Last Sunday, the draw conceded in Clermont (0-0) is a symbol of the very complicated start to the season for Strasbourg on the offensive level.
Between glaring lack of efficiency and frustrating bad luck.
Thus, against the Auvergnats, twice the crossbar repelled attempts by Adrien Thomasson, then Maxime Le Marchand, while a penalty could also have been whistled in favor of the locals on a nudge in the middle of the area on Ludovic Ajorque .
As the old saying goes, “
when it doesn’t want…
” Even if Ajorque wanted to be positive after the meeting: “
We are on the right track I think.
Frankly, we really tried, we had a lot of chances.
When it wasn't a player saving on the line, it was the bar.
That's how it happens.
We do not doubt.
»
To discover
Calendar and results Ligue 1
League 1 standings
Apart from the anemic Ajaccio attack and its 3 unfortunate goals scored, Racing has the worst offensive line with 5 goals in seven matches.
Far from that, backfiring, of last season, which had found the way to the opposing nets 60 times to finish in 6th place in the class.
Under the impetus of a trio made up of Ajorque (12 goals), Habib Diallo (11 goals) and Kévin Gameiro (also 11 goals) who have not budged one iota.
But which has lost its effectiveness, even if the triplet, with 4 achievements (two for Diallo, one each for the other two), still remains the tree hiding the Alsatian forest.
“
Since the start of the championship, we have very clearly been the team that has underperformed the most between the number of goals scored and the number of chances created.
“, concedes Julien Stéphan, the coach of Racing, in the columns of the Latest News from Alsace.
“
We created as much danger as Montpellier and Lorient, but we scored 5 goals, Lorient, 14, and Montpellier, 17, respectively 9 and 12 more than us.
Now, I am convinced that it will not last if we continue to create very good chances.
Statistically, this is not possible.
The challenge is to continue to create them and to make them bear fruit.
»
From eight to ten absent this Saturday
Montpellier, precisely, will be the host of Strasbourg this Saturday (5:00 p.m.).
A meeting that does not come under the best auspices for Racing, decimated by the injuries of some – Nyamsi, Fila, Delaine, Kawashima, Thomasson and Ajorque – and the suspensions of others – Pcic and Le Marchand.
Without forgetting the uncertainties concerning the presence of Diallo and Dagba.
In total, the bill could rise to ten absentees, for only one return, that of Dimitri Liénard, but this one has not played for three weeks and therefore constitutes only a very meager solution.
Hence this observation, in the form of a joke, from Stéphan at a press conference on Thursday: "
There were almost more kids from the reserve (National 3) than pro players this week in training
".
Before adding,
These are exceptional circumstances.
We will try to prepare things while keeping a cool head and consistency...
"
When I talk about inefficiency, I'm not just targeting attackers.
Julien Stephan
Now, without Ajorque or Thomasson, and hoping that Diallo is fit, it is not certain that this trip from the 8th day is the best remedy for the current torments of the Alsatians, still looking for a first success this season in the league. (five draws and two defeats).
Which is inevitably a shame given the profile of a comfortable Hérault formation offensively, but porous defensively.
Even if Stéphan wants a collective awareness in attack, and not just a questioning of his trio of center forwards.
"
When I talk about inefficiency, I'm not just targeting attackers.
Everyone must participate in the offensive game.
You can score in different ways: on placed phases, constructed actions, set pieces where you have to do better because you are not dangerous enough.
We must also be able to do better on the transitions.
»
Clearly, for the Alsatian coach, there is a whole collective animation to reorganize.
If the members of the attacking squad have not changed, the team has however lost two successful full-backs in the off-season, with Anthony Caci leaving for Mainz and Frédéric Guilbert returning to Aston Villa.
However, these two players were two essential pistons of the Alsatian 3-5-2.
But even without them, Racing continues to provide plenty of scoring opportunities, a sign that not everything has gone away over the summer either.
So many possibilities that the people of Strasbourg must quickly seize, otherwise they will experience a season as difficult as the previous one was pleasant.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/S7UVDTX7DREC7DXVCZN6MEKGBY.jpg)
