AS Monaco annexed by Saint-Gall for their second warm-up match (1-1)
Victorious on Saturday against Cercle Bruges for their first friendly outing of the summer (1-0), the princely club conceded the equalizer fifteen minutes from the end, on a loss of ball from Marcelin (1-1, 75′).
Before this goal, Jean Lucas had opened the scoring. The Brazilian took it twice to deceive the Swiss goalkeeper, after a shot on the upright (1-0, 2 ‘).
Philippe Clément had chosen to align two teams in 4-2-3-1 and to completely modify his eleven at the break. With an attack made up of young shoots after the break (Efekele, Tiago Ribeiro, Bamba and Ayiah), ASM got far fewer chances.
Still, the Belgian technician was satisfied with the copy made by his team at the final whistle. With the incorporation of young people from the Academy, he expected to see his collective show two faces. “It’s normal, analyzed the Fleming. In the first half, we conceded too many chances. This was less the case in the second with the experience put behind (Maripan, Henrique and Marcelin were aligned with the young Couto St. Gallen are a team on a level above the Cercle and we will increase the difficulty with each game. We knew that this team was going to put a lot of intensity and press high. The youngsters must take cues to improve Everyone who is present in the group during the preparation takes lessons. They exercise the intensity in the duels, technically, tactically and mentally. They have to do good things despite the fatigue and that is very interesting for us.”
The asemist coach, who underlined the physical progress of his group, spared Kevin Volland (ankle) and Vanderson (embarrassment). He also enjoyed the performances of some of his kids.
“In the first period, Yllan (Okou) was good, named the former Club Brugge coach. It was different for him who plays with the N2. It was the same for the young players in attack in the second half. – time. I’m very happy with Bamba on the left side. He showed good things but it could be less good in the next match. This is the road for all young players. They have to find consistency and create automatisms. them, there are a lot of new things.”
In the midfield, as against Bruges in the first period, and following the transfer of Tchouameni to Real Madrid, he again associated Fofana and the young Félix Lemaréchal. “I found Félix better than against the Cercle, explained the Belgian. On the ground, he goes through good times and others where he still thinks a little too much. He is not yet used to it but he shows good things during practice.”
The Monegasques will play their next friendly match during a training camp in Portugal next week. They will fly to Faro on July 4. Their future opponent is not yet known. Recruited this week from Liverpool for 15 million euros, Takumi Minamino joins the group there on July 8. “He is coming back from Japan where he had something to settle at the start of the week,” said Clément.
The eleven of each half:
AS Monaco (1st MT): Majecki – Aguilar, Disasi (cap.), Okou, Jakobs – Fofana, Lemarechal – Gelson, Jean Lucas, Golovin – Musaba.
AS Monaco (2nd MT): Nübel – Couto, Marcelin, Maripan, Henrique (cap.) – Magassa, Pelé – Efekele, Tiago Ribeiro, Bamba – Ayiah.