37th round prospects performances… Top 3/ Flop 3

By: Evilo | May 24th, 2009

Here’s a round up of the U22 performances in this weekend of Ligue 1 action.

Nancy 1-2 Marseille
Dia (4) as usual worked a lot for no end product.

Bordeaux 1-0 Monaco
Nkoulou (5) had a very solid game against Chamakh. Too bad he couldn’t handle him on the goal. Mongongu (6) was very good as well and sound defensively. Mangani (4) stuggled more but overall did a good job. Nimani (3) was invisible. Haruna (6) came at his place at halftime and was really impressive. The guy is 19 and has a great future. Too bad he managed to get a red card ATFER the final whistle. Pino (5) was very good, I know idea why he’s rated so low. He was fantastic at times, made a few bad choices sometimes, but overall, he was the best offensive player on the pitch yesterday and that includes Gourcuff and Chamakh.

Lyon 3-1 Caen
Benzema (7) was yesterday the REAL Benzema. Strong with the ball, dribbling with ease, always a threat. He scored two goals, but one was disallowed for offside.
For Caen, Yatabaré may or may not have touched the ball on the goal. In any case, it was his presence that created the goal.

Valenciennes 2-1 PSG
Sakho (6) was the best PSG player yet again. His physical impact and leadership are really difference makers. And he’s 19!

Nice 0-2 Toulouse
Ospina (4) was beaten twice, and you can’t blame him too much. He didn’t make any great save either. Rémy (5) missed a few plays, but tried a lot. Modeste (5) was more of the same, lots of will, no impact.
For Toulouse, Sissoko (6) and Capoue (6) were ruling the midfield all night long.

Sochaux 2-1 Nantes
Martin (6) had a good game and finished with two assists thanks to his precious set plays. Erding (7) scored a beauty to open the score.

Le Mans 1-1 Grenoble
Bouhours (4) struggled all night long. Goulon (4) was tough to play against but made some bad choices in his passes. Gervinho (7) was the most dangerous player on the pitch with Le Tallec (who has 3 goals in 2 games and also hit the bar).

Auxerre 1-0 St Etienne
Andreu (5) had a good game defensively. He didn’t bring much otherwise, but he did what he had to do. Benalouane (5) featured in the lone goal, but you can’t really blame him. He also tried to bring the danger up front. Mirallas (4) and Payet (4) disappeared as the game progressed.

Rennes 3-1 Lorient
Lemoine (6) had a solid game defensively. Could still bring more offensively. Kembo (5) scored a brilliant goal.
For Lorient, Gameiro (5) tried a lot but didn’t feature on the score sheet.

Le Havre 0-1 Lille
Kana-Biyik (6) had a solide game, talking with his size and muscles.
Hazard (6) was technically the best player on the pitch once again. He’s 18.

Top 3
1- Benzema : strong game for Karim, like he’s capable of doing.
2- Erding : key goal in a key game on a beautiful diving header.
3- Pino : good performance against a big opponent.

Flop 3
1- Mirallas : no end product when his team needs some.
2- Payet : ditto.
3- Nimani : you have to wonder if he was on the pitch.