The Brest a Man Can Get

Episode 4 - Ups and Downs

[video=youtube;KYtNgq4KagU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYtNgq4KagU&feature=youtu.be[/video]

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Ligue 2 - BREST vs AUXERRE

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AUXERRE LEFT WELL PHAETON

Winning is a habit and it's certainly one that I'm getting the taste for. A 1-0 win at home to Auxerre and a 30 yard screamer from 16 year old Matthias Phaeton propels us into 3rd in the league.

Player of the match: Matthias Phaeton - 8.3


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Shortly after the game it was announced that Phaeton's effort had been classed as the goal of the month. It really was that special!

With positives there inevitably comes negatives and the news of Habib Diallo's injury is exactly that.

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Ligue 2 - SOCHAUX vs BREST

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GREAT LOOKING BREST

Another 1-0 win, this time courtesy of a Gaetan Belaud free-kick and for a brief moment we found ourselves top of the league. 11 league games and no defeats is unbelievable. On this form we shouldn't fear anyone.

Player of the match: Gaetan Belaud - 8.3


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A look at the table after match day 11 and it's a beautiful sight.


Ligue 2 - BREST vs RED STAR

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BREST FLOP AGAINST STAR

Red was certainly the colour today as we came up against Red Star. Zakaria Diallo received a red card and we were left red faced as we suffered our first loss of the season. In the 26th minute a deep free kick into the box eluded everyone apart from Castelletto who snuck in at the back post to give Red Star the lead. 4 minutes later and it was 2-0, a cross wasn't fully dealt with leaving Lefebvre to score from the edge of the box with the aid of a deflection. Habib Diallo clawed us a goal back before a reckless challenge from Zakaria Diallo put us down to 10 men. Red Star scored again in 61st minute through the lively Sane with Palun doing a Diallo and getting himself sent off in the 65th minute. First defeat of the season always hurts.

Player of the match: Habib Diallo - 7.0


Ligue 2 - ORLEANS vs BREST

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BREST STARTING TO DROOP

Back to back defeats against teams who were mid-table certainly isn't what I want to be reporting on. Matthieu Chemin scored a nice free-kick from the edge of the box to give Orleans a 18th minute lead. The pain was doubled at a cruical time when Belkalem managed to turn the ball home in stoppage time of the first half. In the second half we played slightly better and Julien Faussurier grabbed us a goal back with plenty of time remaining on the clock but it wasn't to be.

Player of the match: Julien Faussurier 7.4


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Best players so far

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Joan Hartock - 7.11

Hartock tops the highest average rating for the entire squad after 11 games. He has kept a clean sheet in almost half of them and has been a key reason for the good start to the season. Hartock is going to need to maintain that consistency if we are going to push for promotion this season.


Johan Gastian - 6.92

Gastian has made the majority of his appearances from the bench with Grougi being the preferred choice in defensive midfield. However, despite not contributing to any goals directly, Gastian has been a largely positive influence and is a quality player


Gaetan Belaud - 7.0

Playing at right wing back, Belaud has had a mainly positive season. He has contributed towards 4 goals in 8 games, scoring 1 and assisting 3. His one negative being the red card against Ajaccio.


Less impressive players

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Brendan Chardonnet 6.62

Potential to be one of the best players at the club, Chardonnet has struggled with being thrown straight into the first team so far. His average rating of 6.62 is below the desired 7.0 that I demand from my players, but with age on his side he will be given every opportunity to improve.


Neal Maupay - 6.72

Despite being the club's top goalscorer, Maupay is so inconsistent it's crazy. He seems unable to put 2 good performances together and only appears to play well if he scores a goal. A joy to have when on form but a hindrance when having a poor game.

Steeven Joseph-Monrose - 6.40

Monrose has only made 2 appearances this season and both has been appalling. When you put faith in wing play and one of your wingers gives 2 performances less than 6.5 you need to change things. The switch in formation has meant there is no need for him anymore.

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Episode 5 -

[video=youtube;wnQ23_9d9v4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnQ23_9d9v4&feature=youtu.be[/video]


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Ligue 2 - BREST vs STRASBOURG

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PHEATON HEADS BREST IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

A bright performance from us today as we beat real life league winners Strasbourg 1-0 courtesy of a Matthias Phaeton header. The goal came from a swift counter attack in which Maupay was released down the right-hand side. He displayed great dribbling technique before putting a delightful cross onto the head of Phaeton who made no mistake.

One negative was the injury to Habib Diallo on 8 minutes leaving us with just 2 fit strikers.

Player of the match: Zakaria Diallo – 7.3

The injury to Diallo was confirmed as being more serious than first thought. We will have to cope without him for the next 2 months.

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On a more positive note we have another Goal of the Month award winner.

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Gaetan Belaud’s match winning free kick was voted as the best goal in October.


Ligue 2 - LENS vs BREST

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LENS SEE WAY THROUGH BREST

A very poor performance means that’s now 3 defeats in the last 4 games. The single goal of the game came when a cross was badly dealt with by our defence, and after a series of deflections the ball found its way to the feet of Christian who had the simple task of putting it into the net. A loss was about as much as we deserved only having 1 shot on target all game.

Player of the match: Joan Hartock – 7.4


French Cup 7th​ Round – PARON vs BREST

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9/10 FOR BREST

Brest on cloud nine was the headline as we demolished lower league side Paron FC in ruthless fashion. Before the game I changed the formation to an aggressive 4-3-3 with a strong line up led by Maupay, Phaeton and promoting Pellen from the reserves. The tactics paid off when after just 14 seconds when the ball was played into Phaeton and he converted from close range. A fast attacking tempo was maintained throughout the game as was the finishing in which we scored 9 from 10 shots. Neal Maupay wrote himself into the Brest record books by helping himself to 4 goals.

Player of the match: Neal Maupay – 9.8

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Progressing in the cup rewarded us with an away trip to Orleans. I will be out for revenge against the team that beat us earlier in the season


Ligue 2 – BREST vs STADE LAVALLOIS

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BREST FALL INTO BOOBY TRAP

Today I really showed my naivety and to be honest it nearly cost us more than it did. Having smashed 9 goals past a lower league team I sent the team out with the same mentality against Lavallois. At first things went beautifully with left-back Nganioni sneaking in at the back post to give us the lead after just 3 minutes. However, our high defensive back line appeared to be music to Lavollois. I now have a nemesis in a player by the name of Dyan Saint-Louis. He constantly beat our back line for pace and if he could finish then we would have lost easily. Again I showed my naivety in refusing to believe the tactics needed to be changed. 1-0 up soon became 1-1 and 6 minutes later Saint-Louis put nus 2-1 behind. Neal Maupay rescued a point when he converted from a near post cross but Saint-Louis must have missed about 5 one on one chances.

Player of the match: Louis Ngangioni – 7.5
 
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Tactics Update


Following the game against Stade Lavallois I took the time to reflect back on the season so far and asked myself the following questions:

Have we won more than we have lost? Yes

Are we in a good position in the league? Yes

Are we enjoyable to watch? No

Do we look convincing in games? No

Do we look like turning a game around from losing positions? No

What are the problems? I’m not sure

The first problem I was keen to address was the fact that we always have less possession than the other team, regardless of if they are above or below us in the league. A 9-0 win and only 53% possession would give no manager any complaints, but it shows that when we have the ball we need to take our chances against teams otherwise we drop points. In countless matches I have seen the other team use possession well and create chances compared to us where we play well in spells. Now I may come across as focusing on negatives, but believe me I am far from unhappy about how the season is going. I just want to improve and I’m sure every manager dreams about having a team which plays good football and gets results.

So far I have gone from one tactical extreme to another; either too negative or too aggressive. I really took my team looking at the strengths of the team so behold the latest formation:


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The game classes it as a 4-1-3-2.

The aim of the formation is to dominate the midfield area through using creative players. Battocchio has failed to live up to expectations so far and has requested to be allowed to join Udinese at the end of the season. I have informed him that we will deal with this once the season is over. The philosophy of the team will alternate between control and counter attacking with an emphasis on the team keeping possession and working it into the strikers. The team shown may not necessarily be the first choice 11 for each game but I need to come away from games feeling like we were the better team and attempt to make Brest something special to look at.






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Episode 6

[video=youtube;yIZIs0-BGls]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIZIs0-BGls[/video]

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Ligue 2 – BREST vs REIMS
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PHAETON PUTS BREST IN DREIMLAND

A fantastic victory 1-0 against an in-form Reims side keeps us high in the table and just 3 points off top spot. What was especially pleasing was the way the side took to the new tactics and although we didn’t create as much as I’d of liked we won on possession and limited Reims to just a single shot on target. Matthias Phaeton continued his fine goalscoring form with a cool finish following a clever through ball from Maupay.

Player of the match:
The mood was then severely dampened by news that Neal Maupay suffered a twisted ankle.

View attachment 92187Just 2 injuries in the squad yet both are first choice strikers.

Ligue 2 – CHAMOIS vs BREST
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BREST PERK UP AND SECURE BIG WIN

Best league performance without a doubt and an absolute joy to watch the football that we played. Steven Joseph-Monrose has been something of an outcast this season but was given an opportunity more through his ability to play upfront and our limited options rather than through preference. In just the 4th​ minute some intricate midfield play ended with a stunning through ball to Johan Gastien who had surged forward from midfield. He needed just one touch to control it before smashing us into a 1-0 lead. 1-0 then became 2-0 in the 24th​ minute when Joseph-Monrose found himself in the right place at the right time and tapped into an empty net. The final goal of the game came in the 90th​ minute when Gastien scored his second from the 6 yard box.

Player of the match: Johan Gastien – 9.1

French Cup 8th​ Round – ORLEANS vs BREST
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BREST STEP ON THE GAS

Johan Gastien scored his 3rd​ goal in 2 games as we got revenge on Orleans. Yet again we looked good even when rotating the goalkeeper and defence. The score line suggests it was close and edgy but in truth we never looked like conceding and that makes it 3 consecutive wins and clean sheets. We also throw our name into the hat for the next round.

Player of the match: Luciano Castan – 7.9

The cup draw

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A home tie against lower league opposition you ask? Yes please. That’s exactly what we got as we were drawn against Union Sportive Avranches Mont-Saint-Michel. Let’s hope we don’t make the game as much of a meal as I will when attempting to say their name each time.

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Definitely something I need to be mindful of is the selection criteria rule. With a negative bank balance the last thing the club needs is a fine.

Ligue 2 – BREST vs AJACCIO
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BREST RISE TO THE OCCASION

“Top of the league, we’re having a laugh”.
Yet another win and clean sheet as we see off Ajaccio with 2 first half goals. Manuel Perez scored a 30 yard free-kick with less than 60 seconds on the clock before Matthias Phaeton doubled the lead in the 34th​ minute. Perez later but a blemish on his performance by picking up 2 bookings but it was too late to spoil things.

Player of the match: Manuel Perez – 7.9


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