Ligue 1 Talk

Zidane passing the torch to Gourcuff?

Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Patrick Vieira, Michel Platini, Claude Makelele, Florent Malouda….the list is endless. France has always been considered one of the best countries in producing midfielders. 

All of the players named above played, at one time or another, in France. Zidane got his start in Cannes. Two years after Zidane’s departure, Vieira joined the southern French outfit. Platini started his professional career with Nancy before making a name for himself at Juventus. Deschamps and Makelele find themselves back in Ligue 1, one as a manager and one as a player.

While these players are considered ‘greats’, with the exception of Platini and Zidane which deserve the title of ‘legend’, today’s Ligue 1 midfielders aren’t that shabby either.

Unlike years past, where French league football was usually a “French” sport, Ligue 1 has become more and more diverse and international. And our votes for our Ligue 1 All-Star team shows just that. Therefore, here is a list of our midfielders.

Right Midfielder – Gervinho – (Lille)
No, Gervinho isn’t from Brazil. He is an Ivorian player who plays for Lille this season. But if you were to watch his footwork and dribbling skills, you might think he is a player straight out of Sao Paulo.

Gervinho has only been in Ligue 1 for the last two and a half years. He spent his youth years and the beginning part of his professional career in the Ivorian Premier Division. Then he moved over two the KSK Beveren in Belgium’s second division, where he scored 14 goals in 66 games. His high level of play saw Gervinho to Le Mans, where he played alongside fellow Ivorian Romaric. Still being in too small of a club, Gervinho transfered to Lille this season, where he has made an immediate impact in a midfield which is amongst the best in Ligue 1 (with Eden Hazard, Florent Balmont and Yohan Cabaye).

Gervinho, who has only played five game for the Ivorian national team, has eight goals this season for Lille, where he is tied with Pierre-Alain Frau as the team’s top scorer.

Right Midfielder – Nene – (Monaco)
What can we say? He is the leading scorer in Ligue 1 with 10 goals this season, seven ahead of the second highest scorer on Monaco, Chu Young Park.

Of course, we are going to say that he has the footwork of a Brazilian, and he does. He is great with handling the ball, and looks like your typical Brazilian. Still, there are two other skills that Nene possesses that makes him one of the top midfielders in France.

First, he has a powerful kick. Not only can Nene sneak in on goal and show of his Brazilian dribbling skills, he can also drill the ball from a far distance and knock it inside the goal. Secondly, Nene is superb at set pieces. When he takes the kick, there is just as much of a chance of him shooting it on goal, and scoring, as there is him placing the ball perfectly, and someone else scoring. He also seems to be in the right place when he is on the receiving end or a free kick. Basically, he is very multidimensional.

Central Midfielders - Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux) and Moussa Sissoko (Toulouse)
As Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira leave the national team (though Vieira’s absence isn’t by choice), their future replacements seem to be our choices for our two central midfielders for the Ligue 1 All-Star Team.

I am not going to go into these players as much. Both Gourcuff and Sissoko have made their mark on the football scene the last few years. Gourcuff started his career as a 17-year old at Rennes, where he caught the eye of Carlo Ancelotti at AC Milan, where he played three sub par seasons. This lead to him being loaned out to Bordeaux, where he would eventually sign on to play for Laurent Blanc and show his offensive skills.

Moussa Sissoko is the perfect Partick Vieira replacement. A box-to-box player, Sissoko isn’t just ‘good’ on both sides of the ball, but exceptional. He can play defensive midfield as well as Jeremy Toulalan and can attack as effectively as Robert Pires. Sissoko is a product of the Toulouse youth program and the 20-year old has already been with the organization for seven years, which might explain him being reluctant to transfer to another club.

So there you go, our All-Star midfielders. There were many players that didn’t make the cut, like Sidney Govou, Benoit Cheyrou and Miralem Pjanić. But even with their absence, this seems to be a very solid midfield that would excel at any level of play.

Here is how the voting went for the midfield positions

Right Midfield
Gervinho……3 votes
Abriel……….2 votes
Giuly………..1 vote
Sessegnon…..1 vote
Gouffran……1 vote
Balmont…….1 vote
Plasil………..1 vote
Govou………1 vote

Left Midfield
Nene…………6 votes
Cheyrou……..3 votes
Ait-Fana……2 votes
Bastos………2 votes
Wendel………2 votes
Mounier………1 vote
Diego Perez…1 vote

Central Midfielder
Sissoko………6 votes
Gourcuff……..5votes
Pjanic………..3 votes
Costa………..2 votes
Diarra(BDX)….2 votes
Toulalan……..2 votes
Capoue (TOU)..1 vote
Couradeur……1 vote
Fernando…….1 vote
Pitau…………1 vote

Filed under: AS Monaco FC, Girondins de Bordeaux, Ligue 1 Commentary, LOSC Lille, Toulouse FC Tagged: | Gervinho, Ligue 1 All Star Team, Moussa Sissoko, Nene, Yoann Gourcuff