Well fought despite loss
By: Christoffer |
3 Comments
Monaco played their heart out in the top match against Bordeaux. But the game still ended with a 1-0 loss.
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Category: Monaco Team News
Guy Lacombe, the man with the plan!
By: Christoffer | 2 Comments
Category: Monaco Team NewsWe’re back! (possibly)
By: Richard | 4 Comments
AS Monaco 2 (Nene 9, 67pen)
RC Lens 0
This is exactly the kind of match we lost last year. We played the big teams quite well and confidence would be on a high, and then we would inexplicably lay an egg against a weaker team, usually at home. No chance this time. What is most gratifying about this victory for me is that it was done largely with the same team as last year. Of the new arrivals, only Puygrenier and Coutadeur started (Well, Nene was out on loan last year, so he doesn’t count). It seems that so far Lacombe is succeeding where Ricardo failed.
Let’s talk about Nene for a moment. Isn’t it nice to look at the top of the Ligue 1 buteur chart and not see the name ‘Benzema’ for once?
Yes, I know he’s in Spain now, but you get my point. Get your head around this stat, folks: our top scorer from last year had 6 goals. Nene has seven. In nine games. That’s more than half of our total goals scored.
He has Park to thank for his double on Sunday (see the video). If you read this blog, you will be aware of my man-crush on Park. I know I keep repeating myself, but the man just causes problems.
Unfortunately, Monaco failed to sign Aruna Dindane from Lens in the summer. Fortunately, Portsmouth did manage to sign him, and Lens looked pretty feeble in attack to me (I have only seen this one match, though).
Negatives:
1. Puygrenier: Not this time. He had a much more solid game at the back.
2. Gudjohnsen: Didn’t play. He was out injured. This might actually be a positive. I’m tempted to say they should just cut him loose, but I know that Nene isn’t going to lead the scoring charts all year and we will need a real number 9 to take chances foor us at some point. It really is a little too early to write off the Icelander yet, anyway.
3. Um….Pino is still injured?….there are way too many empty seats at the Stade Louis II? Yeah, it’s kinda hard to find any negatives at the moment. I can’t help dreaming of a European spot. Why can’t the season end today?
(P.S.: Hey Christoffer, are you still alive? Where’s my partner in crime?)
Category: Monaco Team NewsTake that, Didi!
By: Richard | 7 Comments
ASM 2 (Nene 20, Park 42)
Marseille 1 (Niang 86)
…who saw that coming? just like last year, l’ASM continue their tradition of Jekyll-and-Hyde football after their humiliation last week with a totally unexpected win at the Stade Velodrome.
I’m in a hurry, so let’s review this in the tired old cliched manner:
The Good
- I cannot say enough about the performance of Chu-Young Park, not only in this game but all season. He can do a little of everything and is a constant annoyance to the opponent. Irrepressible might be the word I would choose.
- Ruffier is one of the top 3 goalkeepers in Ligue 1 (see below: The Ugly)
- I don’t know what has gotten into Nene since he returned from the loan to Espanyol last year, but apparently his little siesta did him a world of good.
The Bad
- Gudjohnsen did not start and came on as a last-minute sub. Nuff said. (Incidentally, it was bittersweet watching old hero Morientes look so slow, old, and useless out there…just like Gudjohnsen)
- the refs added a hundred years of stoppage time after Niang’s late goal in a transparently biased attempt to let Marseille steal a point.
The Ugly
- OM deserved a point at least, but were repeatedly denied by Ruffier. Puygrenier continues to underwhelm at the back. Our keeper cannot and will not play like this every week, so a few thrashings are coming unless Monsieur Moustache can get our backline sorted out in a hurry.
Until next week, watch this:
Category: Monaco Team NewsNice one!
By: Richard | 5 Comments
…Monaco 3!!! After the great win against PSG last week, l’ASM were visiting their hated rivals Nice. Monaco had been awful away from the Stade Louis II and had yet to score a goal on their travels. Couple that with our recent tendency to follow a great victory with a horrible defeat, and I didn’t have high hopes.
Luckily the ref was on hand to gift us an early penalty. Lots of debate about this on the Monaco forums, but I think we were very lucky to get that call. Nene just managed to score, the keeper pawed at it but couldn’t stop it.
If you read this blog regularly or keep up with French football, you know that Monaco recently made a huge signing that will no doubt make us a much better team, and of course that man is Mathieu Coutadeur. His precise passes are elevating the entire team, liberating players like Alonso and Park (both of whom were outstanding). Witness the final pass in this video…
it’s not all good news, though. i’m starting to worry about Gudjohnsen. He has followed a frankly terrible performance against PSG with another poor showing after which he was subbed off at halftime. He looks old, slow, and unfit. Many fans have sprung to his defense, saying he’s simply not in shape yet and he’ll come good, but I don’t know. He’s reminding me of when Kluivert played in Ligue 1, just a knackered player…
Also, Puygrenier struggled mightily with Remy for most of the match and new signing Eduardo Costa was invisible. Still, these are minor concerns–we are in 5th and dreaming of Europe this season.
Category: Monaco Team NewsTrezeguet to return to ‘The Rock’?
By: Christoffer | 11 Comments
Even though the market closed 6 days ago, there are still rumours of players coming to Monaco. Except for this rumours will first happen in one year from now. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Monaco Team NewsMaking big vibes on the last day of the market
By: Christoffer | 5 Comments
So after a horrible mercato with signings of unknown players, then suddenly we manage to bring in two big names on the last day of the market. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Monaco Team NewsBREAKING NEWS
By: Christoffer | 5 Comments
MONACO DROPS TRANSFER BOMB!
Monaco have just made it official that they have signed Mathieu Coutadeur for 4€ million and Gudjohnsen will come for free! Djamel Bakar will go to Nancy for 2,5€ million.
Report to follow
Category: Monaco Team NewsThe iceman cometh…
By: Richard | 4 Comments
(maybe…)
i’ll start with the good news. ASM may have finally found the number 9 it has been searching for. various media sources are reporting that Eidur Gudjohnsen is spurning a chance to return to England for Monaco. at just 3 million euros, that’s not bad business. however, it won’t be made official until Monday. this has me a bit nervous–seems like just enough time for a Premiership club to up their offer and steal him away. after the Dindane fiasco, i’m not going to get excited until i see Eidur in our shirt.
the bad news? it was another abject away performance in the Ligue, losing 1-0 to Sochaux. the Jekyll and Hyde theme from last season has not changed under Lacombe. we are undefeated and haven’t conceded a goal at the Stade Louis II, but we are winless and haven’t scored on our travels.
New recruit Puygrenier struggled horribly, giving up the penalty that led to the only score of the game and nearly scoring an own goal. In fact, none of the new players brought in the summer did very well. Our man of the match was Ruffier, who prevented this from becoming a repeat of the 4-0 defeat to Nancy.
While I hate seeing Monaco lose, there was some small consolation in seeing Charlie Davies perform so well for Sochaux. He was the man dragged down for the penalty that won the game, and he seemed like a real livewire out there. His combination with Sverkos up front seems pretty dangerous, so that should be inspiring news for any fellow Americans out there.
Next week, we host PSG. Can we keep our streak of home invincibility going? Let’s hope Eidur signs and Lacombe makes some lineup changes. So far, he seems to be relying on the other team to be mesmerized by the power of this mustache:
Category: Monaco Team NewsMaking moves on the transfer market(finally)
By: Christoffer | 9 Comments
So finally Monaco have started to make moves on the transfer market. We have been active in outgoing transfers as well as incoming transfers and we are still active. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Monaco Team News
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