Stuck in the middle of the table in Ligue 1, OL (now 11th) obtained a point against PSG (1-1) on Sunday.
Even if they quickly opened the scoring after a superb movement between Bruno Guimaraes and Lucas Paqueta (1-0, 8th), the Lyonnais showed a very defensive face, with 31.6% of ball possession.
Yet a follower of "attractive football", Peter Bosz has taken on this tactical choice, dictated by his team's bad luck and the threat posed by Kylian Mbappé.
At Parc OL,
Look for the error: four months ago at the Parc des Princes, OL were not afraid to stand up to the game (46% possession) to a scary PSG on paper with its offensive quartet Di Maria- Mbappé-Neymar-Messi (2-1).
Only Kylian Mbappé was available on Sunday and yet Peter Bosz totally sent his famous convictions of "attacking and attractive" football for this home meeting, while his team (13th at kick-off) urgently needed points .
So Peter, what was this 3-4-3 with in the right piston a Léo Dubois unsurprisingly harmless as possible?
"I do not regret our way of playing, assumes the Dutch coach.
Without our three forwards who are at CAN, it didn't give us the chance to evolve in a certain way, so we played with three central defenders.
"
Already 3-4-3 at home against FC Metz
A first decryption is necessary: among the players who joined Cameroon are Tino Kadewere (0 goal and 1 red card in 9 appearances with Bosz) and Islam Slimani (4 goals in 16 games), clearly the lining of Moussa Dembélé this season .
Suffice to say that only Cameroonian Karl Toko Ekambi (11 goals in 23 games) is truly a centerpiece of OL this season under Peter Bosz.
And then, the same three central defenders (Lukeba, Da Silva and Boateng) had already been aligned before Christmas against… FC Metz (19th), for a draw (1-1) hardly stunning.
The former Ajax technician agrees: “The first leg in Paris was different, we played better, but tonight, we were 13th and we had a lot of absentees.
“Yes, finally two holders therefore (Denayer and Toko Ekambi).
“Normally, we will look for the teams very high, but facing fast players like Mbappé, I asked the guys to defend well with this strategy of a median block, even low and compact.
"
"I really believe that these are good bases for the future"
Players, really? So what was the other offensive arrow of a PSG that even Pochettino has quality of "slow" on the first period Sunday? Icardi? Wijnaldum? Herrera? You will understand, Kylian Mbappé and his 7 goals over the 3 previous matches is now so freaking out that he alone pushes the opposing coach to give up his vision of football for (at least) 90 minutes. In the end, that gives us 31.6% of possession of the ball for an OL cornered in their 30 meters, and who had planned / agreed to be long before the opening of the scoring of Lucas Paqueta, after a sublime collective movement starting from a six-meter Anthony Lopes (1-0, 8th).
“The group gave everything to the end, everyone fought, insists Peter Bosz.
There is a bit of disappointment but you still have to be happy with this point.
I really believe that these are good foundations for the future.
“Will we therefore have the pleasure of seeing OL take inspiration from a match between“ concrete mixers ”to go to Troyes (16th) next Sunday?
When we see the technical recital, despite this minimalist choice, of the trio of
playmakers
Guimaraes-Aouar-Paqueta, is there not something to quickly start again on the initial project of the summer rather than congratulate ourselves on have scratched a draw in Lille (1-1) and against PSG (1-1)?
"The state of mind was really great and we want to keep that"
“I think we were reassured tonight, there was better compared to our 2021 matches, above all retains Maxence Caqueret. We had prepared for a match like this against Paris, to have a little less the ball. But we should have done more offensively, to be a little higher, to win this match. Phew, lucidity has not definitely left the Lyon locker room after this success which stretched out its arms to him until the surprising goal of Thilo Kehrer (1-1, 76th).
The two posts found by Kylian Mbappé, hardly muzzled on his side by the Dubois-Da Silva doublet, could also have pushed the former Rennes captain to draw a less optimistic conclusion.
“The state of mind was really great and we want to keep that, it's a base for the team, insists Damien Da Silva.
Here it is, today it was Paris opposite, but we obviously have to work to be able to play a more enticing game.
If everyone thinks about the team, it will.
“The reconstruction of a convalescent group (now 11th in L1) will clearly take time.
The summary of our draw against PSG this Sunday (1-1) 🎥🔴🔵 # OLPSG pic.twitter.com/L4WzPUjOpa
- Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) January 10, 2022
"We are OL, so we are dangerous for each team"
In this regard, the analysis of Marco Verratti is virile but correct: “Lyon played the counter-attack by being very, very low.
We know that here in France, it's difficult because we don't have space and that afterwards, there are players who go fast.
We had much more difficult matches than that against Lyon.
"
In the recent past, Bruno Genesio and Rudi Garcia were, for example, specialists in big shots against the ogre of the championship.
Maxence Caqueret still wanted to switch to self-talk on Sunday night: "We are OL, so we are dangerous for each team".
Not sure that the Trojans are especially terrorized on Monday.
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