Mattia De Sciglio, Maxwel Cornet and Melvin Bard, three options for a left-back position that often raises questions in Lyon this season.

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  • The position of left side is one of the recurring problems of OL (2nd in Ligue 1), especially for two months.

  • In view of the repeated difficulties of Maxwel Cornet and Mattia De Sciglio, Melvin Bard (20 years old, 3 starts in the league) is entitled to expect more playing time.

  • But Rudi Garcia both initiated the astonishing reconversion of the Ivorian striker and the loan of the versatile Italian defender, in whom he maintains all his confidence.

If there is one position that crystallizes the lingering doubts of Lyon supporters against Rudi Garcia, it is that of left side.

The surprising choice to gradually convert Maxwel Cornet to this position since December 2019 is him.

The recruitment on loan of the Italian Mattia De Sciglio at the end of the transfer window, on October 5, "it is a request from Rudi that was not planned", explained Juninho.

And the very limited playing time (12 games and 438 minutes in a year and a half) of the promising Melvin Bard (20), a pure product of the Lyon training, is also a choice assumed by coach Rudi.

After being courted last year by Bayern Munich, Melvin Bard (3 starts in Ligue 1) should not understand why, before the shock in Marseille on Sunday (9 p.m.), he was only entitled to 4 minutes of playing time in the league for three months.

However, three elements plead in its favor:

  • He is a pure left-hander having been trained for this position upon his arrival at OL in 2016, unlike striker Maxwel Cornet (24 years old) therefore, and right-hander Mattia De Sciglio (28 years old), more used as a full-back right to AC Milan and Juventus.

  • He has not chained the disappointing performances in 2021, unlike his direct competitors.

    Often feverish in his defensive placement, Maxwel Cornet thus passed through in Dijon (0-1, released at half-time), before being directly involved in the first goal of Montpellier during the last defeat of OL (1-2).

    As for Mattia De Sciglio, he was as scary on the right in Rennes (2-2) as on the left last week in Brest (2-3), where he notably covered Irvin Cardona on the second Breton goal .

  • He is the only player in the workforce to show real room for improvement in this position, given his age, his defensive rigor and his technical ease.

"Melvin has a great left foot"

When will Bard be on port?

His former teammates in the reserve team at OL (National 2) also support this.

"He has the ideal profile: he is a hard worker always assiduous at all levels, he has a good physical body and he has a great left foot, with which he is capable of anything, lists the former Lyon goalkeeper Dorian Grange (24 years).

He takes what he is given right now but as soon as he really has his chance, he will take it fully.

"For Bryan Ngwabije, also trained at OL," Melvin is ready to win in Ligue 1, he is just waiting for that to bring all his liveliness and explosiveness ".

The current central defender of Sporting Club de Lyon (National) assures him: "He will not let go, he loves competition".

Melvin Bard was shown to his advantage in the first leg (1-1), on October 4, against Florian Thauvin and OM, during one of his rare starts in Ligue 1. - JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP

Nevertheless, we can hardly see Rudi Garcia, very cautious towards him, (re) launching him in full race for the title / podium, three months after a last mixed start (as for Rayan Cherki) in L1 at Angers (0 -1).

On December 13, on the evening of a major success (0-1) at the Parc des Princes, the coach at the end of his contract in June delivered a clear message: “Mattia has made a

big 

comeback

as we say in Italian.

He is versatile and he brings us the high level he experienced at AC Milan and Juventus.

We made a very good choice to recruit him because we no longer had a competitor to Léo Dubois on the right.

And then on the left, we have Maxwel Cornet, a converted striker, very well besides, and Melvin Bard, a youngster who still needs to progress ”.

"Maxwel has become a solid defender, it's surprising"

What he has therefore not managed to do since in his eyes, if we are to believe his only real opportunity obtained in the Coupe de France (90 minutes in the 5-1 against Ajaccio on February 9).

The hierarchy is clear in the mind of Rudi Garcia, as evidenced by the distribution of playing times in L1 this season: 1,650 minutes for Maxwel Cornet, 840 for Mattia De Sciglio and only 304 for Melvin Bard.

At the Stade Vélodrome on Sunday, the young Lyonnais will probably still watch Maxwel Cornet challenge Florian Thauvin to a position that would probably never have been his if he had not crossed paths with Rudi Garcia.

"It's still a particularly successful bet," said Romuald Giamberini, ex-coach of Maxwel Cornet in U15 at FC Metz and host family of the Ivorian international in Lorraine.

I think he's having a great season, that he's thrilled with the game in front of him, and that he can express all his generosity.

Surprisingly he's become a solid defender now.

“An opinion that will not be shared by everyone in Lyon, where his mystical streak of four goals in three games against Manchester City Pep Guardiola does not obscure a much more neutral record for six years.

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