We had more serene preparation before a crucial match like the one awaiting AS Saint-Etienne against Reims this Sunday (3 p.m.). There had already been the injury - ultimately less serious than feared - of Loïc Perrin on Thursday. Since Friday, she must also manage a psychodrama with the Stéphane Ruffier case. One more, while Claude Puel recognized for the first time publicly after the defeat conceded at Brest (3-2) last weekend that his team played the maintenance. The manager is precisely at the heart of the debates since his decision to remove his international goalkeeper (3 selections) from the starting eleven. Decision he announced a week after praising his qualities at a press conference and having given him the armband to Francis-le-Blé in the absence of Loïc Perrin, on the bench for the second consecutive game.
Is it an electric shock to try to relaunch a formation in free fall, 16th with only two points ahead of Dijon, barragiste, after losing eight of its last nine matches in Ligue 1? It is in any case not the first time that Claude Puel has attacked a member of the group. In mid-January, after having already tanned the "bathrobe flip-flops", he had turned on Timothy Kolodziejczak at a press conference before removing him from the group for several weeks. The defender had taken responsibility for responding. This time, it was Stéphane Ruffier's agent who provided after-sales service by expressing his wrath with L'Equipe, France Bleu Saint-Etienne Loire and Le Progrès . Outings which did not please the Green People very much and which the club ended up condemning in the early afternoon on Saturday.
60 - Stéphane Ruffier in L1 this season:
60% of shots stopped - lowest% of his career in the elite
14% clean sheets (3/22) - lowest% of their elite career
1.82 goal conceded per game - highest ratio of his career in the elite
Collapse. pic.twitter.com/KWPYWMGcJf
The statistics and his recent performances do not plead in favor of the number 16. This choice is talked about despite everything because it is the first time since his arrival at the Greens in 2011 that the status of Stéphane Ruffier is questioned. Chipé in Monaco for 3 million euros after the relegation in L2 of the princely club that year, the doorman had dislodged a monument, Jérémie Janot, record holder of the number of matches in the green jersey disputed by goalkeeper all competitions combined (386) . Behind, the Bayonnais started all the matches of the following five championships, helping to make ASSE one of the best defenses of the elite, which had conceded 47 goals in the season preceding his arrival. In addition to the 2013 League Cup, the first major trophy since the 10th and last title of champion of France in 1981, the Galtier generation, of which he is one of the symbols, has rebuilt Saint-Etienne into a European club with several continental campaigns and prestigious posters facing Manchester United, Inter Milan or Lazio Rome.
Goalkeeper of the decade in Ligue 1 and legend of the Greens
Sportingly, the results have been incontestable so far. Although withdrawing from the French team in agreement with the national coach, Stéphane Ruffier is nonetheless one of the best tricolor goalkeepers, and of long standing. Opta even chose it as the last bastion of its typical team of the decade. In November, the legend Ivan Curkovic also showed glowing praise when he gave him his record for Stéphanois most aligned in goals in L1 (brought to 315 matches since). In his bubble, very close to Fabrice Grange, the goalkeepers' coach, Stéphane Ruffier clashes in the middle. Close to supporters but very discreet in the media, he never speaks in a mixed zone. He has in fact long criticized ASSSE followers for presenting him as a big mouth, perhaps marked by the experience of his last year in Monaco when he wore the captain's armband of a drifting team .
Moulin knows how to respond
Will we see him again in the green jersey, when he has one year left on his contract? The cloth burns, but Claude Puel showed with Timothée Kolodziejczak that he knew how to overcome resentment. In the meantime, Jessy Moulin (34) will keep the cage against the Champenois. If his last tenure turned into a nightmare (6-1 in Paris in the quarter-finals of the League Cup), the eternal lining formed at the club, adored by the locker room and the supporters, had been impeccable during his two tenures in the League 1 this season. In Nîmes and during the derby against Lyon, the Greens won 1-0 each time. A score for which we would probably sign with both hands tomorrow on the Saint-Etienne side.
11 - Discover the 11 type of the decade in Ligue 1 according to the Opta index (minimum 100 matches). Stars. pic.twitter.com/6yCRGOXqH4
- OptaJean (@OptaJean) December 31, 2019Read also
- Ligue 1 ranking