversals of play. We were late at nightfall. .

But it's a matter of the mind.

When we lead and Niort sent long balls, we won all the duels.

"

17th in L2 with only ten goals scored, Nancy is not an offensive monster.

However, the Toulouse defense will pass a test there, with a probable return to three elements.

Without Kelvin Amian, suspended, but surely with Anthony Rouault (19), revelation of this start of the season left on the bench on Saturday.

Since the adoption three years ago of the current formula for accession to the L1 (direct rise for the first two and play-offs from third to fifth), all the promoted were in the Top 5 of the ranking of L2 defenses.

A statistic that has probably not escaped Damien Comolli, Toulouse president keen on data.

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