Ricardo dehors!

By: Richard | January 11th, 2009

AS Monaco 1 (Licata 86)
Nantes 2 (Bagayoko 5, Capoue 41)

After finishing the first half of the season on such a dreadful note (see my previous post), l’ASM were looking to put 2008 behind them with a home match against what was hoped to be a relatively easy opponent. Despite the demoralizing 3-4 loss to Bordeaux, spirits were high. Monaco had just defeated Juventus in a mid-week friendly (see more below), and it was time to say goodbye to Argentine midfielder Lucas Bernardi (pictured), who is leaving the principality to play for his old club Newell’s Old Boys after seven years at Stade Louis II. He will be missed.

Unfortunately, none of this emotion translated into any success. Ruffier and Adriano collided while defending a cross, leaving Mamadou Bagayoko with a tap in after just 5 minutes. Baggy terrorized the ASM defense all night long and set up Capoue for a second just before halftime. I was hopeful when Bagayoko was sent off for a clumsy challenge midway through the second half. Licata latched onto a deflected cross near the end to pull one back, but it was too late.

For the non-Francophones among you, the title of this post means ‘Ricardo out’ and they are two most common words you will see in any Monaco forum (well, except for swearwords). The home team was whistled off the pitch at half-time and at the end of the match, and there are many calling for Ricky to resign. For his part, the under-fire manager gave a rather nonchalant reply along the lines of “Yeah, I can see why the supporters are angry, but I’m not quitting”.

SPECIAL BONUS REVIEW! (Adu fans, take note!)
Juventus 1 (Amauri 90)
AS Monaco 1 (Leko 37 pen)
Monaco won 5-4 on penalties

Could things be different? Well, it was just a friendly, but the midweek victory over Juventus was inspiring. And let’s not be too quick to dismiss this as meaningless–Buffon, Nedved, Del Piero, and Amauri all played in this game. For me, the biggest news of this game was not how Monaco managed to win the penalty shootout after allowing Amauri to equalize in stoppage time, it was the inspired play of Freddy Adu. He showed a lot of flair, taking on defenders directly and beating them. When we are crying out for a cutting edge, why can’t this man get a game?!