Fantastic fighting secures Stade Malherbe Caen the ligue 2 trophy
- End of season update -
2009-2010
After a tough fight against many well playing teams I could finally lean back, and relaxingly watch my team secure the title with a 4-0 win against Ajaccio. Until the last game I was still unsure, if we could manage to grab the title and gain promotion to the best league in France, but with some good football and a big portion of fighting we finally gain what we deserved, the title.
After a bit of a disappointing January form, I was anxious to get the good form back, and return to the top of the table. We had a lot of trouble finding the incredible form we displayed in the first part of the season, and my concern got bigger with teams like Strasbourg, Le Havre, Stade Brestois and Clermont Foot rising in form. Although I had troubles retrieving the incredible form, I still got some important wins against teams like Strasbourg and Stade Brestois which kept us in the promotion fight.
As a result of bad form we suffered in the December and January, I couldn’t see another way out, than trying to change some tactical things. I tried to bring back the more direct football, and against the smaller teams, I was pushing the defending line forward, to put some more pressure on the opponent. This worked pretty well against the high placed teams, where my team was capable of scoring a lot of goals. Although it resulted in some important wins against good teams, I also suffered some terrible losses.
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When I realized we had troubles conceding too many goals, I found it necessary to use some time analyzing the concrete problems. After a bit of analyzing, I sorted out, that I conceded lot of my goals from long passes. To solve the problem I was trying to take the defending line down, but still keeping the “closing down” up and maintain the pressure on the opponent. This didn’t stop my team conceding goals, but when we were standing towards the last 3 games I still had a great chance of winning the league, and when I secured the title with a 4-0 victory against Ajaccio I was cheering happily.
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Parallel with the league was the cup that I went on a run in. First I met AS Saint-Etienne, a very interesting match, that I won 2-0 at home. The victory was result of my fast and direct football, which worked pretty well against “better teams”. Then I met Le Mans away in the quarterfinal, and that was again an interesting match. My team had big troubles keeping the ball against a much better football team. Although my team couldn’t keep the ball, and compete against a strong opponent we managed to score the winning goal in extra time. This win was a big surprise for me, and with teams like Paris FC and Pacy Football still having the chance of coming in the semi-finals, I could see an opportunity of reaching the final. Pacy Football didn’t managed to win the quarterfinal, but against all odds the lower league team Paris FC won the quarterfinal, and was now in the semifinals.
This was of cause a great chance for me, if I could get them in the semifinals. And luckily I drew these minnows and faced them in the semifinal clash where I beat them 3-0 in a display of effective football. I knew that I was now in the final with real possibilities for some glory and perhaps international football next season. I was to meet Auxerre in the final, and the game was a thrilling contest. More a nervous match than a display of good football. We won the final in penalties and the experienced left back Tafforeau secured is the win when he slotted home our seventh penalty in this thrilling contest of courage and composure.
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In the January transfer window I brought in a lot of new players, trying to increase the quality of my squad. One of the big signings was the young Argentinean winger Sarmiento, which was a bit disappointing, and didn’t show his full potential. Another big signing was the tower Jan Koller, which I brought to create a new dimension in our attack play. That worked surprisingly well, and he was an important part of my title won. As earlier mentioned I had troubles winning some of the easy matches, but the experienced Frenchman Anthony Derion really made a difference. With a match rating on 7.27 and 16 assists in 35 matches really helped my team winning the important matches, and grapping the title.
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The Brazilian poacher Taison was outstanding in the first part of the season, scoring amazingly 17 goals in 23 matches and a high match rating. In the transfer window I brought in some reserves to the attacking positions, in case of having injuries. With these new signings I started rotating on the attack positions, and it soon proved that Tasion was hit by a scoring crisis. I was worried, because this fast poacher had a big role in my incredible form earlier this season. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get back his incredible scoring form, and he only ended up scoring one goal after the 1.February. Other disappointing players were the fast African player Alexandre Tokpa, the Tunisian winger Mouihbi and Vandamme who didn’t managed to play better than miserable.
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During the last games of the season I also managed to grab to great players on free transfer for the next season. The first is the Argentinean wonderkid Diego Bounanotte that I was cheerful to sign. Trough the season I’ve had troubles finding a solution on my left winger, and I’m confident to say, that the problem has been solved. The other signing was the previous Wigan attacker Amr Zaki, also brought in on free transfer for the next season. I have high expectations for this strong striker that I hope will help our team staying in League 1.
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After an incredible sprint from the team, we not just gain promotion but also managed to grab the title and win League 2. This was very satisfying, and it was a big success. As a bonus I was also awarded the prize as the season manager. Not enough that we won the championship, but we also managed, against all odds, to win the French Cup and that secured us participation in the Europa League next season.
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