move around Monaco with ambition
A three-game away streak over four days is never easy to negotiate. And on 12 possible points, you can very quickly find yourself with an accounting balance sheet that weighs down a group: three defeats on the move and a misstep at home can send you to the bottom of the standings. Fortunately, the Girondins traveled rather well with a victory in Saint-Etienne and a draw in Montpellier. The draw against Stade Rennais at home therefore leaves us 5 points out of 9 possible. You have to finish the job in the Principality this weekend before a two-week international break. The stake will certainly be to better defend!
Find a balance to allow the whole collective to better defend
Bordeaux is the second worst defense with 17 goals conceded in 8 games! For the defensive midfielder Lassina Diabaté, champion of France with the Girondins in 1999, the problem is not only defensive. According to him, when a team takes too many goals, it is a problem of balance. You have to find the right balance that allows you to both be the first defenders and the first attackers. The balance is also to have defensive midfielders that compensate for the movement of the attackers and to have defenders who are also able to compensate for the movement of the midfielders. It’s a whole package. For Lassina Diabaté, there is a collective failure in the defensive aspect and it is up to Vladimir Petkovic to find this balance very quickly there so that the team has a more solid defensive base than the one it currently has. In this search for balance and in this defensive context, can we go to Monaco with the idea of making a blow during this ninth day?
Avoid reliving last year’s scenario in Monaco
For Jean-Marie Bijotat, President of FC Côteaux du Libournais, we can always try to make a move. But we can also have some fears about the quality of this Monegasque team which is coming back well after a completely failed or almost failed start to the championship. We know the workforce, we know the ambition of this club. We also know its offensive potential and the Libournais president concludes that it will surely be necessary to defend better because otherwise it could also happen again, which happened the year in Monaco. On November 1, 2020 during the 9th day, like this year, Bordeaux had returned from the principality with suitcases full of a heavy 4-0 defeat! Monegasques currently 8th in the standings with 3 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats, who perform in the Europa League with a successful draw this Thursday at Réal Sociedad and a home victory against Graz. Niko Kovač’s men therefore seem to be in pretty good shape at the moment.
You have to play with ambition whatever the opponent
The question is not there according to Lassina Diabaté who believes that if it is true that we are used to asking the question of the form of the opponent, is he on a good series or not, tired or not , etc. the stake is not there for the champion of France 1999. For him what it is necessary is to have ambition in the game, if one has ambition in the game and that one has the ability to have a real balance, that is, the ability to defend and attack intelligently together, we can achieve anything chosen there. According to Lassina Diabaté, for the victory against Saint-Etienne, we saw that among the Greens, there are very dangerous centers and we managed to pass them during the match. In Monaco, it will be completely different. It is true that it is a team in great shape with players of very high quality. It is up to the Girondins to ensure that this Monaco match is a match that can allow us to already ensure that we know how to defend well and to come back to the minimum with a point. It will not be badly concluded the former Girondin.
5 points out of 9 possible away would be a great operation for Bordeaux
And it is true that with a draw in Monaco, Vladimir Petkovic’s men had a record of 6 points out of 12 possible in a series of three trips in four games. With more difficult match scenarios the team having shown a good state of mind by snatching draws against Rennes and Montpellier and a victory for the Greens after being equalized. In substance and form, coming back from the rock with a draw would put the team in excellent condition before a two-week truce and a series of home games. Monaco-Bordeaux is to be experienced live and in full, Sunday at 3:00 p.m. on France Bleu Gironde !