Les Girondins’ youngsters could lead the way to a challenge for the Champions League next season, if only they could get their shot in the current campaign
By Adam White and Eric Devin for Get French Football News
Long-time observers of French football are always quick to read L’Équipe. The venerable sports daily is in a place of privilege in terms of information, despite its sometimes dramatic headlines. While the paper may display some subjectivity in its player ratings, there is often a welcome frankness in that subjectivity; a player’s performance is taken not only in the isolation of the match but considered holistically against his talents and his campaign to date. These ratings are assigned on a scale of one to 10; most players receive a four, five or six. A player receiving a seven has had a superb match, while eights and above are rare indeed, with only two or three being handed out most weekends. On the opposite end of the spectrum, three is generally the lowest in normal parameters, while a two or a one is indicative of a superlatively poor performance.
In the matches played this weekend in France, there were four ‘twos’ and one ‘one’ awarded, the latter to the SC Bastia captain, Yannick Cahuzac, who was sent off for the third time this season. In a tight affair and three points from safety, it is quite easy to see how the captain’s dismissal was deserving of a low mark. Two of the twos were handed to members of Metz’s defence, Guido Milán and Jonathan Rivierez, similarly deserving in a 5-0 loss to Monaco. One more was awarded to another defender on the wrong side of a heavy defeat, Lorient’s right-back, Steven Moreira – and one was for Bordeaux’s Jérémy Ménez.
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