The rise of Fulham

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Transfer Round-up

The season is about to start in 4 days time and I've concluded all the transfer activity. I bought George Williams and offloaded 4 players, who I felt would have a better chance of first team football elsewhere.

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Cyril Guillot's departure to Liverpool happened before I came to the club but 19.25M is a good piece of business. Unlike Fulham, the finances at this club aren't great. It is stable but I wouldn't call it great.

As I was alluding to before, I got rid of two centerbacks and two strikers. Lindsay Rose and Florian Lejeune are centerbacks who I felt were not quite upto the standards of a Europa League club. Same deal with striker Matej Vydra and Maxwel Cornet.

So, I brought Williams for 8.5M and sold four players for a net amount of 7.7M. Given my initial transfer budget of 3.2M, it looks like we are in good financial state.
 
Season Preview

Here are the fixtures that start the campaign for us. Our very first game is against Paris Saint-Germain, the media favourites to win the title!
What adds more spice to this is the fact that Mihajlovic, the PSG manager has been extremely critical of me when I was appointed as Lyon manager. I am really looking forward to this game!!

After these set of fixtures, we then start partaking in the Europa League.
 
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I couldn't have wished for a better start. To come from behind and win it in the stoppage time and silence Mihajlovic is priceless!!!

The game started slowly with neither team willing to commit men forward. With the game becoming a bit dull, I urged the players to up the tempo and show more passion. And they did but unfortunately they took it a touch too far. We starting commit one too many fouls and in the 36th minute, Jacques Gace gave away a penalty. A needless penalty to give away when PSG were barely threatening. Jose Rodriguez stepped up and scored. Not the best start to my Lyon career. But it was still early in the game.

At half time, I told the players to step up their game. View attachment 246288I told the midfielders to stop sulking and pick up the game. "I need creativity," I shouted in broken French. With the translator by my side, I changed tactics and kicked-off again.

The second half produced some of the best football I've seen at this club in my brief stay so far. The passing was slick, the movement was quick and PSG were pushed back. So far back that their number 9 cut a frustrating figure at the half way line. All that pressure paid off when Orlando Loties leveled it for us. Great movement by the striker who was played through with a lovely through ball from Cristian Tello. 19 minutes left, I urged the players to go for the winner. We were absolutely dominant at that moment.


Some yelling by Mihajlovic at the touchline ensured a stubborn defensive display by PSG for the next 20 minutes or so. With the game in its very last minute, we broke away on a counter attack. And we did so spectacularly.
Substitute Simon ran 40 yards with the ball allowing our View attachment 246289midfield to push forward, and passed the ball to Ferri. Ferri squared it to Correa who shot low and hard into the bottom corner. 2-1. I was punching the air at the touchline. I glanced at Mihajlovic who had his head in his hands. "Suck it," I said to myself.

That was it. The referee blew his whistle after the restart signaling the end of a fantastic game. I halfheartedly shook Mihajlovic's hands before running to our dug out and celebrating with the players!
 
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Great start to your new club,
Maybe he'll keep his mouth quiet next time ;-)
 
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A really hard fought victory. RC Lens proved to be a very difficult team to break down.

Right from the kick-off, Lens were structured and barely gave us an opening at the back. The players were clearly getting frustrated as I saw the frequency of long range efforts increasing. As we came close to the 45 minute mark, the lads were following the "throw everything you got and see what sticks" philosophy. That's how good their defense was.

At half time, I told them to calm down. Speaking in half-French and half-English I said, "The result will come. Just calm down and stick to the tactics. No need to get frustrated. Just keep working hard."

Soon after the restart, we scored. A corner taken by Correa was cleared by the Lens defense but Gonalons headed it back into play. After a few aerial challenges, the ball fell to Umtiti who controlled it well and scored from six yards.

The disappointment on the Lens' players was clearly visible. They wanted to grind out a result and our goal made it complicated for them. After that goal, majority of the second half went like the first half. RC Lens only attacked in phases but never really came close to scoring. We had bulk of the possession and were dictating the tempo but couldn't break down their defense.

In the 85th minute, captain Gonalons performed a rubbish tackle and got himself sent off. That sparked the fuel among the Lens players and for the last five minutes, we were barely hanging on. They hit the post twice and came close a few times. Gonalons is the specialist defensive midfielder and his absence really cost us. I had already made all substitutions by then and couldn't bring on an additional defender.

We managed to come away with a win. I lashed out at Gonalons after the match. It was as reckless as they come and as an experienced player and a club captain, he shouldn't have let his team down that way.
 
13th August 2021

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It had to be done. I want to establish myself as a professional at this club and I wanted to stamp my authority by slapping a fine on the club captain for his red card.

By accepting the fine and not complaining, Gonalons has proved to me that he is a professional too and that he understands my philosophy as well. In fact, he did apologize to me before the training session today and said that he'll be more careful with his tackling.
 
Unlike in England, the Ligue 1's season is packed at the start. It's been one week since the start of the season and we've already played three including this one against Caen. Stade Malherbe Caen are a side expected to be involved in the relegation battle by the media and I needed a victory!

The game started very slowly. This has been a recurring theme in all our games so far. After 15 minutes, I walked to the touchline and yelled at the players to show more intent. I could understand that there were few tired legs but the lack of intensity was rather shocking. The first half was very even - the defense kept Caen at bay but our attack looked toothless.

At half time, I told them to step-up. I told them to win it for the wins who made sure the stadium was packed today. I told the players to go on an attack mentality and start dominating right from the get-go.

The second half was intense. It was goals galore. Jorge Correa gave us the lead with a lovely finish from the edge of the box - a sweet finish. Within 10 minutes, Yacine Simon doubled our lead from six yards. Now, this was a really good goal. A couple of crisp passes inside the box opened the angle for Simon to shoot the ball into the bottom corner. Simon wasn't done! 5 minutes later, he doubled his personal tally and made it 3-0. 68 minutes gone, we were 3-0 up!

I was hoping for another cleansheet considering good defensive display but instead, we conceded in the 77th minute. Fousseyni Cisse playing his first game for Caen made a run that wasn't picked up by our defense and the striker scored an easy goal. That ruined our hopes of a cleansheet.

The final goal of the game was scored by midfielder Clement Grenier as he curled a freekick in from 20 yards. That was a beautifully taken goal.

After a dull first half, the second half produced several goals and we came away 4-1 winners!

Our four goals can be viewed here:
[video=dailymotion;x2x3xw9]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2x3xw9_fm-15-lyon-4-1-caen-goals_videogames[/video]
 
League Table

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So far, so good. 3 wins in 3 is a good start to my managerial career at OL.

The team is still not playing as one unit yet. But I'm sure the issue will be resolved with more playing time. One thing I've noticed is that the teams here are very structured in defense. If the away game against RC Lens is any sign of things to come, we must really be coherent in attack and take our chances.

I am actually rather confident in our defensive abilities. Umitit and Gace have been rather solid so far but just like at Fulham, my primary focus will be on maintaining a great defensive record.
 
Just caught up with this, well done on finally getting that Champions League, good luck at Lyon mate! You'll do well there no doubt!
 
For the first time in 99 League games, my team failed to score. The fantastic run comes to an end! Too bad, the run had to stop with the number 98. So close to a century...

That stat aside, this game was a bore draw. The derby failed to live up to the pre-match hype. When Lopez got booked in the very first minute for a foolish tackle, I thought the intensity of the game would be high. But I was mistaken.

It's like the players were going through the motions and the passion was severely lacking. Sadly for us, Loties (ST) and Grenier (CM) got injured within 9 minutes of each other. Loties twisted his knee trying to control a ball where as Grenier injured his hamstring trying to chase a ball.

There were no real significant moments after that. Every now and then, I went to the touchline and told the players to show more passion. It had an effect for about 60 seconds and the intensity died out soon after. The second half was a bit better with the teams actually pushing forward trying to score. But still, I expect more from a derby game - more passion, more intensity, fierce tackles, etc. All of those were missing!

A draw isn't necessarily a bad result but considering that this was a derby, I was a bit disappointed at the game overall.
 
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After the post-match team talk vs. Marseille, I rushed to my physios. Loties and Grenier are key players in the side and their injuries could be potentially serious.

The head physio, Abdel Redissi nodded his head sideways as soon as I entered the room. That was a clear indication that the injury situation was worse that initially expected. Loties was already on his way to the hospital to start his treatment. He'll be out for 2 weeks.

Grenier's situation, unfortunately is a lot more serious. Grenier was en route to the hospital as well to get a X-ray of his hamstring. Redissi estimates that Grenier will be out for 2-3 months. While it is a blow, it's not a severe one. I do have quite a few replacements around who can do a decent job at filling the void.

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EUROPA LEAGUE DRAW
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Good draw, I'd say. Norwich are probably going to be the biggest competitors in this group. I'm a bit glad that we avoided Inter and Stuttgart.

I'm aiming for a top finish in the group, but we must get good away results for that.​
 

This was a thrilling game. So much drama in the last 10 minutes!!!

Yacine Simon started the game in place of the injured Loties. I adjusted my tactic to suit Simon, who likes to drop deep and get involved in the build-up as opposed to Loties, who is a a proper advanced forward.

Simon made instant impact as he pulled away two defenders with him allowing right winger Cartabia to cut inside. Simon made the final pass to Cartabia, who scored. It was a good goal all around. 4 minutes in, we were 1-0 up. With the game slowly beginning to heat-up with tackles and some intense football, Bosetti equalized for OGC Nice. A swift counter-attack by the away side opened up our defense and a low cross from our right was thundered home by Bosetti inside the box. 1-1!

10 minutes later, we went back up. A freekick taken by Cartabia rattled the crossbar and fell kindly to Jacqeus Gace inside the six yard area, who coolly finished it. Their keeper was on the ground trying to recover from the initial dive to save the freekick.

After that goal, there was plenty of action despite the lack of goals. All the things that were lacking in the derby against Marseille were witnessed in this game.

With the game coming to a close, we were stunned. OGC Nice weren't nice after all. We conceded a corner in the 82nd minute and it led to a goal. Poor marking allowed a near post flick by Corvasce to go past Diakhaby. The away fans were celebrating while we were stunned.

The game went on with level scoreling till the second minute of the 3 added. Our front trio were making all the effort and it all paid off when Didier Digard brought down Simon inside the box. Penalty! OGC Nice players were protesting but Simon stepped up and calmly put it away. We were up 3-2 with 60 seconds left.

OGC Nice couldn't come back after that! A nervous game that had drama right till the very end.
 

We had a 10 day international break before this game. In my brief stay at Lyon, this has been the only game where I didn't feel nervous towards the end.

An early lead, control of the midfield, solid defending, a man advantage in the closing periods of the game - just about everything went in our favour.

The defensive trio of Umtiti (DC), Gace (DC) and Gonalons (DM) were absolutely brilliant as Valenciennes couldn't put together a good attacking move for the majority of the game. Loties, returning from injury gave us an early lead with a thumping finish from close range. However, we should've scored 1-2 more. We had some really good opportunities but the constant heckling from the opposition fans seemed to mess with the players' focus.

But I was never worried. Diop's sending off in the 74th minute made things a lot more comfortable towards the end. We kept the ball well and knocked it around just as practiced around in training. A good win, in the end.

The team is finally starting to gel and play together as a unit. After a few more games, I am expecting to see good fluidity in our football.
 
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