36th round prospects performances… Top 3/ Flop 3… + Rennes/Caen report

By: Evilo | May 18th, 2009

Here’s a round up of the U22 performances in this weekend of Ligue 1 action and a quick report of the Rennes/Caen game earlier this week.

Since I was at the game, I can’t comment on the other games.

The game was really boring and Rennes had no more than a few opportunities. Caen on the other hand only had one. For a team desperate to stay in L1, they didn’t show much passion. Not many players stood out.
However, it’s worth noting that Marveaux was Rennes’ most dangerous player. Planté made a few nice saves for Caen. Once again, I liked Yatabaré’s play. He brings a new dimension to Caen’s attacks and is extremely useful.

Time to comment about this weekend’s action :

Grenoble 0-0 Nancy
During what was undoubtably the worst game of the year, Dia (4) was, like the other players, sleeping for 2 hours.

Caen 2-0 Sochaux
Yatabaré (5) brought his qualities but didn’t impress me this time. He made some bad choices and was subed early.
For Sochaux, Martin (4), who had a great game in mid-week was lost in Caen’s midfield this time. Erding (4) should have been rated higher. He didn’t have the ball much but he was a constant danger and even hit the post.

St Etienne 2-2 Toulouse
Mirallas (5) scored a nice goal earlier this week but couldn’t produce anything worthy against Toulouse.
Sissoko (6) managed to foul Monsoreau in order to receive a pass and then dribble to the goal and score. That goal shouldn’t have counted, but Sissoko made a nice play with the ball.
It’s worth noting that Emmanuel Rivière also scored against Le Havre.

Lorient 1-1 Le Havre
After scoring twice earlier in the week, Gameiro (5) was much less noticeable.
For Le Havre, Placide (5) made a few nice stops, but was beaten on a hard to judge free kick by Vahirua. Still he should have been rated higher. Kana-Biyik (6) was very solid and physically imposing.

Bordeaux 3-2 Le Mans
Sertic (6) was really impressive on set plays I thought. The guy’s 19 and he takes every free kick and corner, using both feet. He really is starting to play without pressure and I like what I see from him.
For Le Mans, Gervinho (7) had a couple of good runs and a nice assist, but he still could do much more than this, especially since he never helps defensively. Goulon (6) was very solid and had a physical impact.
Worth noting that Gourcuff was the main contributor to all Bordeaux’ goals. He has 6 goals and 2 assists in the last 5 games.

Monaco 1-1 Valenciennes
Mangani, Nkoulou and Mongongu (6, 5, 6) were all very solid for Monaco’s defense. Nimani (4) and Gakpe (5) didn’t create anything that could have resulted in a goal.

PSG 1-2 Auxerre
Sakho (6) was brilliant I thought. Extremely solid, and you can see his natural leadership.

Nantes 1-1 Rennes
Vainqueur (5) was OK, but I’ve seen him play much better. He has what it takes to made the difference in a central midfield role.
Lemoine (4) didn’t show anything worth noting.

Lille 1-1 Nice
What more can be said about Eden Hazard (7)? He’s a phenom. He’s already at age 18 one of the only players in the league that makes something happen on every single touch. He’s among the only players that can make plays time and time again, who can dribble and throw off balance an entire team. He’s just a phenom.
Ospina (6) had a solid game but made a mistake on Lille’s goal. Rémy (7) played on the wing and did well. He’s on a roll. Modeste (7) scored after a great Sablé pass. He had a few good plays and protects the ball very well.

Marseille 1-3 Lyon
Ben Arfa (4) made the difference only once in that game. That’s not enough. It was a game tailor-made for him.
Benzema (8) wasn’t so impressive, but he managed two goals on a penalty and some awful OM defending. He was good but he’s still very far from his level from a year ago.
For those who still had doubts over the Lloris/Mandanda comparisons, watch that game and you’ll agree with me : Lloris is a top top goalie, Mandanda is not there yet.

Top 3
1- Hazard : as usual.
2- Benzema : for his two goals more than his performance.
3- Sakho : National team bound. And he’s 19!

Flop 3
1- Ben Arfa : he had to come up big and he didn’t.
2- Lemoine : when you play a weak opponent, you should do better.
3- Gameiro : Come on, it’s Le Havre!