At the start of March, the Lyon boat is still rocking.
Navigating in troubled waters, the captain of the Rhone building Peter Bosz tries to keep, not without difficulty, the course set by Jean-Michel Aulas.
Will he keep his boat afloat or will he sink with it?
Before the mooring of Les Gones in the harbor of Lorient this Friday (9 p.m.), which could (possibly) constitute his last trip to sea with Olympique Lyonnais,
Le Figaro
reviews the main threats weighing on OL and to which he must quickly provide answers... if he doesn't want to sink.
To discover
Calendar and results Ligue 1
League 1 standings
Read also“We need to understand”: Aulas requests explanations from the DTN of arbitration
Put under pressure by Jean-Michel Aulas
The first of these is neither more nor less than the pressure that weighs on his shoulders.
Peter Bosz already had it when he arrived in the Rhône at the end of last season, replacing a Rudi Garcia little appreciated by the people of Lyon and who had just finished "only" in fourth position in Ligue 1. -Bayer Leverkusen technician had to upset everything by instituting a paradigmatic reversal which, by extension, had to be transcribed by a profound change in mentalities within the club but also in the principles of play put in place.
However, after half a year during which these changes were only slightly visible and the results disappointing, at least in the league, the grip has tightened on the Dutchman.
Read alsoOL: Aulas keeps Bosz but gives him until the end of February to raise the bar
At the end of December 2021, Jean-Michel Aulas gave him – publicly – an ultimatum: “
We spent some time with Peter to give him our thoughts, as well as some solutions.
Here it is: there's no way Peter won't be here until the end of February.
I leave us the two months of January and February to return to the Championship and perhaps the Cup, if we are lucky enough to be able to continue it
, ”declared the Rhone president in the columns of
L’Équipe .
.
For concretely, “JMA” gave him two months to straighten the bar.
The end of February has passed and it is clear that the navigation of captain Peter Bosz did not allow Olympique Lyonnais - tenth, eight units from the podium - to find calm waters at the top of the Ligue 1 standings. the boss of Les Gones confirmed him in his duties until the end of the season, again assuring in L'Équipe that his coach was "
not at all in danger, whatever happens
".
Strange.
But what will happen if the Lyon boat were to capsize?
Would Jean-Michel Aulas let him vanish into the seabed with his ambitions?
Certainly not.
He would be forced to take out the lifeboats.
That is, replace it.
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Chronic inefficiency
The second threat that Peter Bosz must repel concerns the lack of realism shown by his players.
When it comes to boarding the opposing cages, his team is extremely imprecise.
Since the start of the season, according to statistics from
WhoScored
, Olympique Lyonnais are the second team in the championship - behind Stade Rennais - which have scored the most shots per game (5.3 shots on target per game).
Suffice to say that the Rhone training knows how to go on the attack.
On the other hand, she scored only thirty-four goals, thus pointing to an unsatisfactory and inadequate eighth position in the ranking of the best attacks in Ligue 1.
Read alsoLigue 1: Peter Bosz "is not at all in danger, whatever happens", assures Aulas
His last match, against LOSC, is indicative of this inefficiency.
Twenty-one shots against six, eight shots on target against two.
Results ?
Victory by the smallest of the Dogues brands.
In the zone of truth, feet don't lie.
The Dutchman is aware of this shortcoming and wants to believe in a click: “
To score, there is no recipe.
We have players who have already scored in certain periods.
The most important thing is to create chances, and we succeed.
[...]
If we score, maybe Friday in Lorient, confidence will return
, he said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Because the opportunities are there.
We work a lot in training on that, this morning we worked on the finish again for forty-five minutes.
» Will this specific work be sufficient?
Answer this Friday evening.
Read alsoMercato: Aulas opens the door to a permanent transfer from Ndombélé to OL
Internal problems
Peter Bosz must also face internal problems.
Please note, these are not acts of mutiny.
But these worries, however, contribute to the establishment and persistence of a toxic atmosphere in the locker room and more generally in the Lyon “camp”, including the public.
Yes, because in one of them, the supporters are involved.
Lyon captain, and relay of the ex-technician of Ajax Amsterdam, Léo Dubois is taken in dislike by certain Rhone fans, who do not hesitate to whistle him for several weeks.
Something that the Les Gones coach does not endorse: "
That, I don't understand at all.
Leo is not only our captain, he is one of us.
I don't understand why before the match and at the start of the match, because I heard it, too, one of our players was whistled.
I absolutely don't understand it.
He doesn't deserve it, and I don't understand how the fans think.
I spoke with him, and it affects him, believe me
, ”he regretted in mid-February.
The situation of the French international is therefore not obvious, he, whose position within the workforce is already weakened by the outbreak of his young comrade Malo Gusto.
Read alsoLigue 1: Bosz does not understand the whistles against Dubois
Another sticking point: Jérôme Boateng.
Arrived – by surprise – in the Rhône after the end of his contract with Bayern Munich, the German defender quickly took a place as a manager in the team thanks to his experience.
However, in recent times, the 2014 World champion has reportedly been at the heart of several incidents which have resulted in his temporary suspension.
Peter Bosz, officially, rejects these allegations assuring "
that there is no problem
".
However, according to information from
L'Équipe
, Jérôme Boateng would have come to blows with Bruno Guimarães - before his departure for Newcastle - and would not have hesitated to question the tactical decisions of his coach.
An additional problem which the former Sporting Toulon Var player would have done well.
In short, the task of Captain Peter Bosz is complicated.
To bring the Lyon ship to good port - that is to say on the podium - it must not drown in this ocean of threats.
After all, it is also by his ability to face the difficulties that we recognize a good navigator.