24th round prospects performances… but a tad different this time…

By: Evilo | February 16th, 2009

Here’s a round up of the U22 performances in this weekend of Ligue 1 action.
However, I was in Rennes this weekend to see the Rennes-Nancy game, so I’ll give you an in-depth report about that game but only L’Equipe’s comments about the other games…

Bordeaux 1-1 Grenoble
Paillot (5) : promising authority, did what he could
Feghouli (7) : A shot on the post that created the first goal and a shot on Ramé’s bar. Almost perfect.

PSG 2-1 St Etienne
Sakho (7) : Solid, scored a goal
Benalouane (4) : playing on the left, he was never at ease
Matuidi (6) : once again precious for his agressiveness and his ability to take the ball up.
Payet (6) : moved a lot and scored a goal. Tried again after that.

Auxerre 2-0 Lille
Narry (5) : played high but made a few mistakes.
Hazard (4) : real technique but lack of impact.

Caen 1-1 Lorient
Ayew (4) : given his speed, he hasn’t crossed much.

Valenciennes 1-1 Nantes
Vainqueur (5) inspied on the tying goal, he gave the tempo of the pressing.

Le Mans 1-2 Nice
Bouhours (4) : battling hard but beaten on Traoré’s goal.
Corchia (6) : for his first game at age 18, he showed quality and poise, beaten only twice without consequences.
Ospina (5) : not much to do in the first half, he was dribbled by Helstad on the goal and was lucky afterwards.
Rémy (3) : Almost never used in the first half, he missed his only big opportunity before being sent off.

Monaco 0-1 Marseille
Mollo (5) : good one on on against Bonnart. Not enough influence on the game after the half.
Pino (5) : shot from far away in the first half, went directly to the lockerroom after being subed.

Lyon 3-1 Le Havre
Benzema (5) : in the action of the first two goals, but it wasn’t the best of Karim.
Note that Nestor scored the only Le Havre goal.

Sochaux 1-2 Toulouse
Erding (6) : subtle passer for Afolabi. He had to defend a lot.
Sissoko (6) : a lot of impact

Now for my own report on Rennes, please note that these are my own marks and not L’Equipe’s.

Douchez -5- : he made a couple of mistakes with his feet, but he couldn’t do anything on Nancy’s goal. He made an easy save in the first half. Not much to do really.
Fanni -5- : he tried to be dangerous offensively, but I thought Biancalani did a great job on him. He didn’t seem to play eye to eye with Kembo either. I thought he combined with Thomert and Briand better in the late stages of the game. He could be blamed for his lack of coverage on Nancy’s goal.
Mangane -4.5- : did well what he had to do, but couldn’t get one head on ball when playing in an offensive position late in the game. Has to take some blame for Nancy’s goal as well.
Hansson : -6- : did well defensviely, saved a couple of dangerous positions and he didn’t need three attempts to have an impact on the offensive side, as he assisted on Rennes’ goal late in the game (in the same position where Mangane couldn’t do anything useful.
Bocanegra -4- : he was OK defensively, but really plays like a second goalie in every offensive possession. The guy can’t create anything and only sends 5 feet passes.
Lemoine -4.5- : He only gets a decent mark because he did well in coverage a couple of times. He was awful the rest of the game and never played intelligently off the ball. It never crossed his mind to position himself in between players closer to the opponent’s goal. He also passed on two good shooting chances. Missed too many easy passes.
M’Bia -4- : Rennes could not dominate the midfield in the first half and M’Bia only played that one. He basically foul1ed at every opportunity and didn’t much of anything else. Cheyrou -5.5- replaced him and was much better. He created danger a couple of times and actually TRIED to go forward.
Kembo -3- : I’m sorry but he was not L1 worthy saturday. For every successful dribble, he missed 4 and when he beat his defenseman, he missed his cross.
Thomert -5- : he had ten good first minutes and ten good last 10 minutes. He was invisible the rest of the game.
Pagis -2- : Please. Everyone was wondering how he could miss EVERY single play he made. Every pass, every shot, every free kick, he missed everything. Awful performance. Esteban replaced him and did better in 25 minutes.
Briand -7- : always the same thing with him. He’s the hardest working player in L1, he’s left, right and middle, going after every long ball from his teammates (basically the only thing they did saturday) and made some nice calls for balls (missed by his teammates obviously). However, he really seems to panic when he has a final pass or shot. Good thing he scored that goal.

Bracigliano -5- : easiest time of his life until the 85th. Can’t be judged too much.
Helder -6- : did very well on his side and provided danger and speed.
Ouaddou and Macaluso -5.5- solid. However, they should NEVER have left Briand alone in front of the goal 5 minutes before time on a long ball. That mistake cost their team two points.
Biancalani -6.5- : extremely solid defensively, and provided a couple of runs offensively.
N’Guemo -6- : extremely useful to keep the ball and create danger in small spaces.
N’Diaye -5.5- : very useful defensively, the young stud defenseman was used as DM but really can’t do anything esle than defend. His (little) participation in the offensive or passing game was a failure. He does defend possession well.
Féret -6- : he did well and used his speed to create danger. You can see this guy’s football sense. But he has to weigh more on games.
Dia -7.5- : he was the most dangerous player because he kept the ball so well and provided in small spaces for a solution. He always moves and proposes. We know his speed is his best asset and obviously, he used it to provide a nice assist on the goal.
Hadji -7- : simple efficient technique, he plays the game the right way. He scored an easy goal after Dia’s run.