Every week in many competitions, there is usually a “Team of the Week”. And starting this weekend with the Ligue 1 matches, we will be doing a “Ligue 1 Team of the Week”. And since French Cup action just concluded, we would like to do a Round of 64 Team as well. Of course, with so many teams playing this past weekend, one can easily argue for a number of players. Still, here is Ligue 1 Talk’s “Team of the Round of 64″.
(more…)
Filed under: Americans Abroad, Aurillac FCA, Évian Thonon Gaillard FC, ES Wasquehal, French Cup News, Girondins de Bordeaux, Jarville JF, Olympique Lyonnais, Paris FC, Paris Saint Germain, SO Chambéry Foot, Stade Brestois 29, Stade Rennais FC, US Raon-l'Étape | Tagged: Aissa Yahia-Bey, Alexander Tettey, Benoit Tremoulinas, Billy Ketkeophomphone, Cheick Diabaté, Cheikh N'Daiye, David Coulibaly, Dejan Lovren, Guillaume Bemenou, Jaroslav Plasil, Jonathan Ayité, Kamel Larbi, Kenny Lala, Kevin Berigaud, Nene, Omar Daf, Pepe Diakhate, Quentin Westberg, Romain Chouleur, Slimane Djebid, Thomas Hollard, Victor Montano, Yann M'Vila, Zoumana Camara | 1 Comment »
Americans in Ligue 1 : season preview
Ligue 1 will still have 2 Americans in 2010-2011, Carlos Bocanegra who moved from Rennes to St.-Etienne, and Charlie Davies who is still with Sochaux.
It would be hard pressed to say, for different reasons, that both their seasons have been crowned with success. Everyone knows what happened to Charlie Davies. He slowly got acquainted with Ligue 1 play before the devastating accident in October ’09 forced him to prematurely put an end to his season. Before that, he had shown that his pace could be problematic for slow French defenses. He scored a brace against defending champions Bordeaux and was elected Man of the Match after having martyred Monaco’s defense.
Carlos Bocanegra’s season contains more shades of gray. He was the starter at left-back for Rennes, and played the majority of the season, without impressing. The lack of a suitable replacement meant that he hung on to his position until late in the season where he was unfortunately injured. Upon returning, young defensive midfielder Romain Danzé seemed to be favored by coach Frédéric Antonetti and Bocanegra only filled in at the end of the season when there was nothing to fight for anymore.
Left back is not his favorite position, something that has shown this past season. The US National team captain was often overtaken by Ligue 1′s speedy wingers. With his experience, he was able to limit the extent of the damage but in contrast with Rod Fanni on the right, Bocanegra definitely looked like one of the weak spots of the team. His offensive production was also close to non-existent. Rennes considered parting with him in the winter transfer window, where he was rumored – already – to be headed to St.-Etienne, but Rennes wasn’t keen on investing on a substitute. (more…)
Filed under: Americans Abroad, AS Saint-Etienne, FC Sochaux-Montbeliard, Ligue 1 Commentary, Stade Rennais FC | Comments Off