With only one point taken in the last three gamesand after a rather promising start to the league (ten points scored in the first 6 days), FC Metz are currently showing a relegation rate, far from their ambitions to grow into Ligue 1. Worse still, the low-ranked Ligue 2 is not. is very far in the standings.
After the defeat in Bastia last Saturday, the Grenats, 10th in the standings, have only three points clear of Nîmes, 17thand four other units in the last three teams of the championship: Saint-Etienne, Quevilly-Rouen and Niort.
Well set in the soft underbelly of the league, FC Metz now have eight points behind the Sochaux leaderand seven points behind Le Havre, second in L2.
Behind in its roadmap
After the two September defeats (Guingamp and Bastia) and the small draw against Annecy, FC Metz also fell behind on the schedule. To make sure they finished first or second, the staff pulled out their calculators before the season started and estimated that the Garnets should have averaged two points per game. With an average of 1.22 points taken from the meeting, we are very far from the mark!
Another worrying finding: Toulouse and Ajaccio, respectively first and second in L2 last season, have totaled only five and seven defeats. However, FC Metz already scores four.
An irregular attack, an uncertain defense and an undisciplined team
In these last three games of September, the Messina attack, which some Ligue 2 observers describe as talented and high-level, also remained silent twice, in Bastia and against FC Annecy. Sparkling last August, with three goals and two assists, Georges Mikautadze is now much more followed by the opposition’s defenses and has not been able to be decisive. His last brace dates back to August 30, during a trip to Rodez.
Defensively, FC Metz still does not reassure : too many fouls, too many cards and too many suspended, even if the referee Pierre Gaillouste, too fussy against Guingamp, did not help the Moselle club. The FC Metz manager also sometimes criticizes his rear, his softness and his lack of gnac.
Like last season in Ligue 1, le estival market which ended last September 1st, left traces. After his missed transfer to Nantes, Fabien Centonze sulked in the corner of him. Messin’s right missed matches against Annecy and Guingamp. For his return to Garnet 11 in Bastia, the former Lensois, who lost many balls, was not convincing at all! His coach admitted he was “not mentally ready”.
Garnet’s staff now have two short weeks to try to correct the situation. Facing Pau, he will record the returns of Alex Oukidja and Kévin N’Doram, who served the match ban in Bastia. But Laslo Boloni will have to wait a few weeks before he can recover Danley Jean-Jacques, Kiki Kouyaté and Ibrahima Niane.
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