After two days, the lights are red for Lille.
Still without a win and the worst defense in Ligue 1 with 7 goals conceded, the champion is in the grip of doubt and there are few reasons for hope.
Between the injuries of some, the desires of others to leave and the lack of reinforcements in this transfer window, Jocelyn Gourvennec will have to whip to find solutions before the perilous trip to Saint-Etienne this Saturday evening (9 p.m.).
To discover
Ligue 1 fixtures and results
A defense that takes water
This is undoubtedly what is most worrying in Lille.
His defense, so solid last season, is on the streets at the start of the 2021-22 fiscal year.
Between individual errors and laxity, the rearguard of the Mastiffs appears less in unison than a few months ago.
Yet no player has been added or removed from this defensive line.
We still find the unbreakable line of four made up of Celik, Fonte, Botman and Reinildo, but something seems broken.
Like the improbable heel of Celik who gave the goal of the break to the Niçois last weekend (0-4 defeat).
If Jocelyn Gourvennec deplored the "
lack of rigor
" on this match, the Lille coach also confided that "
everything was not to be thrown away
".
However, after these two matches, difficult to find grounds for satisfaction.
His full-backs, Celik and Reinildo, seem overwhelmed and are far from their level last season. The fault may be with a more offensive and possession-based system which exposes them to losing the ball. On the first two days, Lille monopolized the inflate without managing to be dangerous, a guideline breaking with the work launched by Christophe Galtier four years ago.
A reality on the ground which only confirms the will of Gourvennec, who once again recalled that “
last season is behind us.
What happened was great for everyone but it's over!
Including the Champions Trophy
”
.
A data which can surely explain the porosity of the Lille defense, which must adapt to a new system completely different from what they have known during the last four seasons.
Read alsoLigue 1: "Move or break", the threatening banner from OL supporters to players
An environment in the dark
If Lille have been so unconvincing since the start of the season, it is also because the midfield of the northerners is sick. Apart from Benjamin André, Jocelyn Gourvennec cannot for the moment rely on any certainty. The number 21 is struggling to fill the gaps at the start of the season, but given the departure of Boubakary Soumaré for Leicester but also the injury of Renato Sanches, who will keep the Portuguese away from the field for six weeks, the task seems very complicated. Benjamin André can still count on the return of Xeka, who had missed the first two days because of a hip injury.The Lille midfielder therefore represents a huge task for Jocelyn Gourvennec and the only arrival of the 19-year-old midfielder Amadou Onana does not suggest an improvement in the situation in the short term. So far, the Lille coach has tried to use Yusuf Yazici alongside Benjamin André, without much success.
A transfer window that raises questions
It would be an understatement to say that LOSC has weakened this offseason.
Lille began by losing one of their very best player with Mike Maignan, who left for a bite of bread at AC Milan.
A loss that has just been offset by the arrival on loan of Ivo Grbic, who comes out of a season where he played only a small match with Atletico Madrid.
Even if he remains promising at 25, the Croatian goalkeeper will have to be very quickly at the level given the current feverishness of his defense.
As mentioned earlier, the midfielder is under construction but there is dead calm concerning potential arrivals and nothing suggests that another recruit is planned for this position by the Lille management.
If the transfer window in the direction of arrivals is worrying, that in the direction of departures is starting to be worrying. Since after losing two of their centerpieces, Soumaré and Maignan, Lille have also separated from Luis Araujo, hoping that Weah and Lihadji will integrate the rotation more durably. But in recent hours, events have taken a different turn when Christophe Galtier confirmed that Burak Yilmaz had expressed his wish to join him in Nice.
"
When a good player calls me to tell me that he is interested in coming to work with me, I give him a favorable answer
," said the coach of the Aiglons, who could therefore steal Yilmaz from his former club. A very worrying prospect for the whole of the Lille group, since beyond losing a superb football player, they would find themselves orphaned by their leader in the locker room and on the field. Last season, the 36-year-old Turk had made his character speak to pull up the whole collective of the Mastiffs and win the championship. A departure from Yilmaz would weaken a group already in doubt. In order to breathe fresh air at the start of the season, Lille would be well inspired to win during their trip to Saint-Etienne this Saturday.