Rémi Oudin, the attacking midfielder of the Girondins de Bordeaux.

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thibaud MORITZ / AFP

  • The Girondins de Bordeaux face OGC Nice this Sunday (3 p.m.) during the 20th day of Ligue 1.

  • A year after his arrival, Rémi Oudin must now step up a gear to prove that the club was right to bet on him.

  • Irreproachable in terms of his state of mind and his defensive investment, the midfielder must go on the offensive to weigh much more on the game of his team.

Surely he didn't do it on purpose.

Though.

Last Saturday to celebrate his first year at the Girondins, to the day, Rémi Oudin signed one of his best performances with the Bordeaux jersey and above all scored a double, synonymous with victory for his team against Lorient (2-1).

At the same time, he became the club's top scorer this season, although this total of four goals is not exceptional.

But these two goals still "made him happy and a lot of good in a personal capacity", as he stressed at the end of the meeting.

It must be said that his first 365 days in Gironde will not go down in history.

Like his team, he lived through a year of roller coaster 2020 in a context that was necessarily very complicated with the health crisis.

He himself recognized it a few weeks ago: “My record is mixed because I know that I can contribute more and be better.

For me it is average.

I hope to do more in the second half of the season.

At least no one will blame him for being lucid.

Others are not always.

Mitigating circumstances

In his defense, the former attacking midfielder from Stade de Reims, the second biggest transfer in the club's history (10 million euros), has some mitigating circumstances as his entourage reminds us: “Already, he arrives with the weight of this transfer, his first, while he has not asked anyone, the team is not doing well and then when he begins to find his place [two goals in February 2020], the season is stopped.

Behind, the coach who wanted him at all costs leaves the club [Paulo Sousa], Gasset arrives, it turns a lot in front, Ben Arfa arrives and takes up space, he sometimes finds himself playing sideways for a whole match… So yes he could have done better, we agree but he also did a lot for the collective.

"

This fall, Rémi Oudin even finds himself on the bench for several games in a row (Rennes, PSG and Brest).

A bad for a good to believe the person concerned.

“I worked a lot, both on and off the pitch to improve.

We can say that it did me a little good to be aside, a little.

It made me breathe and I was able to question myself to come back stronger.

"And for once, the figures prove it since it is two goals and an assist in the last four games.

Not “flashy” enough for the supporters?

Above all, he seems to have convinced his trainer.

Jean-Louis Gasset loves to sting his players to see how they react and especially to know if he can count on them.

He had not been tender with his attacking midfielder on his lack of statistical input or his reluctance on his positioning.

“I felt that it tugged at him, he explains, afterwards I don't ask him to play goalkeeper either… You have to be flexible.

He has qualities whether he plays on the left or on the right!

“A player of training, Rémi Oudin continues since the recovery on the right and his duet with Youssouf Sabaly works rather well.

But all that won't silence the critics just yet.

Team and club player with an irreproachable state of mind since his arrival, the attacking midfielder has the misfortune of not being a "flashy" player, the one that Bordeaux supporters have been waiting for for a decade and which explains the excitement around a player like Hatem Ben Arfa.

But there too, the 24-year-old former Rémois took a drink, says one of his relatives:

It's difficult to be completely closed off to criticism with social networks, but he has shielded himself, he is no longer 18 years old.

He knows his style of play can cause this, but he's making his way.

"

Weigh more offensively

Moreover, like the player himself, his entourage recognizes "that he must do more at the offensive level while continuing to do his defensive work very well".

He is finally like the Girondins at mid-season.

That is, can do better.

Linked with the club until 2024, Rémi Oudin is today one of the few players with a market value in the Bordeaux workforce.

As for each of its members, the club will be attentive if an offer arrives but this is not the trend despite some requests in recent months.

Doubled by Rémi Oudin who has been rewarded for his rise in power over the past few weeks.

Less shy in the game, takes more and more responsibilities.

Hoping that this is the start of the great story with us.

- Nando C. (@NandoChachalana) January 9, 2021

He intends to prove that the club was right to bet on him.

And not with a few good performances but over time.

"It is not because he had a good match that it became the best, as he was not a draw before this match, but that is the whole problem of the culture of the moment" , slips his clan.

Perhaps.

But today Rémi Oudin has no more time to waste.

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