A sort of plague victim. This is how was considered Edson Mexer for more than one to
Girondins de Bordeaux. But the Mozambican defender is signing a comeback that nobody, but really absolutely nobody, had seen coming. A few weeks ago, the club was still trying to find a way out for him. The new management was even ready to send him to Boavista (Portugal), another club owned by Gérard Lopez.
In the end, Mexer stayed. And if the Bordelais remain for the moment stuck in the bottom of the classification (16th place) of Ligue 1 before moving to Monaco this Sunday (3 p.m.), they are still doing a little better (three games without defeat). And the former defender of Stade Rennais is not for nothing, beyond his equalizing goal against the Bretons a week ago. The Navy and White have the worst defense in the championship (17 goals conceded in eight games), but one wonders where this team would be without the performances more than corrected by the Mozambican, yet still deep in the cellar at the end of August.
An equalizer in the last moments (and a celebration with all respect for his former club): Edson Mexer blew up a whole stadium with joy! ?? #FCGBSRFC pic.twitter.com/ClKQ2yloRx
– FC Girondins de Bordeaux (@girondins) September 28, 2021
Banished, he “lived very badly” last season
A cave in which it had even been double locked for several months last season. Between the premature end of the 2019-2020 season and his banishment during the first part of the following one, Edson Mexer did not wear the Girondins jersey for almost a year in Ligue 1 (from March 8, 2020 to February 21, 2021). “Last season was difficult for him, explains his entourage, he lived it very badly! Already to be far from his family since initially his family was not there [en raison du Covid-19] then there were the injuries and his sidelining from the group. But hey, he never gave up. It is not in his nature. “And the 33-year-old defender ended up imposing (nine starts at the end of the season).
Rennes-Bordeaux: Comment Edson Mexer got completely lost in the Girondins https://t.co/lDs0O4NzFa Going through @ 20minutesBord pic.twitter.com/ARUUeUE4uc
– 20minutesbordeaux (@ 20minutesbord) November 20, 2020
After two months of competition, he is still there and there. Edson Mexer is even six starts in eight games. Why ? First, because the player did not find a suitable shoe during the transfer window. Next, Vladimir Petkovic had to trust him to above all make the number in his defense to three (absence of Mangas and Mensah against Clermont, late arrival of Gregersen and injury of Koscielny). Finally, the Mozambican has quite simply won his place in the last matches thanks to good performances.
He won Petkovic’s trust
“Edson Mexer is a player of quality and experience, recalls the Swiss coach of the Girondins, the first month he was perhaps not ready with the transfer window and the movements. But since the break, I see him as a player who can bring a lot to the team. “Solid in the duel and good in his reading of the game, on the other hand he still suffers as much in the face of the speed of certain attackers. But overall, he is far from being the most in difficulty and his role as a libero suits him well to confirm one of his relatives:
“His current good games are just a reflection of his worth. It’s no surprise to people who know him. With a little confidence and consideration, he is able to be at this level. In Rennes, if during the last season he was above, he had not had bad seasons before. What is happening to him today is simply the reward for hard work ”
His knee, fragile, “holds the shock for the moment”, welcomes a member of the staff. So of course Edson Mexer did not become Thiago Silva or Virgil van Dijk overnight and he still risks suffering this Sunday against the Monegasque attackers but he has the merit of keeping his rank. And knowing where it comes from, that is to say from nowhere, it is already very good.