AS Monaco, a defensive metamorphosis

It is forbidden to take a goal.

This has been the credo of AS Monaco for a month.

For more than half of the season, Niko Kovac's men produced an exhilarating attacking game, made of verticality and projections.

A philosophy that allowed them to score three goals for Paris Saint-Germain (3-2), to pass four to Bordeaux (4-0) or to stick five in Lorient (2-5).

But if the Rocher team were enticing with the ball, they were far too crumbly defensively, conceding too many chances and conceding too many goals.

As proof, out of the first twenty-five league games, she only achieved five "clean sheets".

Insufficient in view of its ambitions, even if it has managed to return to the race for the podium or even the title despite its defensive deficiencies.

Since then, ASM has started a major transformation and has found stability without the ball: only one goal conceded in its last four matches despite confrontations against PSG and LOSC!

AS Monaco celebrations after victory against Paris Saint-Germain

A defensively effective system change

This development was a necessity for the Monegasques, as Benoît Badiashile confided in a press conference: “The statistics speak for us, we have achieved four clean sheets in five games.

We have found defensive stability since the meeting against Lorient.

We must continue on this path to achieve our goal, explained the 19-year-old central defender, who has become a major part of the Croatian technician's squad.

Since the start of the season, we have made a lot of progress.

We knew that we had to have a certain defensive footing to hope to win our matches. ”

To find this defensive base, AS Monaco has made a fundamental change.

Finished the 4-4-2 introduced in November, place at 3-4-3 (or 3-4-2-1).

This system is first tried against Nantes (1-2) at the end of January before being then reused on February 21 against Paris Saint-Germain.

And it is a real success.

Niko Kovac's players emerge victorious from the match (0-2) against the capital club, yet in full confidence after their great success at Camp Nou (1-4) a few days earlier.

But above all, they succeed perfectly in neutralizing the Parisian offensives.

Mauricio Pochettino's men end the match with just one shot on target.

Blame it on the tactical recital and Monegasque defensive rigor.

In this device, the ASM limits the spaces for its opponents in particular by better controlling the width, by being able to bring out a central to hamper the players between the lines and by limiting the Parisian surplus.

Kylian Mbappé, eagerly awaited after his superb hat-trick against FC Barcelona, ​​is completely muzzled.

Eager for space, behind the defense or between the lines, he cannot tell the difference and crosses the meeting without being really dangerous (0 shots).

The Croatian coach of AS Monaco renews the following matches 3-4-2-1.

His team confirms its defensive progress but the balance sheet is mixed: a home victory against Brest (2-0), a defeat in Strasbourg (1-0) and a draw against LOSC (0-0).

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A problem moved to the offensive aspect?

With this transformation, the Rocher club found real defensive stability;

which should be very useful for him to achieve his goals.

But she lost her luster on the other side of the field.

By transforming itself, the ASM has not known - at least until now - to keep its ability to obtain a significant number of chances and to be effective in the opponent's area.

Wissam Ben Yedder and his family have not been able to find the fault in their last two confrontations.

By way of comparison, they had scored in twenty-five of their first twenty-seven days in Ligue 1. These offensive “deficiencies” may have cost them precious points against Strasbourg and Lille.

By changing their philosophy, from the idea of ​​"scoring one goal more than the opponent" - as the cliché says - to that of defending well in the first place, Monaco found new problems.

But the reasons for concern are after all minimal.

If they were in great difficulty in attack against the Alsatian club, the Monegasques have proven that they can be dangerous against the Lille leader, the best defense of the 2020-2021 financial year.

They certainly did not find the key to the northern lock, but they only passed a few centimeters to win, the attempt by Stevan Jovetic in the final moments of the meeting having been admirably rejected by Mike Maignan.

This Friday (9 p.m.) against AS Saint-Etienne, at the opening of the 30th day of Ligue 1, the Monegasque team will have the opportunity to show that its concerns in the opposing camp were only temporary and that it is able to combine a defensive solidity with an offensive going.

In the event of victory, it can achieve an excellent blow and return to a small point of the podium, while awaiting the clash between its rivals, Olympique Lyonnais and Paris Saint-Germain, this Sunday.

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